Today, City Council is expected to pass a resolution opposing Philadelphia Gas Works' plan to develop a liquefied natural gas import terminal at its Port Richmond plant. Although PGW says a federal review process will decide whether it can safely import LNG, Belser, program organizer for Clean Water Action, joins river ward residents who say the risks are too high.

City Paper: What environmental risk is posed by the proposed Freedom Energy Center?

Evan Belser: This is more an issue of public safety. Shipping liquefied natural gas exposes, in this case, many thousands of people who are in close proximity to an enormous tanker, 1,000 feet long, holding a highly volatile fossil fuel that could explode in the case of an accident or an attack.

CP: [PGW president and CEO] Tom Knudsen argues that LNG is not explosive. How do you reconcile the opposing viewpoints?

EB: Yes, liquid natural gas isn't explosive, but it's only liquid at 260 degrees below [zero] Fahrenheit, so once liquefied natural gas is exposed to regular air, it will immediately turn into a gas. The greater threat is the escape of gas that would then cloud the surrounding area and make things volatile, which could then spark a fire from some guy smoking a cigarette on the dock or some guy smoking a cigarette in their car on I-95.

CP: Have there been prior cases of similar facilities causing fires and explosions?

EB: As a whole, it's true, liquefied natural gas has a pretty good record. Although there's no reason not to think that if liquid natural gas transport is done on a much more regular basis, things could go wrong.

CP: Looks like Council has the nine votes needed to pass this resolution. Who's really in favor of this?

EB: The mayor is very much focused on the economics of PGW. But the economics of this should be no justification for the risks. Council members [Joan] Krajewski, [Frank] DiCicco and Council President [Anna] Verna are co-sponsoring a [nonbinding] resolution that will come before Council to stop this project. … PGW has said in the past that they don't plan to pursue this project if City Council makes it clear they don't want it.