LNG safety touted at forum

PERRY – Liquefied natural gas is safe, industry experts told residents of this small Down East community Monday night.

You can put small amounts of it in water and drink it. Or you can scoop a ladle full of it into your fish tank, without killing the goldfish.

Jim Lewis of Project Technical Liaison Associates Inc. of Spring, Texas, the developer’s technical expert, did just that. He spooned a steaming dollop of frigid LNG from a container into a beaker of water, then took a big gulp without appearing affected. A generous splash went into a clear tank in which swam two goldfish. No response from the fish.

The demonstrations were the highlight of a public information session put on by Quoddy Bay LLC, developers of a $400 million liquefied natural gas terminal at Pleasant Point. Quoddy Bay hopes to build a facility at Gleason Cove on Passamaquoddy reservation land.

If the roughly 60 residents in attendance hoped to listen to an open and frank group discussion between their neighbors and the developer, many walked away disappointed.

“This is just controlled information,” hollered one man in the back of the room.

What they found when they walked into the Perry Municipal Building on Monday night was, as one person described it, something reminiscent of a high school science fair.

There were plenty of pictures, displays and demonstrations. Quoddy Bay had experts at the various tables ready to answer individual questions.

Donald Smith, whose Oklahoma company Smith Cogeneration is now the managing partner of the LNG development effort, was not there, but his son, Brian, was.

Last year, Passamaquoddy tribal members voted to build a facility on reservation land near Perry and Eastport. Since then, Quoddy Bay has been mum on the project, but opponents have been vocal, raising questions about safety and environmental issues.

Smith was questioned about a possible terrorist attack. Smith said his company did not believe the Pleasant Point site would be a “prime” area for such an attack.

“Building it away from centers like New York and Boston is probably a good idea to ensure that,” Smith said. “Security is a concern. That is why we will do everything we can to build a facility that is state of the art.”

Washington County Sheriff Joe Tibbetts, who did not attend the information session, said earlier Monday he could not rule out a terrorist attack. “I think it would be a probable target. It’s going to make national news,” he said. “I think it will show that small-town America is just as vulnerable as New York City.”

Tibbetts said he is neither for nor against the project, but said realistically the terminal would strain law enforcement resources. “It is definitely going to put a burden on law enforcement in Washington County,” he said. “For anyone to say anything different is ridiculous.” He said that the Department of Homeland Security would have to step in and help. “To me, small-town America is where you are going to actually terrorize an American citizen,” he said.

Although the Passamaquoddy are partners with Quoddy Bay, the company needs the support of Perry residents to build the terminal because in 1986, the tribe annexed more than 300 acres from the town of Perry.

A provision in the annexation agreement allows Perry voters the right to reject any commercial development on that land.

Perry voters plan to vote in March on whether they want the tribe to build the facility on 42 acres of the annexed land. Smith admitted that if Perry residents voted the measure down, the project was dead.

“We firmly believe that we want all surrounding communities to firmly support this,” Smith said. “It was determined that Perry residents have the right to approve any project on Passamaquoddy land. We would hope that the Perry residents approve that project and we will not proceed with the project unless we have approval from the town of Perry.”

A second information session is scheduled for tonight at Pleasant Point.