Back to All Events

Rally: Demand DEQ Denies Pipeline Permits

  • Medford DEQ Office 221 Stewart Avenue Medford, OR, 97501 United States (map)

Join community members on Thursday, August 16 from 11am-12pm at the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) office in Medford for a rally and delivery of over 10,000 public comments demanding DEQ denies clean water act permits and puts to rest the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and Pacific Connector fracked gas pipeline.

For over 12 years, a Canadian corporation has been trying to build the proposed Pacific Connector fracked gas pipeline and Jordan Cove LNG export terminal. This spring the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and US Army Corps opened a public comment period for Clean Water Act permits the company needs to build the project. In just a few months OVER 10,000 PEOPLE from across Oregon, northern California, and Washington submitted comments demanding DEQ and Army Corps deny permits.

WHEN: Thursday, August 16
WHERE: Medford DEQ office (221 Stewart Ave)
WHY: Help deliver 10,000+ comments demanding DEQ denies permits for the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and Pacific Connector fracked gas pipeline!
RSVP HERE: https://www.rogueclimate.org/rally_demand_deq_denies_pipeline_permits

Oregon (DEQ) is responsible for deciding whether the massive fracked gas pipeline and export terminal would negatively impact the water quality in Oregon. DEQ does this by denying or issuing a clean water certification for the project under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 expressly reserves the authority of states to review pipelines and LNG terminals under the Clean Water Act. This means that if this permit is denied, the pipeline can't move forward even if the Trump administration is trying to push it forward at the Federal level!

New York, Maryland, Washington, and Oregon have stopped fracked gas projects by denying the required 401 certifications. In 2011, Oregon DEQ denied a Clean Water Act permit for the Bradwood Landing LNG terminal on the Columbia River because the proposed dredging “would result in a significant lowering of water quality.” By comparison, the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and Pacific Connector fracked gas pipeline would require far more dredging and would impact twice as many waterways and wetlands as the Bradwood LNG proposal.

There is no way that a project proposing to cut through nearly 500 waterways and dredge millions of cubic yards of protected salmon habitat to ship fracked gas overseas complies with Oregon’s rules protecting fish, aquatic habitat, and clean water.

It is time for Oregon to deny this project once and for all!

Learn more about the State's role in stopping Jordan Cove LNG and the Pacific Connector fracked gas pipeline: https://www.rogueclimate.org/oregoncanstoplng