The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation still prefers Nikiski over Port MacKenzie as the terminus for a proposed natural gas pipeline, according to an analysis the AGDC recently sent to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The review came after a Matanuska-Susitna Borough complaint to FERC that its port had been overlooked as an alternative.
But the FERC-ordered review identified problems with Port MacKenzie that the gasline corporation says are not present in the plan to build a liquefaction plant and other facilities in Nikiski. Among them, the AGDC review says, are issues with Port MacKenzie’s greater tidal range, heavier buildup of ice and more potential for disturbing endangered Cook Inlet belugas.
The gasline corporation also says land at the port that the borough has identified for a liquefaction plant is not suitable and would conflict with other development plans for the port’s future use.
In its own letter to FERC, the Mat-Su Borough says it disagrees with some of the AGDC’s findings and plans to file further comments highlighting what it called “incorrect information” in the gasline corporation’s review.
Casey Grove is host of Alaska News Nightly, a general assignment reporter and an editor at Alaska Public Media. Reach him atcgrove@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Caseyhere.
