As a fourth-generation fisherman from Astoria, I’ve been thinking about the debate over locating an LNG terminal on the Skipanon peninsula and about how it might impact salmon in the area. I believe it is unlikely that the construction or operation of such a facility will have significant effects on juvenile or adult salmon that migrate through the area. Juvenile salmon are known to frequent this type of habitat during their migration to the ocean, and in the case of chum and fall chinook fingerlings, actually utilize this shallow water habitat for rearing. Hundreds of ships go up and down the Columbia River each week, and no one seems to feel they harm the salmon.

Net pen reared salmon in Youngs Bay are unlikely to experience any degradation of habitat or stress because of the traffic associated with the operation of the LNG terminal. The Youngs Bay net pen project operated by Clatsop County accounts for more than half of the nontribal commercial catch for the entire basin. Anything that can help that program grow will benefit the whole regional economy, as those fish contribute to many different fisheries. In some years, nearly half the catch in Buoy 10 is from Youngs Bay releases.

I feel there are certain possibilities for the net pen project and for the Warrenton High School students who are trying to restore their fisheries program to benefit from the LNG terminal being located on the Skipanon. Gasification of LNG requires removing a lot of heat from the air, or from a water body, or both. If Skipanon natural gas succeeds in being licensed at the site they have identified, it would provide an opportunity to have a nearby grow-out facility for salmon smolts using chilled filtered water in large quantities to rear salmon fry. In the spring, they would be transferred to the net pens in Youngs Bay and Cathlamet Bay near Tongue Point.

Such a program would provide a state-of-the-art facility with far greater educational opportunities than is presently planned at the school. State and federal hatcheries in Oregon do not have the capacity to provide the number of fry that the net pen project is capable of rearing for sport and commercial harvest. Several million presmolts could be grown each year, then transferred to the net pens for short-term rearing and release. The Buoy 10 fishery would benefit enormously from increased fall chinook and coho releases. We all know how important that is to our communities on both sides of the river.

The gasification process could also provide a tremendous amount of cold air used in a cold storage facility. The Port Commission has been considering a community cold storage for several years, but the cost of electricity for refrigeration has been a problem. Supercold air as a byproduct from the LNG facility could make the dream of a regional cold storage not only feasible, but place it in a highly competitive position for industries that require flash freezing and short- or long-term low temperature storage.

I’d like to see the positive side of the LNG issue be looked at, with all the handwaving and fearmongering that is going on.

BRIAN TARABOCHIA

Astoria