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Dominion Seeks Court Confirmation of Right to Build LNG Export Facility

Dominion asked a Calvert County, Md., court to confirm its right to construct a natural gas liquefaction project at its Cove Point liquefied natural gas terminal in Lusby, Md., in a suit filed May 18. The company seeks a declaratory…

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judgment in response to an erroneous claim by the Sierra Club that the club has the authority to block the project. Dominion has previously said that it has authority to build the export terminal despite a 2005 agreement with the Sierra Club (see ITT Online Archives 12042648). The LNG project is expected to handle natural gas exports that would reduce the U.S. trade deficit by more than $2.8 billion per year, dominion said. The suit said nothing in the 2005 agreement prohibits expansion of liquefaction capabilities at Cove Point or the export of LNG, and cited several sections of the 2005 agreement as expressly allowing the liquefaction project and loading LNG onto tanker ships for export. Construction of the liquefaction project is expected to begin in 2014, with an in-service date in 2017, pending receipt of necessary approvals, negotiating binding terminal service agreements with the shippers and successful completion of engineering studies.