Salvation or destruction? Possible construction of LNG facility leaves coastal residents divided

If voters Monday approve construction of a $400 million liquefied natural gas terminal on tribal land at Gleason Cove near the eastern Washington County town of Perry, area residents soon could see huge tankers sailing past their door.

The Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Oklahoma City-based Quoddy Bay LLC hope to build a facility on tribal land by 2008.

During elections Monday, Perry voters will decide whether they want a facility next door on tribal land.

In 1986, voters approved Article 40 to allow the Passamaquoddy to annex land on Route 190 near where the LNG terminal would be built. The article had one condition: that the town would have veto power over any future commercial development.

The tribe and developers have agreed to pay the town $1 million annually, adjusted for inflation.

LNG is not a new energy source. It has been used in the United States for the past 60 years. Ships bring in the product from countries that include Algeria, Indonesia, Libya, Oman and Tobago, to U.S. terminals where it is processed. There are four terminals in the United States: Cove Point, Md.; Everett, Mass.; Elba Island, Ga.; and Lake Charles, La.

The gas is an odorless, colorless, noncorrosive and nontoxic substance transported by ships. To move it, the gas must be chilled to minus 264 degrees Fahrenheit where it becomes a liquid.

Locally, the past few weeks have been baptism by fire as area residents rush to learn all they can about LNG.

Opponents of the project have challenged the developers and the tribe on safety aspects of the project as well as possible impacts on the environment.

Plans call for one ship a week to sail past Head Harbor on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, navigating northwest of Eastport to Gleason Cove, adjacent to tribal lands. It will dock at a three-quarter-mile-long pier that is to be built from shore. LNG will be piped under the dock to possibly three LNG tanks. The gas would be heated and then compressed to be piped to the Maritime Provinces pipeline in Baileyville.

Upward of 1,000 people would be hired during the construction phase. When operational, the plant would employ 70 or more people.

For the past few weeks, the Bangor Daily News has investigated aspects of the issue.