Federal safety officials are investigating leaking ethane near two storage tanks at a Maryland liquefied natural gas export terminal and have asked that they be taken out of service.
But officials at Cove Point LNG, the largest LNG export facility on the East Coast, said the 40-gallon underground ethane tanks are “safe to operate under the current conditions.”
“The leaks in the ethane storage area never posed an unsafe condition for our employees, community, or our facility,” Cove Point spokesperson Samantha Norris said in an emailed statement.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued a notice of a proposed safety order in mid-October requesting that the facility stop operating the tanks. The facility, owned by a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, has until Thursday to respond in writing. The company — BHE Gas Transmission and Storage — has requested an informal consultation with PHMSA officials.
