By a 4-0 vote, Bethlehem’s Zoning Hearing Board granted dimensional variances and a special exception to UGI on July 12 for a 98 foot high, 78 foot wide liquefied natural gas facility. This tank, which has a 2 million gallon capacity, will be located in Bethlehem at 2470 Ringhoffer Road. That is an 84-acre tract of former Bethlehem Steel land, and is now part of Lehigh Valley Industrial Park.

This decision came at the end of three nights of testimony that first began in May. Allentown Attorney Tim Siegfried represented UGI. Lower Saucon Township, upon which part of the Ringhoffer Road tract is located, was opposed. Environmental attorney Charles Elliot represented Lower Saucon. Attorney Kevin Kelleher acted as Solicitor to the Board.

The members who voted for this project are Gus Loupos, Bill Fitzpatrick, Jim Schantz and Michael Santanasto. A fifth member, Linda Shay Gardner, was unable to participate.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is cryogenically cooled natural gas which is liquefied to reduce the volume for shipping and storage. LNG is primarily methane, but can contain up to 10 percent ethane and propane. It is stored at a temperature of negative 260 degrees Farenheit.

The location along Ringhoffer Road was attractive to UGI for two reasons. First, it is located near a pipeline that will enable the company to deliver fuel after returning the methane to its gaseous state. Second, the facility would be located in a swale, affording some natural protection.

The 98-foot-high tank is a triple-wall full containment tank. A stainless steel tank will be surrounded by insulation and then a second wall of steel that would be encased in concrete. “It’s a big thermos bottle,” explained UGI engineer Mike Mara.

The closest home is 662 feet away, and is vacant. The next two closest homes are 840’and 850’ away.

The tank will be filled by 10,000 gallon tankers, each of them weighing over 44,000 pounds, traveling along Hellerotwn, Applebutter and Ringhoffer Roads. About five or six deliveries will be made daily over the course of several months until the tank is full. After that, the only time the tank will be accessed is during extremely cold weather. UGI officials will be widening Ringhoffer Road.

Employees will be on the site during deliveries or when gas is transferred to a pipeline. The rest of the time, the facility will be monitored from a gas control facility located in Reading. That gas control station will be able to detect leaks and dispatch technicians, or remotely shut down the plant.

No other use will be made of this 83-acre tract, which will be both buffered with landscaping and fenced to prevent easy access.

Dr. Ryan Hart, a consultant who assists in the investigation and analyses of fires and explosions, said the likelihood of a major incident is very remote. In two hours of cross-examination, he placed the chance of a major problem occurring as once every 100 million years. He said LNG is heavy and the vapor cloud is not something that will rise up in the sky. He said that instead, it would hug the ground. He also said LNG is inflammable and needs to mix with air before it becomes explosive.

Lower Saucon resident Virginia Oskin, who lives less than a mile from the proposed tower, said she was there for her family. She wondered whether the tank could ever explode as a result of an incident like a plane being crashed into it. He told her it is “not physically possible for that tank to just explode.” It would have to mix with outside air first, and a lot of it, before it became flammable.

Trenches will surround the tower for spills that may occur during loading or transfer to a pipeline.

Dr. Hart also testified that federal regulations require that if there is an incident, the blast zone must be limited to the property’s borders.

Deputy Fire Chief Craig Baer is preparing an emergency action plan for the facility.

Arianne Elinich, who lives in Coopersburg about 6.5 miles away, was denied standing. But John Tallarico, who owns an old Bethlehem Steel slag bank and borders the proposed tank, supported the project.