Top Bay State Dems vow to halt Taunton River LNG project

FALL RIVER, Mass. – Top-ranking Democrats rallied outside the proposed site of a liquefied natural gas terminal Monday and promised the project won’t go forward, despite approval from federal regulators.

“There may be water on these glasses, but I can still see a stupid proposal,” Fall River Mayor Ed Lambert said as he stood with 100 others at a rain-soaked rally.

Weaver’s Cove Energy has received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to build a $250 million LNG terminal at a former Shell Oil site on the banks of the Taunton River. The terminal would be serviced by tankers that move through Narragansett Bay.

Critics fear the plant could endanger residents in this former mill town. According to one government study, if a tanker were breached during an accident or a terror attack, its flammable contents could start a fire capable of inflicting second-degree burns on those within a mile of the terminal.

Almost 64,000 people in Rhode Island and Massachusetts live along a tanker route proposed by Weaver’s Cove Energy and Hess LNG, project critics said.

“While the probability is low, it’s high consequences,” said John Keppel, 57, whose Fall River home is 1.5 miles from the proposed site. “These hills are full of people.”

Most who live nearby said they feared a tanker accident could case a fast-moving fire they wouldn’t be able to escape.

“A person wouldn’t have a chance. It’s a disaster waiting to happen,” said Joan Pingley, 67.

Governors in Massachusetts and Rhode Island oppose the project, as do prominent members of the region’s congressional delegation. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., criticized those who say the prospects of a terrorist attack are unlikely.

“Who knows if the probability’s low? Before what happened in New York, who would have said there could be planes flying into those buildings?” he said.

Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly, who is running for governor, called the project a misstep backed by President George Bush’s administration.

“We are going to use every tool we have to stop this project,” he said, attracting applause.

Some cursed and shouted as a fuel truck tried to leave the plant.

Since the project won federal approval, regional authorities have played a cat-and-mouse game with Weaver’s Cove. Last summer, Rep. James McGovern, D-Worcester, inserted a provision in the federal highway bill that barred the demolition of the old Brightman Street Bridge, an obstacle to navigation.

Hess responded by announcing that it would use smaller tankers capable of maneuvering beneath the bridge.

Coast Guard officials recently asked Weaver’s Cove Energy to revise those plans, saying that getting a boat past the Brightman Street Bridge would take “extraordinary maneuvers” and leave little margin for error.

Lawmakers in Rhode Island and Massachusetts are also considering legislation requiring LNG tankers to maintain large buffer zones. Project opponents said the bills would severely curtail tanker travel along the Taunton River.

The Republican-led energy regulatory board affirmed its approval last week.