Local Pilots Have No Safety & Security Zone Authority
News Release

Thursday, 2006 August 16

Local Pilots Have No LNG Safety & Security Zone Authority

On Tuesday, August 15, the US Coast Guard clarified their legal position by issuing an overview of regulations regarding Safety and Security Zones around LNG tankers. The Coast Guard indicated that harbor pilots aboard LNG vessels do not have any authority pertaining to LNG vessel Safety and Security Zones, and will not make decisions regarding other vessels — including fishing vessels, ferries, and other boats — within such Zones. The Coast Guard indicated that only the Coast Guard — and in Maine, the Maine Marine Patrol — legally has that authority.

Save Passamaquoddy Bay 3-Nation Alliance wants the public to know that this announcement contradicts statements being made since 2005 to the public by Quoddy Bay LLC, and recently by local pilots. The US Coast Guard has provided definitive information specifying that only the Coast Guard and the Maine Marine Patrol have that legal decision-making authority.

The complete Coast Guard Overview can be read online at www.savepassamaquoddybay.org/documents/us_coast_guard/moore/safetyzones.html
Or, questions can be asked directly of the Coast Guard Safety and Security personnel in Portland via telephone at (207)767-0338.

Save Passamaquoddy Bay has provided this information in the interests of truth about LNG, LNG's impacts on the local fishing industry, and public safety and security.

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