Dominion Cove Point Liquefied Natural Gas in Lusby is looking to acquire about 219 acres of land in Calvert County for the company’s proposed expansion to the Cove Point plant in Lusby that would allow the export of natural gas.

According to Dan Donovan, director of media relations, about 119 of the total 219 acres are county-owned property that will be leased, and the other 100 acres are from a private landowner.

The county-owned property consists of two different pieces of land one on Cove Point Road in Lusby and the other near the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons Island.

Donovan said Dominion is proposing to lease 80 acres adjacent to the private landowner on West Cove Point Road to be used as a temporary construction site.

He said right now, it is “not determined” how much of the 80 acres will be developed or used.

During a Sept. 11 Calvert County Board of County Commissioners meeting, the board unanimously voted to allow staff to proceed with preparing a lease for the two county-owned properties that make up the 80 acres.

According to a memo from the Department of Economic Development, some permanent improvements, such as utility upgrades, a building that could be converted for county use and access roads, are proposed to be a part of the land development.

The improvements, according to the memo, wouldn’t be at the expense of the county and would be turned over to the county at the termination of the lease.

The remaining 39 acres, located across from the Calvert Marine Museum and including a portion of the grass parking lot, are proposed to be used “occasionally for bringing in large equipment,” said Donovan.

However, he said that Dominion “doesn’t anticipate needing this property until 2015.”

The parking lot and land across from the museum are typically used to accommodate patrons during the concert season, but Donovan said the company “anticipates working around the concert schedule.”

If the BOCC decides to move forward with the lease after terms are finalized, there will be a public hearing.

Donovan said that as progress is made, “we will let the community and ... agencies know the plan and let them participate in the process.

“We think we’ve chosen two very good sites that are the least disruptive to the community and serves our purpose as well,” Donovan said, adding that Dominion was “lucky to find a place nearby” the plant.

More information will be available in the next few weeks, he said.

Currently, Dominion is still in the pre-filing process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to build a natural gas liquefaction plant proposed for its Cove Point facility, Donovan said.

Dominion’s proposed expansion will allow the plant, currently an import facility, to export natural gas. The company plans to request project approval by March 2014 with an in-service date of 2017, pending necessary approvals.

aharrison@somdnews.com