A plan to place a liquefied natural gas terminal in the heart of Long Beach may face troubles on account of alternative project sites.

One plan by Mitsubishi-ConocoPhillips to put an LNG terminal onshore smack in the middle of the Port of Long Beach has residents and activist organizations up in arms. They don’t want the terminal in such a densely populated urban area. Currently, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Port are reviewing the Mitsubishi-ConocoPhillips environmental impact report and deciding whether or not to grant permits for construction of the LNG facility. However, two other plans by competing LNG transport companies to build facilities offshore may help opponents fight the Long Beach proposal. “In the environmental impact report, they must address alternatives,” explains Jesse Marquez, executive director of Coalition for a Safe Environment. “These alternative plans provide us a legal challenge if they do approve the LNG terminal in Long Beach.”