Energy & Utilities Government & Politics

LNG project gets route approved

By The Mainebiz News Staff

January 8, 2009

The U.S. Coast Guard has approved a liquefied natural gas project’s proposed waterway through Passamaquoddy Bay.

According to a press release from Downeast LNG, which has proposed an LNG terminal in Robbinston, the Coast Guard in a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said it had determined after an extensive review “that the Passamaquoddy Bay Waterway is suitable for the type and frequency of marine traffic associated with this proposed project.” The Coast Guard report is a key element in the draft environmental impact statement that FERC is preparing on the project. The statement provides a review of how the federal government views the project’s engineering, environmental and socioeconomic details and identifies any issues that need to be addressed before final approval can be given.

The safety of the proposed route for LNG tankers through Passamaquoddy Bay has been contested by residents in the area and the Canadian government, which in September 2007 said it was considering a ban on LNG tankers from entering Canadian waters needed to access the bay.

Downeast LNG is planning to build a 320,000-cubic-meter LNG terminal, storage tanks, a regasification plant and a pier on an 80-acre site on Passamaquoddy Bay.

Reader comments

From Robert

There are two important details in the Coast Guard’s decision: (1) LNG transits require the developer to obtain cooperation from the Canadian Government, and (2) Canada has told the US head-of-state in person by Canada’s head-of-state — and has repeated the message numerous times afterward — that Canada prohibits the transits of LNG into Passamaquoddy Bay. That means the developer cannot successfully comply with the Coast Guard’s decision requirements.

Additionally, it is clear that the world LNG industry, as represented by the Society of International Gas Terminal and Tanker Operators (SIGTTO, claiming membership by 95% of the world LNG industry) in their 1997 publication “Site Selection and Design for LNG Ports and Jetties,” indicates in its LNG terminal-siting best practices that — ACCORDING TO INDUSTRY BEST PRACTICES — the conditions in Passamaquoddy Bay are eminently unsafe for an LNG terminal and LNG carrier transits. SIGTTO is concerned about the safety of the industry and that should an incident occur that affects civilians, the entire LNG industry likely would be shut down.

Downeast LNG’s Dean Girdis was unaware of the industry’s LNG terminal siting best practices when he located his project, as revealed in the Bangor Daily News when the issue was first addressed by that publication, and he has made no effort since then to comply with those best practices. Doing so would mean moving out of Passamaquoddy Bay.

The Coast Guard decision presents an insoluble problem to Downeast LNG, Calais LNG, and the defunct Quoddy Bay LNG — all projects without futures.

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