Residents support natural gas bill

In an article written by Maya T. Prabhu and appearing in a Gazette newspaper, it looks like the Chillum LNG facility may soon be as good as dead.

Chillum-area residents hope the General Assembly will pass a law that would protect their community, as well as neighborhoods throughout the county, from liquefied natural gas facilities that could be built near their homes.

Washington Gas owns a 21-acre site on Chillum Road near Queens Chapel Road, which is less than a block away from the West Hyattsville Metro station. At a House Economic Matters Committee meeting Monday, officials said the legislation, House Bill 1043, specifically targets that site. There is no liquefied natural gas facility on that site yet, but Washington Gas would like to build one. If the committee gives the bill a favorable report, it will move on to the House for consideration.

"[This bill] is written specifically to create a barrier for Washington Gas to gain approval to build an LNG storage facility at our Chillum property," said Steven Jumper, director of regional public policy for Washington Gas. "More importantly, this bill hinders our company in meeting our statutory obligation to the citizens and businesses of Maryland to provide safe and reliable supply to them at a reasonable cost."

But residents say the facility could potentially be unsafe to the surrounding communities if anything went wrong, and could potentially draw terrorists.

The bill, proposed by Del. Jolene Ivey (D-Dist. 47) of Cheverly and the Prince George’s County delegation, would require facilities to meet stricter standards for the placement. It would prohibit LNG facilities from being built in Prince George’s and require that the facility be outside an acceptable separation distance from any residence, calculated by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development safety standards.