Save Passamaquoddy Bay - Canada

Nulankeyutomonen Nkihtahkomikumon - Passamaquoddy

Save Passamaquoddy Bay - US

Own It Now — Passamaquoddy Birch Bark Canoe

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The Whole Bay Study Law of the Sea & Innocent Passage Calais LNG's Claims vs LNG Industry Reality • Living in the Hazard Zones

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The Green Coast

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Public Relations for Quoddy Bay LLC

James Mitchell (second cousin to Gov. John Baldacci) originally was providing public relations for the project; however, he eventually demurred, since — after almost a year of representing Quoddy Bay LLC — he said there was a conflict of interest since he also represents the gas pipeline.
Sutherland & Weston, Bangor, ME (As of 2005 Dec 13)
Carey Weston
Savvy, Inc., Portland, ME (As of 2005 December 13, may no longer be representing Quoddy Bay LLC)
Dennis Bailey (of the "Casino NO" campaign against the tribe)
Emily Francis (wife of Tribal Attorney Craig Francis who left the position as tribal attorney in 2005 December)
William Alexander and Associates Ltd., Saint John, NB
Peter Nelson

Documents Related to Project

FERC Pre-application Documents

* SPB = Save Passamaquoddy Bay (this website)

Developer #2: Downeast LNG

| FERC Docket Numbers | Partners | Environmental Contamination | Public Relations | Attorneys | Documents |

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http://www.downeastlng.com/

FERC Docket Numbers

Prefiling (This process has been completed):

PF06-13

 

Formal Filing (for proposed terminal and pipeline):

CP07-52

CP07-53

CP07-54

CP07-55

Partners in Downeast LNG

Dean Girdis

Robert Wyatt

Environmental Contamination

Downeast LNG developer Dean Girdis likes to tell the public about his service in the Peace Corps; however, his Peace Corps experience apparently didn't instill in Girdis a proper regard for the environment and for indigenous peoples.

For the same reasons given in the environmental contamination information about Cianbro and Developer #3, Downeast LNG's project would contaminate marine species, and thereby contaminate the Passamaquoddy people who eat those species. Constructing docking facilities anywhere in the area would stir up arsenic, dioxin, and other hazardous contaminants that are currently safely contained a few inches below the surface of the marine bottom.

Public Relations for Downeast LNG

• Pierce Atwood Consulting, Portland, ME
  • Edward "Ted" S. O'Meara, Jr.

Documents Related to Project

FERC Pre-application Documents

A non-comprehensive, flawed propaganda tool paid for by Downeast LNG:
Economic and Fiscal Impacts of a Proposed LNG Facility in Robbinston, Maine (in PDF format)
[Alternate download source (in PDF format) from SPB's website]

Developer #3: "Calais LNG Project Company LLC"

| FERC Docket Numbers | CLNG's Claims vs LNG Industry Reality | Aliases | Partners | Defunct Partners | Environmental Contamination | Attorneys |

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http://www.calaislng.com/ [2008 Jun 23 — Now available without a userid and password.]

FERC Docket Numbers

Prefiling:

PF08-24

Calais LNG's Claims vs LNG Industry Reality — a comparison of spin vs fact.

Aliases

Numerous business names have been announced to the media by developer #3. Perhaps they've now settled on permanent names.

1. BP Consulting LLC
2. St. Croix Consulting
3. St. Croix Development
4. Calais LNG
5. Northeast Energy
6. Calais Maine LNG Import Terminal
7. North East Energy Development LLC — the partnership name between Emery and Gelber (2008 Jan).
8. Calais LNG
9. Calais LNG Project Co. LLC — the LNG company name (2008 Jan).

Partners in Calais LNG Project Co. and/or North East Energy Development LLC

• Ian Emery (Maine State Representative and member of the Governor's Economic Task Force for Washington County)

Conflict of Interest

Ian Emery is a member of the state legislature and a member of the Governor's Economic Task Force for Washington County. He may find himself voting on, and making recommendations about, LNG in Washington County; thus, he holds a conflict-of-interest position by representing his own business interests while simultaneously supposedly representing the public on the same issues.

• Arthur W. Gelber, Gelber & Associates of Houston, Texas; development manager of Calais Maine LNG Import Terminal
   
• Carl Myers, retired Pennsylvania gas utility vice president of UGI Corporation / UGI Energy Services, and general manager of UGI's division, Gasmark^®.
   
• James Lewis, vice president of ICG Consulting, formerly of Project Technical Liaison Associates, Inc. (PTLA), of Texas.

Lack of Veracity & Conflict of Interest

PTL Associates was acquired by ICF International, and Lewis is mentioned on the ICF website as a vice president. According to ICF, in August of 2007, Lewis was appointed to the Chemical Transportation Advisory Committee by US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. The website also indicates that the committee is sponsored by the US Coast Guard.

So, a US Dept. of Homeland Security-appointed committee member, James Lewis, according to his statements and LNG parlor tricks for Quoddy Bay LNG in Perry and Pleasant Point in February 2005, believes that a catasrophic LNG spill on water can't harm people, assets, or the environment.

