(September 22, 2005) -- When a tough-grading teacher considers work so well done that he/she effectively cites it as fact, that's a big deal.

LB City Hall earned that respect by submitting a solid, professional, intellectually honest report to the CA Energy Commission -- whose business is Energy -- on safety considerations surrounding a proposal by a private firm to locate an 80+ million gallon Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility in the Port of LB, roughly two miles from downtown LB.

LB city management was faced with submitting the high-stakes report -- one of the first in U.S. history under a just-passed federal law -- just weeks after the legislation became law. It did so through the efforts of multiple city agencies including LB's first responders -- LBFD and LBPD -- who (again to management's credit) had done their homework on the subject.

If LB City Hall had been ill-prepared and handed-in mediocre work, the CA Energy Commission might have relegated it to a bureaucratic round file or poked holes in it. Instead, the State's energy agency advanced LB's cited safety considerations -- and more -- to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

That's a big deal.

And for good measure, the Energy agency amplified LB's stated safety considerations by adding some of its own, including its recommended application of stringent safety standards for the PoLB location.

The CA Energy Commission Safety Advisory Report submitted by its staff on the LNG facility proposed to be sited in the PoLB speaks for itself. In our opinion, it is a must-read.

To view it, click CA Energy Commission Safety Advisory Report on LNG Facility Proposed in Port of LB.