Sempra's Ensenada LNG plant passes inspection - SDUT

[Hans Laetz, Newsgroup Editor]

Sempra's Ensenada LNG plant passes inspection
Inspectors find only "administrative irregularities"

By Sandra Dibble

Sempra Energy’s LNG terminal outside Ensenada complies with Mexico’s
environmental regulations, a high-ranking official said this week,
despite assertions to the contrary by the city’s mayor and critics in
the Baja California congress and Mexico’s federal legislature.

A three-day visit to the liquefied natural gas facility by inspectors
from the federal environmental watchdog agency, Profepa, revealed
administrative irregularities, but “no environmental imbalance or
damage to human health,” according to a written statement from the
agency.

The $1.2-billion facility, known as Energia Costa Azul, has been
operating since 2008 and supplies users on both sides of the border.
It has been in the spotlight since Feb. 11th, when Ensenada Mayor
Enrique Pelayo Torres sent dozens of municipal officers to close the
plant, saying the terminal threatened ecosystems in the area, lacked a
buffer zone and that its permits were not properly issued.

Federal and state authorities intervened, saying the permits were in
order, and the facility never stopped operating.

Yanet Manzo Hernández, in charge of industrial inspections for
Profepa, told Ensenada media on Wednesday that the inspectors had
noted some administrative issues “but none of these put at risk the
facility and could lead to its closure.”

In recordings of the interviews provided by Profepa, Manzo did not
disclose the nature of the administrative issues, but said the company
had five days to respond to the inspectors’ findings.

The inspection was conducted as a result of the public concerns about
the plant, Manzo said. Earlier this month, Mexico’s federal Chamber of
Deputies formed a subcommittee to look into the issues raised by the
operation of the Costa Azul facility.

Manzo said the facility’s tanks met environmental specifications in
its federal permit, and had a double skin and were designed to
withstand earthquakes.

While the terminal has been the focus of criticism by Mayor Pelayo’s
administration, state and federal authorities in Mexico have stood
staunchly behind Sempra.

This week, Baja California officials released a letter dated Feb. 22
from Carlos Pascual, the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, to Gov. José
Guadalupe Osuna Millán, thanking him “for the support given to
Sempra....I was very pleased to see the importance that you gave the
matter and the positive measures that the state government took to
stop the attempt to close the terminal.”
C