LNG opponents take case to the governor

AUGUSTA – Opponents of a possible liquefied natural gas terminal on Sears Island took their concerns Monday to the State House, where Gov. John Baldacci emphasized any decisions for a fuel storage plant would have to be made at the municipal level.

At least two companies are looking at potential sites for a terminal in Maine, including at Sears Island in Searsport, Eastport, Cousin’s Island in Yarmouth and Hope Island in Cumberland County.

“It is the administration’s policy that a decision has to come from local communities,” Baldacci said. “They’re the ones who have to approach the state. They’ve got to have the support of the selectmen or the town government in order to move these projects forward.”

Earlier in the day, about a dozen members of the Coalition to Save Sears Island expressed their frustration with the governor’s office, which angered LNG opponents last fall, by working with a consultant to explore the feasibility of a gas terminal on the state-owned Sears Island. A special town meeting has been scheduled for May 15 by Searsport selectmen who want to weigh the level of support for a six-month moratorium on industrial development.

Steve Miller of Islesboro said his organization is opposed to the construction of an LNG facility anywhere on Penobscot Bay on the basis that the terminal would be a serious threat to safety and would have a negative economic impact on the region.

“We believe that an LNG facility would damage Penobscot Bay forever,” he said. “And it presents an extraordinary and unnecessary – and really unacceptable – risk to the region’s natural resource-based economy and heritage.”

Astrig Tanguary, whose family owns a campground in Searsport, said tourists come from all over the state and country to enjoy the unique scenic opportunities on Penobscot Bay, which she said would be jeopardized by an LNG terminal. Additionally, she said, construction of a fuel facility would completely alter the public’s expectations concerning access to the bay.

“We don’t want multinational companies to come in and tell us when we can go into the bay and when we can’t,” she said. “We don’t want to have storage tanks that are 100 feet above our tree line and lit 24 hours a day and that are an easy risk for any sort of terrorist attack.”

The coalition has also retained Portland lawyer Martha C. Gaythwaite who, more than a decade ago, successfully represented opponents against a bid by Applied Energy Services to build a coal-fired power plant in Bucksport. Gaythwaite described Sears Island as an “extraordinary Maine resource” that she and the coalition were determined to protect. Don White, a Bucksport resident and another veteran of the AES campaign, said the coalition needed the governor’s support in protecting Sears Island and Penobscot Bay.

“An LNG gas plant and its related heavy industry are not compatible with the magnificence of Penobscot Bay’s environment, nor its tourist, fishing and small business-based economy,” he said. “We understand the state’s need for additional revenue, but this industry hurts clean development, our present economies and hopes for the future. … Governor, we ask you to stop all attempts to develop LNG on Penobscot Bay and move on to a more creative purpose for ourselves and those who would inherit our decisions.”

Baldacci said LNG is already a major player in the state’s energy mix, noting that the Sable Island line runs directly across Maine.

“I support LNG as part of the mix because we have high energy costs,” the governor said. “LNG actually reduces pollution in a lot of coal-fired plants. … Natural gas is part of the solution to the energy mix and energy competition. It has been reviewed.”