La. man describes LNG impacts Activist to speak tonight in N.B.

MACHIAS – Charlie Atherton had never been to Maine before the weekend, so he didn’t know he was going to a place that represents “the way life should be.”

Asked to speak to Washington County residents seeking to bring alternative en-ergy sources Down East, Atherton talk-ed about his hometown of Lake Charles, La., and “the way life has become.”

Lake Charles is the site of one of four operating liquefied natural gas terminals in the country. The heavy industry that has grown up around the Trunkline LNG facility includes Citgo and Conoco oil refineries, plus 24 more chemical manufacturing plants.

Atherton is a retired chemical plant worker with a 40-year history of advocating for a cleaner environment.

“I can see all that [industry] from my door,” Atherton told those attending the Green Coast Gathering II, a five-hour meeting held Sunday at the just-refurbished Machias Grange Hall.

“It’s better now, but five years ago at any time during the night, I could stand in my front yard and read a newspaper. There are so many lights around.”

Noise pollution, too, is incessant near the port of Lake Charles, which has become the 12th-busiest port in the country.

Once Down East, Atherton couldn’t believe the quiet that fills the night.

Tonight he joins a lineup of speakers in St. Andrew’s, New Brunswick, for a public informational meeting about LNG and Passamaquoddy Bay.

Hosted by the town of St. Andrew’s, the event is at 7 p.m. Atlantic Time (6 p.m. Eastern) at the town’s hockey arena. Numerous officials representing all levels of government from both New Brunswick and Maine have been invited to attend, including Gov. John Baldacci.

Baldacci has voiced his support for LNG developments coming to Maine.

Maine has been on Atherton’s radar because two out-of-state developers are competing for local support in siting their LNG intake terminals – Quoddy Bay LLC of Oklahoma at Pleasant Point on Passamaquoddy tribal land and Downeast LNG of Washington, D.C., in Robbinston.

Just last week, Downeast LNG received a letter of support from the Sunrise County Economic Council, a 12-year-old nonprofit group that works to bolster small, growing businesses within Washington County.

The Bush administration and energy companies are working to develop a global market for natural gas, promoting it as a cheaper, cleaner energy alternative. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission wants to expand the number of LNG terminals in the country from just four to 40.

Atherton’s talk tonight will be titled “What LNG May Do For Your Community.”

The moment the first spade of ground is turned for construction of any LNG facility, he said, a rush of gas-related industry will follow.

“The local people didn’t want or accept LNG,” Atherton said. “But the local government imposed it on them.”

Charles Ewing, a Columbia resident, came to the Green Coast meeting wanting to talk about solar energy.

“I came to Maine in 1979 because the state is more open to inspiration and innovation than where I was,” he said. “But now we seem to be caught in the same vice grip of corporate enterprise. I would like to see Maine become more energy self-sufficient.”