Federal Magistrate Rejects Port’s Motion to Dismiss Oregon LNG Suit Over Site Lease
Posted on Nov 13, 2009 in Litigation, Regas Terminals & Capacity | Comments Off on Federal Magistrate Rejects Port’s Motion to Dismiss Oregon LNG Suit Over Site Lease
United States Federal Magistrate Judge John Jelderks has denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Oregon LNG against the Port of Astoria. The suit alleges that the Port has delayed exercising an option to extend the lease between the Port and the Oregon Department of State Lands for the Oregon LNG project site. Rather than extending the lease 30 years to match the term of the sublease between the Port and the project developer, the Port elected to extend the underlying lease two years while retaining two 30-year options on the property. The Daily Astorian [subscription required] reports that Magistrate Judge Jelderks rejected the Port’s argument that Oregon is an “indispensible party” to this dispute.