James Lewis's

Brazen lack of veracity; and

Ownership in an improperly sited LNG terminal proposal (as indicated by SIGTTO best practices for LNG terminal siting),

…makes his participation in the Chemical Transportation Advisory Committee entirely inappropriate.

Partners in Calais LNG (now defunct)

Ian Emery (Maine State Representative and member of the Governor's Economic Task Force for Washington County)
 

Fred Moore, Jr. (then-Tribal Representative to the Maine Legislature and member of the Governor's Economic Task Force for Washington County) — Moore left Calais LNG, and became re-involved with Quoddy Bay LNG; then, became Passamaquoddy Tribal Government's liason to Quoddy Bay LNG.

• Cianbro, of Pittsfield, Maine, had apparently agreed to construct the LNG terminal, perhaps in partnership with Calais LNG. — Cianbro is no longer a partner with defunct Calais LNG.

Partners in Environmental Contamination

Ironically — and like Downeast LNG : Developer #2 — Cianbro paints itself as being environmentally sensitive and a friend of the Passamaquoddy tribe, and yet — just like Downeast LNG — the location being proposed for the LNG terminal would stir up environmental hazards that would contaminate fish eaten by Passamaquoddy tribal members, as well as the general public.

A 2001 study conducted by the Environmental Department of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point & Cobscook Bay Resource Center established a baseline of contaminants in marine species in Passmaquoddy Bay that are eaten by Passamaquoddy tribal members. The Passamaquoddy Tribe is concerned that tribal members' health suffers from ingesting dioxin, heavy metals, and other contaminants previously deposited in the St. Croix River and Passamaquoddy Bay by the Baileyville papermill, and are found in those marine species. The toxic deposits are below the bottom surface, but construction in the waterway would release them, and would further contaminate marine species and anyone who eats those species. Lobsters and scallops are among the species that would suffer contamination.

Attorneys representing Calais LNG Project Co.

• Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau & Pachios
  Offices in Portland, Maine; Augusta, Maine; New Hampshire; and Massachusetts
   
• Bracewell & Giuliani LLP
  Offices in Washington, DC; New York; Texas; Connecticut; Dubai; Kazakhstan; and London

Developer #4: Same as Developer #1 — Quoddy Bay LLC

In 2007, it became known that Bear Creek Investments had purchased (or optioned to purchase) land abutting the Developer #2 project (Downeast LNG) in Robbinston. This purchase appears to be an attempt to stop the Downeast LNG project from compliance with FERC Thermal Exclusion Zone compliance for LNG terminals.

Quoddy Bay LLC has been lurking in the North Lubec area under an assumed name "Bear Creek Investments," through the person Hubert E. Bereman, Vice President for Development Engineering at Smith Cogeneration International Inc. That's one of Donald M. Smith's companies. [Source: Bangor Daily News, "Lubec LNG queries lead back to Okla. developer," 2005 Oct 22.]

Excelerate Energy — The "Good" LNG Developer

Offshore LNG Terminals: the Ultimate Safety, Security, & Supply Solution

NOTE: Offshore siting may still present significant negative environmental and economic impacts, especially to the fishing industry.

The First Offshore LNG Terminal — In Operation Since March 2005

Excelerate Energy built the first offshore LNG terminal, Gulf Gateway Energy Bridge, 115 miles offshore from Louisiana, and has been operating the terminal since 2005 March 17.

The terminal endured Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, suffering only minor cosmetic damage to the metering platform. The LNG vessel EBRV Excellence was attached to the buoy and delivered natural gas throughout Hurricane Katrina.

Massachusetts Northeast Gateway Offshore Terminal — Began Operation in 2008

Excelerate's Northeast Gateway project — 13 miles from the Massachusetts shore near Gloucester — is a deepwater port (270 – 290 feet deep) with two subsea mooring buoys, and connected to the Algonquin subsea hubline. FERC issued a permit to construct, and construction is complete. The first LNG cargo, to be used in commissioning the facility, was received in 2008 May.

Excelerate's projects use LNG vessels that — far offshore — regasify the LNG onboard, and send out natural gas into the hubline.

Offshore siting provides maximum safety to the public, and reduces shore-based terrorism risk.

This source of natural gas supply — in addition to the current and forthcoming larger supplies from Canada (Canaport in Saint John, NB, nearing completion as of 2008 May, is expected to receive its first cargo near the end of 2008), along with the Suez's Neptune LNG facility, also offshore from Gloucester, Massachusetts — negates the need for even one LNG terminal in Passamaquoddy Bay.

Three Additional Offshore Projects Under Development

Excelerate is also in the process of developing offshore deepwater LNG terminals off the coast of northern California ("Pacific Gateway") and off the coast of Florida ("Southeast Gateway"), as well as transshipment (at-sea ship-to-ship transfer) of LNG, reducing the need for additional regasification-capable LNG tankers.