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Passamaquoddy Bay & LNG

Time to act on LNG, meeting told — Saint Croix Courier, St. Stephen, NB

[Clifford Goudey] spoke about the dangers of an explosion from LNG. Both the terminals and the tankers represent large amounts of LNG, said Goudey, and from a public safety standpoint, you need to think long and hard before you store that amount of concentrated energy near the public.

The danger zone ... extends almost four miles from the terminal site and a spill from a tanker could extend out to one-and-a-half miles and that could happen anywhere along the approach. Goudey said there would be lots of impact on Canadians if there [were] an accident. (Sep 1)

Premier will act on LNG issue — Saint Croix Courier, St. Stephen, NB

This week, Premier Lord said that he spoke with his officials in the province's department of justice on areas of jurisdiction when Huntjens first informed him of the possibility of the LNG terminals while the two were in St. Andrews about a year and a half ago. (Sep 1)

LNG panel to meet next week — Dundalk Eagle, Dundalk, MD

The first official meeting of the state-sanctioned LNG task force is set for Sept. 5 in Annapolis even though a chairman and four members had not been selected by early this week, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment.

The task force was created as Senate Bill 996 - written in part by State Sen. Norman Stone (6th District) - back in April and signed by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in June.

The panel is to be comprised of 20 community members and state officials who will examine the possibility of a liquefied natural gas plant on the Sparrows Point peninsula.

Authority approves gas import plan — Reuters UK

Excelerate Energy's offshore "Energy Bridge" technology — keeping LNG terminals safely away from people — is spreading.

Authority in LNG safety zones clarified — Quoddy Tides, Eastport, ME

On August 15 the U.S. Coast Guard issued an overview of regulations regarding safety and security zones around liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers and indicated that harbor pilots aboard LNG vessels do not have any authority to make decisions regarding other vessels — including fishing vessels, ferries and other boats — within such zones. According to the Coast Guard, only the Coast Guard, and in Maine, the Maine Marine Patrol, legally has that authority. [Bold red emphasis added.] (Aug 25)

WEBMASTER'S COMMENTS: Don Smith's video-recorded statements at a 2005 Sipayik Tribal Council meeting claimed that his LNG project would have no negative effect on fishing — that the LNG vessel's pilot would radio any fishing boat within the LNG vessel's safety/security zone that the pilot recognized; then, if the fisherman answered the pilot's questions to the pilot's satisfaction, the fisherman would be allowed to keep on fishing in the safety/security zone.The Coast Guard's notice of authority is testimony to just one more of Smith's lies.

Smith's false claim was even adamantly repeated by a local harbor pilot during the 2006 July 13 FERC Quoddy Bay LLC Site Visit, confirming that local pilots have been hoodwinked by Smiths' lack of honesty.

Once again, Quoddy Bay LLC has proven their lack of character, and that they'll say anything at all to obtain public support for their project.

Quoddy Bay LNG poised for FERC filing [— NOT!] — Quoddy Tides, Eastport, ME

FERC requires that Resource Report 13 be submitted at least 90 days prior to the final filing of a formal application to FERC. Quoddy Bay LNG has said it intends to have all permits for construction by the fall of 2007 and begin operations in the winter of 2009. (Aug 25)

WEBMASTER'S COMMENTS: Quoddy Bay LNG's "poise" has resulted in an embarrassing "stumble." Since the above article was published, FERC has notified Quoddy Bay LNG that their Resource Reports contain an abundance of missing and incomplete material, pushing back the date that they can file for an application until November, December, or later, making their project even more futile.

"This administration has decided that of course it will accept the prior administration’s decision to adopt LNG as a part of our economy," Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson told The Bahama Journal. "In other words, it means that wherever applicants actually satisfy the conditions of our LNG policy we will entertain applications [from] them and possibly enter into heads of agreement with those particular applicants. We’re now in the process of negotiating a heads of agreement with AES."

AES intends to construct an LNG regasification terminal on Ocean Cay, near Cat Cay and Bimini, and run [a natural gas] pipeline to South Florida to help meet that state’s growing demand for energy.

Minister Miller has said an LNG facility will assist with economic diversification by providing income of approximately $25 million per annum for lease and license fees, plus an additional $50 million to $70 million per annum in throughput fees based on current prices and projected demand.

This amount is expected to be supplemented by an additional $500,000 annually which will be contributed to training and environment protection, and community projects. [Bold emphasis added.] (Jul 26)

WEBMASTER'S COMMENTS: Compare the AES Ocean LNG project with Downeast LNG and Quoddy Bay LLC.

