LNG opponents vow to appeal land lease

Opponents of a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal on Passamaquoddy tribal land in Washington County have asked the Bureau of Indian Affairs to look into the lease agreement between the tribe and a private company.

A Bar Harbor-based lawyer representing several LNG opponents told the Bureau of Indian Affairs that she had concerns about details in the lease agreement. She also raised concerns about the way the tribal council conducted business.

Lynne Williams focused among other things on the tribe’s waiver of property taxes for the private developer, buffer zones surrounding LNG tankers, and language that opens the door to LNG storage tanks being built in the future.

“My clients implore you to take the time to look very closely at this project, and judge whether it is an appropriate use of our reservation land,” Williams wrote in a letter to a Bureau of Indian Affairs official in Nashville, Tenn.

Last week, Passamaquoddy officials and representatives of Quoddy Bay LLC outlined their plan for a $200 million LNG facility in which there would be no storage tanks.

The proposal calls for construction of a half-mile-long pier to which LNG tankers would dock. From there, the supercooled liquid natural gas would be transformed back into gas and pumped into a feeder line for the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline.

Two LNG tankers could dock at the same time to avoid weather-related supply disruptions. Storage tanks could be built later if that proves to be uneconomical.

Williams, whose letter was dated July 6, said Monday she planned to formally appeal the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ decision to sign off on the lease agreement – either through the Department of Interior or through the courts.

A spokesman for the LNG project said last week that the announcement was withheld until after the 30-day deadline for appeal to the BIA had expired. But the spokesman said Monday that he had misspoken and that the appeals period was open-ended.