Lake Peigneur water bill passes

Passing the Louisiana House of Representatives with a vote of 54 for, 34 against and 14 absent, SB 754 which provides for certain permits concerning ground water eliminates the use of the Chico Aquifer to construct gas storage caverns in the salt domes at Lake Peigneur.

However, the passage of this bill does not eliminate the possibility that the storage domes will be built.

According to the Save Lake Peigneur, Inc. “while this does not prevent the development of the natural gas caverns at the Jefferson Island Salt Dome, it does protect the daily withdrawal of drinking water equivalent to nearly 90,000 citizens in our area that was requested in the original permit application.”

In response to the passage of the bill, AGL Resources, the applicant to create the gas storage caverns, stated, “We are already evaluating our water use options so we can move forward with our expansion once we resolve our lease issues with the state. With gasoline at $4.00 a gallon and the price of natural gas more than doubling since last summer, we need more gas storage facilities, not fewer, that help stabilize prices for consumers.”

The passage of the bill is considered a victory to the Save Lake Peigneur group.

“Numerous members of Save Lake Peigneur devoted timeless hours to promote the bill.

“We hope our efforts will be rewarded by the governor’s support and signature to SB754,” they stated in a press release Thursday.

At the same token, Keith Poston, spokesman for AGL stated, “We will make our case to the Governor’s office that this bill sets a terrible precedent by circumventing the normal regulatory process already in place to evaluate projects like ours for environmental impact, water usage, economic benefits and other factors. If this bill becomes law, it’s only a matter of time before the next parish is targeted and the next company has its right to due process violated.”

Efforts in the immediate community around the lake began with still unexplained instances of bubbling in the body of water.

The group formed to first learn about the bubbling and eventually became involved in an effort to halt the addition of two more gas storage caverns in the lake.

AGL Resources who took over the Delcambre location a few years ago, applied with the Department of Natural Resources in the state to add more storage space. As of today, that permit has not been approved and AGL has not revealed their next action.