LNG CHOICES

A second proposal to build an LNG terminal on Passamaquoddy Bay may demonstrate that Washington County is a good place for such a facility. It may also give state and federal regulators the luxury of picking between two projects to choose the one that is the most environmentally and economically sound.

Private developers have done what many wanted the state to do – find the best place for a terminal to off load liquefied natural gas. Last week, Downeast LNG announced that it had purchased 80 acres in Robbinston to build an LNG terminal. This puts them is the same position, in terms of regulatory hurdles and other approvals, as Quoddy Bay, LLC which has spent months securing land and local approval for a facility on Passamaquoddy tribal land near Eastport.

Although the Downeast facility would be on private land, the company has said it would be willing to seek the approval of Robbinston’s voters to build there. The company says it wants to provide as much information as possible to area residents to dispel their concerns about the project. The company has learned from the experience of Quoddy Bay, which has had a hard time convincing many Washington County residents of the safety and value of LNG.

LNG proposals have slowly made their way up the coast, basically paralleling the state’s designation of the three best port locations in Maine. The first proposal was to build a terminal in Harpswell in Casco Bay. That proposal was from an oil company and the terminal would have been located on municipal land. It was rejected by local voters.

There was briefly a proposal to build a terminal on Sears Island, the state’s second identified port area. Local opposition also quashed that plan. Then, Quoddy Bay, an Oklahoma company, announced plans to build on Passamaquoddy Bay, near Eastport, the state’s third port. Its first plan, to build on land the tribe had annexed in Perry, was rejected by voters in that town, which were given the right to vote on any proposal for the parcel. The company then moved to tribal land at Split Rock. The Bureau of Indian Affairs recently approved the leasing of 15 acres of tribal land to Quoddy Bay. The most recent proposal is also on Passamaquoddy Bay, but on private land that will be sold to Downeast.

It is important to remember that both companies are still basically at the venture capital stage. Neither has publicly said it has contracts or is even in negotiations with energy companies to provide the LNG that will be offloaded at a Washington County terminal. Neither has either company said it is in negotiations with Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, the company that owns the gas pipeline that traverses the state. A feeder pipeline would have to be built from an LNG facility to the main line from Baileyville to Westbrook.

LNG is a cleaner source of energy than oil and coal. It also offers the prospect of good jobs, which are sorely needed in Washington County. State and federal regulators may be in the good position of deciding which project can best deliver those benefits.