EUGENE, Ore. -- Gov. Ted Kulongoski says he is ready to go to court to make sure any liquefied natural gas facilities slated for Oregon are needed and safe.

Kulongoski was reacting to a letter from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission responding to state concerns over proposals to build facilities at the mouth of the Columbia River and at Coos Bay to unload LNG from ships and feed it to pipelines serving the West Coast.

FERC rejected the governor's suggestion to conduct a regional review of LNG projects, saying once it has determined they meet environmental and public safety standards it will let the market decide which projects are built