State assembles LNG panel Agencies coordinate on filing schedule

loading...

AUGUSTA – Now that an Oklahoma developer has prefiled with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission its application to build a liquefied natural gas import terminal on Passamaquoddy tribal land, state agencies are gearing up to respond to an aggressive schedule of filing formalities.

Gov. John Baldacci has named an LNG Technical Working Group composed so far of 14 members representing nine state agencies.

Uldis Vanags, an energy policy analyst with the State Planning Office, is the group’s coordinator. The group met for the first time last week – coincidentally, three days before Quoddy Bay LLC filed 27 pages of prefiling material with FERC.

“We are not looking at major policy issues and, in fact, we don’t take a position on the LNG project at all,” Vanags said Wednesday.

“We are looking at all of the regulatory matters that have to be dealt with. One reason we are doing this is to bring all the agencies together, so we can better respond and understand how things are impacted.”

The coordination of the state agencies started last month when some of them took part in an informational presentation in Calais with FERC officials.

The group formally convened after the governor’s office realized that the Quoddy Bay project was heading toward its application for licensing.

“We needed to talk about how we will respond to [Quoddy Bay’s] FERC application. … That is really going to task us at the state level, because it is an aggressive schedule,” Vanags said.

Quoddy Bay plans to complete its final application with FERC by next September, and start building the facilities – pending FERC’s approval – in September 2007.

The construction phase would employ 400 workers over 21/2 years, Quoddy Bay officials say. The company’s Web site, www.quoddylng.com, indicates that “LNG terminal operations will start in late 2009 with 80 full-time jobs paying an average $80,000 per year.”

FERC is expected to issue a draft environmental impact statement in about four months. That will be based on material provided by Quoddy Bay and assessed by FERC’s contracted consultants.

Even sooner, FERC plans to hold within 30 days a coordinating meeting with the developer, all of the involved state agencies and the U.S. Coast Guard. That will get all the groups working on the same schedule.

Quoddy Bay’s plans for its Pleasant Point facility have shifted in recent months. Initially proposed to receive one tanker every seven to 10 days, the import terminal in its latest design will now be capable of receiving as many as 180 ships a year because the pier has been reconfigured for two berths.

That was announced Tuesday in a media conference in Augusta.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Northern New England announced it will “assess safety and security issues associated with LNG tankers transiting Passamaquoddy Bay and its approaches to Split Rock in conjunction with the FERC permitting process regarding Quoddy Bay’s proposal to build at Pleasant Point.”

Quoddy Bay put the Coast Guard on notice last week with a letter of intent, which is the first regulatory step in the Coast Guard’s assessment and validation approval process.

“We will also be looking for comments general public in the U.S. and Canada to ensure we have considered the full range of issues associated with moving LNG tankers Bay of Fundy to Passamaquoddy Bay,” the Coast Guard’s press release reads.

The state’s working group will meet again in the first week of January. Other meetings will follow every three or four weeks, or more often as the process moves forward.

More informally, Vanags and different agency representatives will conduct “listening tours.” While those meetings are not mandated, Vanags said he senses the significance of transparency in the review process.

“This is something that came about after hearing the public that they just don’t feel the state is getting all the information and understanding all of the issues,” Vanags said.

The first listening meeting will take place in early January with Save Passamaquoddy Bay, the opposition group representing several communities both in coastal Washington County and New Brunswick.

“I am willing to listen to any group, at any time,” Vanags said. “I want to hear all the different views. I am not picking and choosing. If someone [in the public or a stakeholder] requests a meeting, we will make our best effort to do that.”

The public will have more than just informal input at the listening sessions. FERC regulations specify that there will be “scoping sessions” and other points at which the public’s comments will be considered.

“There will be a lot of opportunities,” Vanags said. “If the public has issues and thoughts to express, there cannot be anything more frustrating than a process moving ahead and the public not knowing how to respond.”

The members of the working group and their departments are:

. State Planning Office, Martha Freeman (director), Uldis Vanags (coordinator and energy policy analysis), Todd Burrows (police adviser), Tim Glidden (management adviser) and Catherine Reilly (state economist).

. State Fire Marshal’s Office, John Dean (state fire marshal).

. Department of Environmental Protection, Jim Dusch (director of procedures).

. Department of Maine Resources, George LaPointe (commissioner).

. Department of Conservation, Dan Pritchard (director of submerged lands).

. Department of Inland Fish and Wildlife, Steve Timpano (environmental coordinator).

. Department of Transportation, Kathy Fuller (director of environment).

. From Maine Emergency Management Agency, Art Cleaves (director).

. Department of Economic and Community Development, Brian Dancause (small business advocate).