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Gold/Mining/Energy : LNG -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (430)	4/30/2005 10:29:57 AM
From: Dennis Roth	Respond to of 919

Bristol pledges $25K to fight LNG proposals Friday, April 29, 2005 eastbayri.com BRISTOL - Bristol Wednesday night became the first town in Rhode Island to officially put money behind opponents of LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminals in Providence and Fall River, when the Bristol Town Council voted unanimously to give $25,000 to a trio of Washington, D.C. attorneys that plan to file a federal lawsuit to stop two companies proposing the terminals. The $25,000 will go to pay the legal expenses of Edward Berlin, Lester Heiman and Robert Taylor, three Washington, D.C. attorneys who plan to file suit as early as next week. Their effort will be a combined one, with support from towns in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and the attorneys general in each state. So far, though, only Bristol has officially voted to expend funds in the fight. "This is a major, major case," Save Bristol Harbor president Stephan Brigidi told the council Wednesday night. Mr. Brigidi, along with fellow Save Bristol Harbor member Jerry Landay, appeared before the council to request the funds; both have been working with Rhode Island lawmakers to formulate the state's response to the LNG plans, which they believe could put Bristol and other towns along Narragansett and Mt. Hope bays in jeopardy. In Fall River, Weavers Cove Energy has proposed building a new LNG terminal on a 73-acre site on Mt. Hope Bay. In Providence, KeySpan LNG has proposed a $100 million terminal which would be able to handle LNG shipments from large tanker ships. KeySpan and Weavers Cove's applications for terminals in the two cities are now being reviewed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), a board area legislators have accused of being aloof and unapproachable throughout the companies' application processes. FERC reviewed preliminary environmental impact statements on the plans last autumn; final ones are due soon. At its heart, Save Bristol Harbor and other private and government groups, legislators, activists and others worry that establishing LNG terminals in the two cities would compromise the safety of towns along the two bays in exchange for the companies' desire to make a profit. Opponents of the two terminals believe large, LNG-bearing container ships regularly navigating upper Narragansett Bay and Mt. Hope Bay would put Providence and other coastal towns at enormous risk for widespread destruction if there was an accident or terrorist strike aboard one of the ships. In total, the legal effort is expected to cost $1.2 million and will be borne equally by Massachusetts and Rhode Island, Mr. Brigidi said.

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (430)	5/18/2005 12:50:07 PM
From: Dennis Roth	Respond to of 919

A $3 billion pain in the gas: Study: Delaying LNG sites could cost New Englanders big bucks By Jay Fitzgerald Wednesday, May 18, 2005 business.bostonherald.com Building new liquefied natural gas facilities in New England is an ``economic imperative'' and any delays could end up costing consumers billions of dollars, according to a new study that doesn't address specific safety concerns of communities now fighting proposed LNG terminals in their areas. The study by the New England Council, a business group, says that if construction of new LNG and natural gas import-and-storage facilities aren't started within a two-year period, regional customers could end up paying more than $3 billion extra by 2010. ``Delays in decision-making could be costly in an absolute dollar sense,'' the report said. The study also said the council is ``confident'' about LNG's ``overall safety'' and its ``positive judgments from repeated independent assessments.'' But recent government reports have warned about the potential devastating impact on urban neighborhoods if terrorists attack an LNG ship near land. Edward Lambert, mayor of Fall River, where a controversial LNG docking facility has been proposed, said he has no confidence in reports that say LNG is safe. He added that federal regulators have become ``pro-industry'' in the permitting process for new facilities. ``I don't think they have their act together,'' Lambert said of safety measures considered by federal regulators. He said the state and region shouldn't rush into building new LNG facilities without fully addressing safety concerns in the post Sept. 11, 2001 era. Jim Brett, president of the council, conceded the report didn't address safety concerns at individual sites because the scope of the study was ``purely driven by economics.''