Bill to rank LNG plans shunted to committee — Ventura County Star, Ventura, CA

The bill, SB426, fell just short of success on the final night of last year's legislative session. It passed the Assembly late that night, but the Senate adjourned for the year before the measure could be ferried a few hundred feet across the Capitol for a final vote that would have sent it to the governor.

LNG attack could ignite firestorm — Daily Item, Flynn, MA

An explosion followed by a rash of fires spreading out for a mile in all directions is the worst possible scenario that could occur in the event of a terror attack on the waterfront liquid natural gas tank in Lynn.

That possible disaster zone would stretch from the waterfront past Western Avenue, over the General Edwards Bridge, encompassing downtown and much of West Lynn and extending halfway across the Nahant Causeway.

A local fire chief involved in emergency response to terror attacks on area utilities offered that grim scenario Wednesday as state and Keyspan energy workers sought to locate two people who climbed the LNG tank last Wednesday.

"It would be a catastrophic release if the tank were breached. The liquid would vaporize, expand quickly, seek an ignition point and then, if there was a flashback, you would have a firestorm," Revere Chief Eugene Doherty said.

WEBMASTER'S COMMENTS: Note: the emergency response personnel of the Lynn area have been trained to deal with an LNG "event," but the Revere Fire Chief still categorizes what could happen as a "firestorm."

This event should raise the hackles on everyones' necks, for two reasons: (1) It took five days for Keyspan to report the incident; and, (2) although it might have been committed by juveniles, terrorists could have been conducting a "practice run."

It begs the question: "With such a serious breach in security — terrorists could have easily created a disaster — how can the public believe FERC and LNG developers when they tell the public that new LNG facilities will be operated safely?"

Houlton native Robert Somerville, a graduate of Maine Maritime Academy, now chairman and CEO of the American Bureau of Shipping, fully understands Maine's economic development needs and is well qualified indeed to suggest that the benefits for Maine of assuming its natural role as one of the nation's most important energy transshipment points outweigh by far some mis-perceived risks. [NOTE: The Banfor Daily News online letters page contains no link to take you directly to a particular letter. To find the letter using the above link, search the page for "Maine's energy role".]

WEBMASTER'S COMMENTS: Robert Somerville apparently failed to read the Whole Bay Study and the LNG industry's world standards.

The Whole Bay Study does a more objective job of "understanding Maine's economic development needs" than a spokesman-advocate for the shipping industry.

The Society of International Gas Terminal and Tanker Operators (SIGTTO, with over 90% of the world's LNG capacity as members) has developed LNG-industry world-class standards — that warn against siting an LNG terminal under the conditions in Passamaquoddy Bay. Somerville's and the letter writer's "mis-perceived risks" apparently are real-world risks in the eyes of the LNG industry's standards-making body.

BP says halts work on Tx. Gulf Coast LNG terminal — Reuters

BP Plc. said on Tuesday it was halting work on a proposed $600 million, 1.2 billion cubic foot per day (bcfd) liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal planned for Pelican Island, just north of Galveston, Texas, after an "assessment of the project's economics."

BP told Galveston city officials last week it would not go forward with the Bay Crossing LNG terminal and regasification plant project because of the glut of similar projects planned for the U.S. Gulf Coast, according to the Galveston County Daily News. [Bold emphasis added.]

WEBMASTER'S COMMENTS: The glut of LNG projects has caused BP to back out of the Pelican Island project. That's one more LNG-industry member that's indicated an over-abundance of LNG projects, even more proof that Downeast LNG and Quoddy Bay LLC are moot or otherwise doomed to financial failure.

LNG: ‘fuel of the future,’ Castine audience told — Bangor Daily News, Bangor, ME

The Harpswell decision was based on fear, he said: fear of the product, the method of transporting it, fear that it might attract a terrorist attack and fear of its impact on traditional ways, [according to Bob Somerville,, chairman of the American Bureau of Shipping]. (Aug 18)

WEBMASTER'S COMMENTS: Somerville obviously didn't read the Harpswell Yellow Wood Report. If he had, he'd have known that an LNG terminal at Harpswell would have resulted in a net loss of revenue and jobs.

Woodside in LNG pitch to California — Australian, Surry Hills, NSW, Australia

Woodside has designed OceanWay to avoid community concerns that a land or platform-based gas receival terminal could affect property values. OceanWay involves two delivery buoys more than 32km offshore from Los Angeles International Airport, with twin underwater pipelines to deliver gas to shore.

LNG will be turned back into gaseous form on a specially equipped ship before being piped directly to shore, avoiding the need to construct a permanent plant. When not required for ship unloading, the buoys will rest on the sea floor. (Aug 21)