Application Is Completed for Natural Gas Terminal

An Australia-based company that wants to construct a $500-million floating liquefied natural gas terminal off the Ventura County coast has completed its license application for a deep-water port, officials announced Tuesday.

BHP Billiton now faces an extensive environmental review process, which will take into account economic, environmental, marine habitat and public safety issues, said BHP spokeswoman Kathi Hann.

Public hearings will be scheduled as part of the review, which is expected to take a year and will be overseen by the Coast Guard and the California State Lands Commission, Hann said.

The Cabrillo Deepwater Port, which would act as a receiving point for shipments of California-bound natural gas, would be the first such floating terminal on the West Coast, Hann said. Stored liquefied natural gas would be converted to vapor through a heat exchange system and transported by an undersea pipeline to existing onshore natural gas facilities.

If BHP receives approval and all the necessary permits, it could begin construction of its floating terminal by January 2005, with completion set for 2008, Hann said.

The project would be built about 20 miles off the coast of Oxnard.

Some Oxnard officials and environmental groups have expressed strong reservations about the project, mostly over safety issues.

But BHP officials have stressed that the facility would be far enough offshore that it would not be a safety threat. They said the terminal would also be placed outside shipping lanes and marine mammal migratory routes, as well as away from the Point Mugu Navy base and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.

Once the environmental review process is completed, the Coast Guard will issue a recommendation on the review to the state Department of Transportation, which will ultimately decide whether to issue an operating license to BHP, Hann said.