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Logistics 1 topic of AKLNG FERC report Construction impacts expected on roads, ports and airports; outside workers needed would be brought in for project, return home KRISTEN NELSON Petroleum News
The draft of resource report No. 5 for the Alaska LNG project, covering socioeconomics, is primarily qualitative rather than quantitative because project data are not available for modeling, report authors told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. But where preliminary data are available on transportation and logistics, quantitative analysis provided, although data are anticipated to change when the FERC application is submitted.
The FERC application is for a project which would treat natural gas on the North Slope, transport it through an 800-mile pipeline to Nikiski on Cook Inlet and liquefy it for export as LNG.
On the availability of trained Alaskans to fill project positions the report said that while there have been efforts to address workforce development, the recent drop in oil prices and the state’s resulting financial difficulties have made it difficult to expand or even maintain existing training programs. Capital budget constraints on construction contractors in the state mean fewer union workers contributing to training program fees, and the combined result is that current training programs are only anticipated to provide replacements for retiring workers over the next decade, the report said.
Transportation There would be impacts on Alaska’s roads, the report said, noting that some sections of state highways which would see project traffic have been designated by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities as safety corridors, areas with higher than average incidence of fatal and serious injury crashes which “are considered to be at or near traffic volume capacity.”
Affected areas for the project include an 8.5-mile section of the Parks Highway between Wasilla and Houston; a 9.8-mile section of the Sterling Highway between Sterling and Soldotna; and a 30.6-mile section of the Seward Highway between Anchorage and Girdwood.
The report said public comments in FERC scoping meetings also indicated concerns about project impacts on the Kenai Spur Highway. The planned liquefaction facility at Nikiski would require relocation of a 1.33-mile segment of the highway to the east.
The Alaska Railroad and its Alaska Rail Marine, sized for current requirements, would also be impacted, as would Alaska ports and harbors.
40 years The report looks at socioeconomic impacts over 40 years - from construction through operation to expected abandonment. While the project is still in the pre-front end engineering and design phase, with the current market for LNG making advancement to FEED uncertain, the report talks to a construction phase from 2019-25, with first production in 2025. Abandonment, the report said, could be postponed if more natural gas is found and if markets continue to support the project.
Project workers The number of workers required for construction would be larger than Alaska’s population could supply, so some jobs would be filled by out-of-state workers, the report said. But those workers are not expected to bring families with them to Alaska, because, the report said, they “would commute on a rotational basis from designated pick up locations to construction worksites and then be returned to the starting pick up locations at the conclusion of a work rotation.” This would mitigate impacts on nearby communities.
The report also said construction camps are expected to be closed, with workers required to stay in camp when off duty.
With construction camps expected to be closed, with personnel entering and exiting from controlled access points, security personnel at the camps would handle minor enforcement.
“Hiring procedures, training, screening, and camp rules would be implemented to reduce issues of workplace and community illegal activities,” the report said, with screening for drugs and alcohol occurring at pickup points before workers are transported to the camps.
All workers, Alaska residents migrating to fill jobs and those from out-of-state, would be required to reside in construction camps, although the report said Kenai Peninsula Borough residents working on the LNG facility may be allowed to commute between their homes and the job site each day.
The report does say that the project would likely attract some job seekers from the Lower 48 and this “temporary economic in-migration for non-specific employment opportunities could be substantial,” with population increases most likely be highest at the main economic centers of Anchorage and Fairbanks.
Transportation demands An estimate of trucking needs during construction indicates a shortage of 27 semi-tractor trailers, assuming the business load remains equivalent to current market conditions, the report said. A lack of qualified commercial truck drivers could be an issue, and result in transport bottlenecks.
For roads, the report said DOT anticipates some roads, highways and bridges would need improvements to bear heavier and more frequent loads during construction and that some highways may need work after construction to repair effects of construction traffic.
Bridges would be the primary constraints on public roads, and would limit weight and width of loads.
On the Dalton Highway construction traffic for the project is expected to increase volume by about 50 percent; on the Glenn and Parks highways, construction-related traffic would contribute to current congestion, and additional pullout areas sized for trucks and additional passing lanes may be required.
For the Seward, Sterling and Kenai Spur highways, rail would provide the best option for transportation from the Port of Seward, and other construction materials could be delivered to Nikiski by barge and other marine vessels.
The report said the construction camp for the LNG facility would be on the construction site, preventing the need for off-site traffic and road crossings during shift changes.
During peak labor demand, however, some 150 construction workers would be transported in and out of the LNG facility site daily as a result of rotations, mobilizations and demobilizations.
Fuel for LNG facility construction could be delivered by barge or tanker truck from the adjacent Tesoro refinery, requiring no use of public roads, or a pipeline could be built from the refinery to the construction site.
Other transportation used during construction would include the Alaska Railroad and ports and harbors, with different Southcentral ports used for different types of cargo and the Port of Dutch Harbor used for customs importation of major sealift modules for the gas treatment plant at Prudhoe Bay.
Air transportation would be used for project personnel, with the project requiring a variety of aircraft types, and an estimated 11,000 construction workers in Alaska at peak rotation requiring as many as 700 to 800 seats daily.
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