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Ban LNG By Rail Campaign Calls on Secretary Buttigieg to Repeal Reckless Rule

One of five billboards; view them all here. 

PHILADELPHIA, PA (August 26, 2022) — Five new billboards are going up along some of the Philadelphia area’s busiest roads to warn drivers of the dangers of transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) by truck. The billboards are aimed at reaching locals who will see thousands of new trucks on the road daily if a planned LNG export facility is built in Gibbstown, NJ by New Fortress Energy. The first billboards will be up on August 29th and the last ones will come down on September 25th.

"These billboards emphasize the dangers of transporting highly flammable and explosive liquefied natural gas by truck through our communities," said Sahana Rao, Project Attorney at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). "The Fortress LNG project puts the Pennsylvania and New Jersey communities along its transport routes at risk, and it must be stopped. Just twenty-two LNG train cars hold the same amount of energy as an atomic bomb; the tiniest LNG leak can spark uncontrollable fires and devastating explosions."

The billboards will go up along I-476 in Pennsylvania, US 130 South in New Jersey, and the Betsy Ross Bridge in New Jersey. The total cost of the billboard placements was about $20,000 and was paid for by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The Fortress LNG export project would generate about 8,450 vehicle trips daily to and from the Gibbstown site, including at least 1,650 truck trips, with each truck carrying approximately 12,000 gallons of LNG.

LNG is a volatile and explosive substance, and transporting it by rail threatens the health and safety of communities along the transport routes. If spilled, the LNG could turn into rapidly expanding vapor clouds capable of flash-freezing human flesh. LNG is also disastrous for climate change. Fracking for the gas releases large amounts of methane—a potent contributor to climate change that is more than 80 times worse than carbon dioxide. Liquefying, transporting, and re-gasifying the substance releases considerably more emissions, taking fracked gas and making it even worse for the climate.

The billboards are part of the Ban LNG By Rail campaign that is calling on Secretary Pete Buttigieg to suspend a Trump-era rule that is still in place which allows for fast-tracking the transportation of LNG by rail without restrictions or review for the first time. The Department of Transportation says it will make its decision in December of this year.

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NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.