24 February 2025
By Natalie McLendon
Contributing Writer
(lailluminator.com) — Neighbors, both for and against a proposed natural gas facility, had the chance to share their thoughts on the project during a public hearing on Tuesday of last week.
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) hosted the hearing at Frasch Park Recreation Room over the pending construction of the Venture Global CP Express Moss Lake Compressor Station facility in Calcasieu Parish, with many speaking in opposition to the proposition.
As part of its Calcasieu Pass Express Pipeline Project, which would transfer gas to the CP2 Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Terminal, the proposed Venture Global station would include six compressors that could emit more than 726,000 tons of greenhouse gases per year, according to a public notice issued by LDEQ.
LDEQ granted Venture Global an expedited permitting process in 2022 to “meet the operational schedule for startup” of the compressor station, according to public documents obtained from the agency’s online database.
Supporters who provided written comments to LDEQ before the hearing included Mike Moncla, Louisiana Oil and Gas Association president, as well as residents and officials from southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana.
No public officials spoke at the hearing although some were in attendance, including Stuart Moss, who sits on the Louisiana Board of Commerce and Industry. The board reviews applications for state tax incentives, including the Industrial Tax Exemption Program. The planned CP2 LNG terminal’s tax exemptions are valued at more than $2 billion dollars over 10 years.
Calcasieu resident and attorney Steven Broussard said he lives less than a quarter of a mile from the proposed project. He expressed concerns about potential health risks associated with the pollutants listed in the LDEQ’s public notice.
“It perplexes me how it says that all these pollutants exceed, in layman’s terms, acceptable levels, and yet you’re going to prove it and say it’s safe and it’s not going to be any harm to anyone out there or the environment,” Broussard said.
“The only short-term benefit is going to be jobs, and that’s going to be long gone after the pollutants are still there,” he added.
In a letter he submitted to LDEQ, Broussard said Venture Global conducted noise level recordings on his property in early 2022. Although the company allegedly promised to provide results to Broussard, he said he never received a response despite repeated requests.
LDEQ hearing officer Brandon Williams said Venture Global would not make a presentation at the hearing, and no one from the company made a public comment.
Tom Henning, another neighbor of the proposed site, said he had only learned of the LDEQ hearing a few hours prior. The agency provided public notice of the event last week.
“I bought this property for hunting, fishing and wildlife, and it sounds to me like this project is really going to be detrimental to them,” Henning said. “I also bring my children and grandchildren to this residence and with the pollution that is being proposed, I really hate that I am going to submit my children to this. Therefore, I would ask the DEQ to reject this project.”
Representatives from environmental advocacy groups – including Fisherman Involved in Sustaining our Heritage, For a Better Bayou, Healthy Gulf, Louisiana Bucket Brigade, Micah 6:8 Mission and Restore – spoke in opposition to the compressor station at the hour-long hearing.
Brian Hanks, who runs a land services business, spoke in favor of the proposal, citing economic benefits and job creation. Hanks, who is former chairman of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, said he was also speaking on behalf of McNeese State University.
Other supporters included Travis Woods, president of the Gulf Coast Industrial Group, and Sherman Broussard, an instructor at Sowela Technical Community College in Lake Charles.
This article originally published in the February 24, 2025 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.