Feds order La. LNG tanks shuttered

Super-cold liquefied natural gas (LNG) leaked Jan. 22 into a space between the inner and outer walls of two tanks at the first-ever LNG export terminal in the United States. The major storage facility is located at the Sabine Pass LNG export facility in Cameron Parish, La. The minus 260-degree temperature created numerous 1-to-6-foot cracks in the carbon steel outer tank wall, allowing some gas to escape, according to a Feb. 8 order to shutter the facility by mid-February by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. While investigating the leak, federal investigators were told 11 similar incidents may have occurred from 2008-16. Each tank can hold up to 3.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas, which is about 2 percent of the total natural gas produced in Louisiana in 2017. Other storage tanks at the facility must also be inspected. Cheniere Energy Inc. of Houston owns the facility. In a Feb. 9 statement, the company said: "Safety is Cheniere's number one priority, and we want to stress that there was and is no immediate danger to our community, workforce, or our facility from this incident, nor is there any impact on LNG production." (Source: NOLA.com 02/10/18)