LNG opponents appeal approval of Mass. facility

BOSTON – Opponents of a proposed natural gas terminal in Fall River have filed an appeal with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, charging safety and legal issues were not considered when a federal commission approved its construction.

The appeal was filed jointly by Fall River Mayor Edward Lambert, Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly, Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch, and the Massachusetts Energy Facility Siting Board.

Lambert said opponents of the Weaver’s Cove Energy terminal, which was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Jan. 19, don’t believe there is “or could ever be an adequate safety plan.”

“We also are challenging the fact that this decision by FERC flies in the face of congressional intent,” he said, referring to federal pipeline regulations that mandate where a terminal can be built and call for an evidentiary hearing if there is a dispute of the facts surrounding a new facility.

In a press release, Lynch noted the inconveniences the proposed terminal would cause for Rhode Islanders, even though it would be built in Massachusetts.

It is wrong, he said in the release, to have a volatile substance “traveling through 23.5 miles of Rhode Island waters and passing under four bridges in order to reach the proposed Weaver’s Cove site.”

A spokeswoman for Weaver’s Cove declined to comment.

The terminal was initially approved in June. Opponents asked FERC to reconsider, but in a 2-1 decision, the panel voted to uphold its original decision.

Lambert and other opponents have also pointed to congressional legislation banning federal funding of the demolition of the old Brightman Street Bridge, which would be an obstacle for tankers delivering liquid natural gas to the terminal.

Sarah Nathan, a spokeswoman for Reilly, said last week’s decision by FERC came with “the caveat that the bridge issue be worked out.”

LNG also has been a controversial issue in Maine. There are three proposals to build LNG terminals in eastern Maine: in Robbinston, in Calais and on the Passamaquoddy Tribe’s Pleasant Point reservation.