Action Alerts

This fossil fuel company has put communities in Puerto Rico in harm’s way for too long

What's At Stake

In 2018, New Fortress Energy, through its Puerto Rico-based subsidiary NFEnergía, began designing a large liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal in San Juan Harbor to import methane gas that would run through a pipeline to the nearby power plant.

This is a violation of federal law because it did not receive approval from the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission (FERC).

FERC is legally responsible for assessing the health, public safety, and environmental risks of gas and oil projects before they begin operating, and the agency must inform the public so they can engage in any approval process.

But that didn’t happen.

Instead, NFEnergía chose to break the law and began building the terminal without receiving approval from FERC.

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No one in the surrounding communities was notified or consulted about this project — even though the potentially explosive terminal sits less than a quarter mile from the closest homes. According to the National Environmental Policy Act and the Natural Gas Act, as concerned residents, we have a right to have their voices heard when a major project is proposed to be built in our communities.

Groups in Puerto Rico deserve to be heard. Join us in telling FERC to schedule Spanish-speaking, in-person public meetings in Puerto Rico’s dangerous methane gas project area and its surrounding neighborhoods, with simultaneous translation for its personnel if needed.

The people living close to the LNG terminal are within the blast radius of possible catastrophic gas explosions. They are also vulnerable to long-term health impacts from chronic exposure to increased toxic air pollution from methane combustion leaks and added exhaust from the terminal’s associated truck and ship traffic.

To make matters worse, the gas industry is seeking to expand operations at the San Juan harbor so larger tankers can bring more gas across the archipelago. FERC must take into consideration that any expansion of gas infrastructure and imports into Puerto Rico would not improve an already failed electric system.

There is abundant evidence that rooftop solar and storage systems — coupled with energy conservation, efficiency and literacy programs, as well as other alternatives — for every household in Puerto Rico is the safest and healthiest solution to withstand the effects of climate change on the archipelago. Simply put, Puerto Ricans deserve a reliable electricity supply and a clean environment.

New Fortress Energy and NFEnergía must be held accountable for the public safety, environmental, and climate threats its gas terminal presents.

LNG transport ship at the New Fortress Energy facility in San Juan Harbor, Puerto Rico
LNG transport ship at the New Fortress Energy facility in San Juan Harbor, Puerto Rico (Courtesy of Myrna Conty)

Delivery to the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission

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