Jordan Cove Secures Easement Agreements

From a press release

The Jordan Cove Project announced in a press release Monday, it has signed voluntary easement agreements with 82% of the private landowners along the project’s proposed pipeline route, which will allow the pipeline to cross beneath these properties.

“This 82% is more than just a number. It represents a tremendous measure of progress forward for Jordan Cove,” said Harry Andersen, Senior Vice President for Pembina Pipeline Corporation, the parent company of Jordan Cove. “This achievement reflects that a vast majority of the most impacted residents in southern Oregon are onboard with the Project and will help to make it a reality.”

The proposed 230-mile project is to carry natural gas from the substation in Malin to Coos Bay where it will be converted to liquid natural gas for shipment overseas. The project is awaiting federal licensing approvals, which is holding public hearings in Klamath Falls this week. (See related story).

A common criticism of the project would be it’s ability to use eminent domain laws to take private property for the pipeline.

And, according to the Corvallis Advocate website: Mountaintop Insights, a consulting firm in Myrtle Creek, issued a press release on Saturday contradicting the company’s numbers.

Opponents of the pipeline, including longtime Jordan Cove opponent and Douglas County landowner Stacey McLaughlin, obtained information from the four County Clerk offices and determined that only 61 percent have signed easements and over 90 individual landowners still have not signed, the Advocate reported.

“[They are] again skewing public perception in advance of upcoming FERC meetings,” said McLaughlin, in reference to hearings being held this week by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

The release also contained allegations that Jordan Cove and its representatives of intimidated local landowners, including “coercive targeting of vulnerable and elderly landowners with threats of eminent domain.”

From the release: “A Coquille landowner who preferred not to be named for fear of retaliation by Pacific Connector said, ‘I just feel harassed by the company, one land agent even threatened to ensure that an above-ground block valve would be placed in my hay field if I didn’t sell the easement before their deadline. I still haven’t sold an easement and don’t plan on doing so.’”

Jordan Cove officials have been asked to respond, but had not as of presstime.

When Pembina became owner of Jordan Cove in 2017, the Project had secured voluntary easement agreements with 20% of landowners along the pipeline route, the release said.

Since then, Pembina has made remarkable strides, securing more than four times that in a single year, a testament to the company’s commitment to working directly with landowners and building long-term relationships in southern Oregon.

“We value the conversations we have had with landowners about the Project and the trust they put in us to be thoughtful stewards of something as important as their family’s land,” said Andersen.

“This achievement level means that a strong majority of these families have sat down with our team, had honest conversations and learned that our ultimate goal is to create an investment that nets substantial benefits for their neighbors and their community and their state, while respecting and protecting their land.”

“My property is important to me, I work hard to maintain and improve it,” said Douglas County landowner, Dean Bright. “I trust Pembina to work with me, respect my needs and leave it better after they do their work.”

This achievement confirms that the quiet majority of citizens in southern Oregon support the Jordan Cove Project.

“The Project has seen great progress over the past few months including positive Draft Environmental Impact Statement conclusions from the FERC, which pointed to a majority of environmental impacts being less significant due to the proposed and recommended avoidance, minimization and mitigation measures,” said Andersen. “We are now looking forward to the next phase of this project and building a business that will be a serious game changer for southern Oregon and the state as a whole.”

As the Project continues to make progress through the regulatory and permitting approvals, this 82% level of landowners moves Jordan Cove significantly closer to securing 100% of easements through voluntary agreements, the release said.