http://smnewsnet.com/archives/89845
Dominion Cove Point Gets Support from
Union Workers
Southern Maryland Newsnet
January 9, 2014
About 75 union workers, represented by many Locals from throughout the state of Maryland and
Washington, DC, spent time January 8, 2014 in Annapolis, meeting Maryland legislators to
remind them of the importance of the Dominion Cove Point export project in Calvert County and
the tremendous benefits it will have on the state regarding jobs, tax revenue growth and global
environmental impact
The project will create more than 3,000 construction jobs during a three-year period. Because
Dominion has signed a project labor agreement, a majority of these jobs will go to local union
members. The labor benefits grow from there. It’s not just the 175 full-time, well-paying, highly
skilled jobs at the station once the facility is operating. Based on a U.S. Department of
Commerce formula, up to another 14,000 permanent jobs are expected to result from the project
nationally in businesses ranging from pipe manufacturers to accounting firms.
Dominion Cove Point LNG Terminal is located on the Chesapeake Bay in Lusby. It is one of the
nation’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facilities. Dominion acquired Cove Point
from Williams on September 5, 2002, and began receiving ships in the summer of 2003. In 2009,
Dominion finished an expansion project that increased Cove Point’s storage and production
capacity by nearly 80 percent.
Dominion Cove Point will play an increasingly critical role in coming years. Natural gas is the
energy of choice for many Americans, and demand is expected to grow through the next decade.
Although there are vast reserves of natural gas in the United States, many are not yet available.
Reserves in a number of other countries are available and for sale, but the gas has to be
transported. The most efficient way to transport natural gas across the ocean is to liquefy it and
transport it in specially built ships. Dominion Cove Point LNG Terminal is strategically located
where it can receive transport vessels, store the LNG onshore, and then transform it back to gas
when it is needed to meet demand.
As a significant addition, Dominion is also proposing to construct liquefaction facilities for
exporting liquefied natural gas at the LNG Terminal. Applications for natural gas exports to nonFree Trade Agreement countries and Free Trade Agreement countries have been approved by the
U.S. Department of Energy.
For information on Dominion’s Cove Point export project: https://www.dom.com/business/gastransmission/cove-point/index.jsp
Margit Miller / Staff Writer / Editor