FERC report policy riles LNG foes

One of the companies that has applied to federal regulators for permission to build a liquefied natural gas terminal on Passamaquoddy Bay is nearing completion of another phase of the lengthy permitting process.

Quoddy Bay LLC has submitted 12 resource reports with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the primary permitting entity for land-based LNG terminals in the United States. The Oklahoma City-based firm has plans to build a terminal with a daily processing capacity of 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas at Split Rock, which is on Passamaquoddy tribal land at Pleasant Point.

Some of the information in the reports is not being made public, however, angering a group that is opposed to development of LNG terminals on the bay.

The resource reports reflect expert opinions on the estimated effect of the terminal on wildlife, the economy, air quality, recreational activity and other aspects of the Passamaquoddy Bay area, according to Quoddy Bay LLC.

Descriptions of many of the documents submitted as part of the reports are listed in the electronic library of FERC’s Web site, but not all are available for public viewing. Visitors to the Web site, www.ferc.gov, who try to open some of the documents online instead get a message informing them they do not have permission to view the requested file.

“The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has created an LNG permitting process that favors and assists the developer, and discriminates against ordinary citizens,” Linda Godfrey, coordinator for Save Passamaquoddy Bay, indicated Tuesday in a written statement. “All people in Passamaquoddy Bay should have a right to see all data.”

One of the documents that is available for public viewing on FERC’s Web site is a letter to FERC Secretary Magalie Salas from a New York City-based law firm hired by Quoddy Bay LLC. In the letter, the law firm claims that some of data in the documents “is considered to be privileged information that is commercially sensitive and thus exempt from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.”

Tamara Young-Allen, FERC’s spokeswoman for LNG proposals, said Wednesday that the agency has to follow federal laws that are meant to protect sensitive information that might compromise security, divulge competitive business secrets, or jeopardize culturally or historically significant assets.

Young-Allen said the agency is in the process of independently determining whether information in the resource reports should made be publicly available.

FERC also is reviewing the reports to determine whether they are complete.

“We take all of that into consideration and act accordingly,” Young-Allen said. “We’ll submit data requests to them if more information is needed.”

Members of the public who want to have access to information in the resource reports can make formal requests for such information, some of which is public but not available over the Internet, Young-Allen said. FERC has not yet received any such requests, she said.

Quoddy Bay Project Manager Brian Smith, in a written statement about access to the reports, said federal law determines how much of the reports is publicly available.

“While our company wants to provide as much information as possible to the general public, Quoddy Bay LNG does its best to follow these guidelines as part of an effort to ensure the safety and security of the Quoddy Bay LNG project.”

In a separate statement, Smith said the company is “more confident than ever” that the facility will be fully permitted by the fall of 2007.