Bay State lawmakers reviving LNG proposal

BOSTON – Legislative leaders in the House and Senate are quietly reviving a contentious plan to allow the construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal on a Boston Harbor island.

On Wednesday, during an informal session led by Senate President Robert Travaglini, D-Boston, the Senate voted to force the bill out of a committee where it had been sent to die earlier this year.

The House took similar action last month.

The procedural moves make it more likely the bill could now reach the floor and a vote by the members of the House and Senate. Travaglini has already said “it’s certainly something that would warrant my interest and attention,” while his House counterpart, Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, D-Boston, has said he favors a committee to study several proposals for siting LNG terminals.

The bill proposes leasing the state-owned Outer Brewster Island and bidding out construction rights so the eventual winner can construct a terminal for receiving shipments of liquefied natural gas. The island is at the outer edge of Boston Harbor, near an undersea gas pipeline.