During their Tuesday, April 23 meeting the Calvert County Commissioners received an update from a representative of Dominion regarding the company’s planned expansion of the Cove Point Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Plant in Lusby.
Dominion Transmission’s Senior Vice President Diane Leopold called the “liquefaction project the largest single project in Maryland” and an “extremely large investment for Maryland.”
The plant on the Chesapeake Bay has been in existence more than 35 years. In 2004 a fifth storage tank was added and in 2011 expansion of the pier was completed. Expansion of the plant also included installation of a larger pipeline, a project component that caused great controversy within the community.
Leopold reported the plan to build liquefaction facilities would have minimal environmental impact since there would be no work done on the Chesapeake Bay and all construction would be done within the confines of the plant. Additionally, noise mitigation mechanisms will be used.
Leopold reported Dominion has signed two long-term agreements with companies having ties to Japan and India that will result in the liquefaction of 4.5 to 5 million metric tons of gas per year.
Engineering and equipment procurement are underway and, pending receipt of the required state and federal permits, the project is set to begin in 2014 with completion expected during the second half of 2017. Leopold stated the “peak construction will be a long time” with about 4,000 workers employed during that period. Once completed, the plant will have an additional 174 jobs available. The larger facility is also expected to yield large tax revenues.
“It really is a win-win,” said Leopold. “This is just a fantastic thing for the U.S. economy.”
Leopold added that Dominion has already done significant outreach to several entities regarding the project and is still planning to hold meetings with the Property Owners Association of Chesapeake Ranch Estates, the Lusby Business Association, the Solomons Civic Association and Patuxent Naval Air Station.
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