Documenter name: Natalie McLendon, with reporting by Paul Geary
Agency holding meeting: Calcasieu Parish Local Emergency Planning Committee
Date: October 18, 2022 at 10:00 AM
Summary
The Committee met to discuss the explosion at Sasol, the many LNG projects slated for construction, and the impact it would have on the population of southwest Louisiana.
The Scene
The meeting took place at 901 Lakeshore Drive, Suite 200, in Lake Charles. The room was filled with tables, and at least two people were seated per table. There was a loud alarm-like sound that would chirp every 30 seconds to every few minutes.
Community Perspective
There was no comment from the public at this meeting.
Notes:
Vice Chairman Gerald Pullin will be retiring soon, so nominations are now open for Vice Chairman.
LEPC needs more chairs for additional committees.
Sasol Explosion
The explosion at Sasol was very briefly discussed. No one was available to disclose what events occurred within the fenceline of Sasol. One unidentified person stated that he received a call from a member of the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office who provided notice of a shelter in place because of the black smoke coming from the Sasol facility. The facility itself never asked for a shelter in place. Another member of the committee stated that they were more concerned from a community standpoint. A motion was made and seconded to request information from Sasol on how they notify the public after an incident.
New Projects
- The World LNG & Gas Series Americas Summit & Exhibition will be November 1-4, 2022 at the Golden Nugget in Lake Charles. Other LNG summits are being held in Tokyo, Paris, and Milan.
LNG Projects
- Delfin LNG will use Black & Veatch for construction, which is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.
- Lake Charles LNG is now fully permitted and they recently signed an additional delivery contract with Shell.
- Commonwealth LNG has contracted 100% of capacity
- Venture LNG does not yet have CP2 under construction.
- Cameron LNG / Sempra: Both The Wood Group and Bechtel are saying that they were awarded the contract according to Gerald Pullin. There is also a contract to build a $3 billion carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility at Cameron LNG. Bechtel and
- Driftwood LNG: Shell withdrew their contract with Driftwood. However, there is still construction equipment on the Driftwood site.
- Pullin says if all these projects continue – although a lot will depend on elections in the fall – the committee anticipates 40,000 construction workers could descend upon southwest Louisiana to work on these projects by the summer of 2023.
Chemical Plants
- Chevron in Orange: This is a $16 billion project, and additional construction will soon be underway. As this facility is approximately 30 miles from southwest Louisiana, there will likely be an impact to the area similar to when Sasol was being built.
Presentation on Buxus
Lindsay Sander of Sander Resources presented the committee with Buxus, a free mobile app designed to connect emergency officials with information regarding pipelines.
Goals
“The Calcasieu Parish Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) was formed by Public Law Public Law 99-499, Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA), Title III. This committee’s responsibilities are as follows:
- Development, training, and testing of hazardous substances emergency response plan for Calcasieu Parish.
- Development of procedures for regulated facilities to provide Informational and Emergency notification to the LEPC in accordance with SARA, Title III.
- Development of procedures for receiving and processing requests from the public under the Community Right-to-Know provisions of SARA, Title III.”