Alternatives to LNG plant aired in Machias

MACHIAS – A presentation by two representatives of Save Passamaquoddy Bay at a special meeting of the board of directors of the Sunrise County Economic Council evolved into a spirited dialogue Tuesday about what’s possible for Washington County in terms of economic development.

Nancy Asante and Jeanne Guisinger, both of Perry, spoke for the group that is opposed to liquefied natural gas facilities proposed for Washington County.

They favor smaller-scale development that could provide as many jobs as the 70 to 100 jobs that an Oklahoma developer has floated, should Quoddy Bay LLC gain approval for a planned LNG import facility at Pleasant Point and storage tanks in Robbinston.

But jobs connected with new small businesses and companies employing between five and 10 people each, some board members countered, wouldn’t necessarily carry the higher wages and health insurance benefits that LNG employees would enjoy.

Several coastal Washington County communities are being courted by two LNG developers – the Washington, D.C.-based Downeast LNG, which wants to put its plant in Robbinston, and Quoddy Bay LLC of Oklahoma, which wants to put storage tanks in Robbinston to support the Pleasant Point proposal.

“Save Passamaquoddy Bay is not against economic development,” Asante said in her introduction. “We know something has to happen here in Washington County. Our problem is the changes it will bring … we are presently a rural county.”

Asante suggested that having LNG in the county would lead to a number of other heavy industrial developments.

“Once you have LNG, electricity cogeneration would come in, too,” she said. “And then the plastics, rubber and steel plants follow, all coming for the cheap power. LNG is the thin edge of the wedge.”

Board members were skeptical of the pair’s advocacy for the alternative formation of new companies using resources already here, such as a furniture mill or a hardwood flooring plant.

Some furniture-making entrepreneurs could even combine their products with Passamaquoddy basket-weaving, Asante said.

“Small business is great, but everyone needs health insurance,” said Gwen Jones, an executive with Down East Community Hospital in Machias.

“The hospitals need these third-party payers [large employers providing insurance to employees] so the county has a viable health care industry. It’s a very, very big connection.”

County residents who “cobble together jobs in four seasons arrive at hospitals’ doorsteps without health insurance,” Jones added.

“There is no reason for young people to stay in the area,” Gary Willey, a Milbridge selectman, said. “I don’t see any opportunities for a younger generation in Washington County in a lot of vocations.”

Guisinger had a response: “There are things that can happen, as long as we don’t destroy what we have.”

Asante identified a new alliance that has formed, called the Green Coast, that is promoting small-business development as an alternative to a work force based on LNG. The next meeting, she said, will be Sunday, Aug. 21, at the Machias Grange.

Supporting and expanding the boat school in Eastport – already a highlight of the Washington County Community College curriculum – is an example of ways to provide jobs for the county’s young people, Asante said.

Bringing in a private-industry partner for the boat school, such as the Hinckley Co. of Southwest Harbor or a wooden-boat specialist, would work, she said.

Fine, responded David Eldridge, a board member from Cutler. But building boats in Washington County hasn’t prospered largely because U.S. Route 1 isn’t a good transportation route.

Moreover, he said, clients ordering million-dollar yachts want to fly in and see them in midconstruction, and Machias’ airport can’t handle that.

The Eastport airstrip can handle executive jets, Asante replied.

Saying she rejected the “poor us” syndrome, Asante urged board members to reshape their mind-sets. She envisioned a “brain gain” stemming from local business startups.

“We are actively engaged in creative thinking to suit a smaller-scale model of development than LNG,” she said.

“Let’s ask our young people to come back to Washington County. Not to live in a trailer in the woods, but maybe to advise these business startups.”

The council’s mission reads: “The Sunrise County Economic Council initiates and facilitates the creation of prosperity and jobs in Washington County.”