R.I. wants regional review of LNG proposals

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – With several companies planning to bring liquefied natural gas by ship to ports in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts, Attorney General Patrick Lynch is urging federal energy regulators to review the proposals carefully, questioning the need for multiple facilities in New England.

“We really need to look at how many we need, where they should be and how they should be conducted,” Lynch said Thursday. “I’m certainly opposed to, without question, three in this area.”

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is considering more than a dozen proposals to expand or build liquefied natural gas terminals across the country, and at least three in southern New England.

Lynch said the three proposals here, along with plans to build a terminal in Maine and an unloading facility in federal waters off of Gloucester, Mass., need thorough review on a regional level, not just project by project.

“We need to look at all of New England, and analyze needs, from distribution to supply,” Lynch said.

The commission, in a letter to Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said it “has a responsibility to review applications for proposals by project proponents for individual terminal sites as they are filed.”

It also said it recognized there was support for a regional approach to infrastructure development, “but customers ultimately will determine which projects are actually constructed.”

Pressure to build more facilities to supplement the nation’s shrinking supply of natural gas has caused a recent boom in project plans and proposals. Right now, only four sites in the continental United States accept liquefied natural gas by ship. The oldest of the four, and the only one in a commercial hub, is in the Boston suburb of Everett, Mass.

Liquefied natural gas, commonly known as LNG, is natural gas supercooled to liquid form for transport by sea on tankers. At the terminals, LNG from overseas is converted back to gas, which is used for heating and cooking as well as electricity generation.

Lynch was to meet with residents and community leaders on Thursday in Fall River, Mass., where Weaver’s Cove Energy wants to build a terminal. He hoped to energize residents to ask more questions of FERC and to learn more about the impact new terminals would have on the environment and quality of life.

“There’s no question we need to be aggressive in getting more affordable and efficient energy,” Lynch said. “But we have to take a step back. Our bay is busy enough as it is.”

On Wednesday, the attorney general spoke with residents in Bristol, R.I., about the Fall River plan and about Somerset LNG’s plan to build a terminal in Somerset, Mass., and Keyspan Energy’s proposal to expand a terminal in Fields Point in Providence.

More than 100 people attended that forum; protesters outside held up signs reading “NO LNG.”

Some residents said they feared an influx of tankers loaded with LNG could disrupt busy shipping channels through Narragansett and Mount Hope bays. They also worry about what would happen if there were an explosion or spill caused by an accident or terrorist attack.

Some studies have shown an attack by a missile or boat bomb could spill half the cargo over the water, causing a fire that would burn people and buildings a half-mile away. But a study paid for by the industry and used by the Coast Guard in approving a safety plan for Boston found the burn zone would be contained to a much smaller area.