As a resident of Stockton Springs and an officer in the U.S. Merchant Marine, I am compelled to respond to Michael S. Ormsby’s May 5 BDN commentary regarding the prospect of liquefied natural gas coming to Searsport. The crux of this issue is benefit vs. risk.

Granted, there are some residential natural gas customers in Maine’s most densely populated areas, and yes, there certainly are a few industrial natural gas users in Maine. Ormsby’s op-ed implies that residential customers can expect natural gas to be piped into the average Maine home, should LNG development proceed in Searsport.

This is misleading – the new infrastructure required to bring natural gas to most homes in Maine would be prohibitively expensive. Our population density simply does not warrant the required investment. As State Sen. Chris Hall stated at the April 6 meeting of the Zone D Lobster Council in Rockland, “It’s all about the economics of getting the gas to Boston, as directly and cheaply as possible.”

I cannot dispute the fact that there are many Mainers working today in the existing gas business in this state. Working in the LNG industry, however, is dramatically different than working for a municipal gas company. By its very nature, LNG is a cryogenic liquid, which must be maintained at or below minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit to remain in the liquid state. This is why a re-gasification plant is required adjacent to the tanker terminal in order to return the LNG to a gaseous state, before it can be transported via pipeline. The operation of a modern LNG terminal requires highly trained, qualified and experienced technicians.

We must seriously consider the risks of bringing LNG to Searsport, or anywhere on the Maine coast. The Department of Homeland Security has identified LNG tankers as potential terrorist targets. In the Boston area, the Coast Guard requires a rolling security zone around every LNG tanker entering and departing port. This security zone extends two miles ahead, one mile astern and 500 yards on either side of any transiting LNG tanker. This potential denial of access to Penobscot Bay waters would certainly have a negative impact on fishing and pleasure boating interests.

Each LNG tanker is escorted by not only the usual two or three tugboats, but also by several Coast Guard, police or other security vessels. Contrary to Ormsby’s claim, more propellers in the water do translate into greater risk to fishing gear than that currently posed by conventional merchant vessels. I have sailed as chief engineer on board a 42,000-ton American-flagged product tanker for the past 14 years. We frequently carry more than 800,000 barrels of gasoline, jet fuel, naptha and other “hazardous” cargoes. The U.S. Coast Guard does not require any security zone around my tanker.

The fact that the Coast Guard requires extreme security precautions around every LNG tanker indicates that the federal government considers LNG to be a very dangerous cargo. Unlike the heating oil currently discharged in Searsport, LNG released in an accident can travel great distances on the prevailing wind until it reaches a source of ignition. The potential conflagration that could result should be of great concern to anyone living in the Penobscot Bay region. Boston’s fire chief has expressed concern that his firefighters could not handle an LNG disaster – can we expect our local Maine (mostly volunteer) fire departments to successfully deal with such a situation?

Granted, there have not been any “major” LNG tanker disasters to date, but any statistician worth his salt would tell you there is no such thing as 100 percent safety. No matter how “safe” these ships have been in the past, the potential for miscommunication and human error always exists. I must point out that there are currently no American-flagged, American-crewed LNG tankers afloat today. Should LNG come to Maine, we would be at the mercy of foreign-flagged and -operated vessels. We would have no control over the manning, crew training, maintenance and operation of these ships.

We must all ask ourselves: Is the promise of a few entry-level jobs worth the potential risks posed by an LNG facility in Searsport to our homes and families, and do we want to accept these risks for the primary benefit of our neighbors to the south?

Bruce D. Suppes is a 1978 graduate of Maine Maritime Academy and is chief engineer on the MT Overseas Philadelphia, an oil tanker that runs between the Gulf of Mexico and the Eastern Seaboard. He lives in Stockton Springs.