Bay State LNG plant wins initial approval

BOSTON – A proposed liquefied natural gas terminal 13 miles off Gloucester, which would be New England’s first offshore LNG facility, has won initial approval.

Excelerate Energy LLC still faces a host of state and federal regulatory hurtles before it could start construction on the project.

Environmental Secretary Stephen R. Pritchard ordered Excelerate to conduct more comprehensive assessments on a number of issues, including the project’s impact on commercial fishermen and marine life. He also expressed concern about a second proposed LNG terminal to be built 10 miles off Gloucester because both would use underwater pipelines.

“I question the development of duplicative infrastructure on public trust lands,” Pritchard wrote Monday in the 19-page certificate approving Excelerate’s draft environmental impact report.

“We are obviously very pleased we passed this project milestone,” said Doug Pizzi, a spokesman for Excelerate, a Texas company that already has built the world’s first offshore LNG terminal in the Gulf of Mexico.

A state draft environmental decision on the second Gloucester project, drawn up by the company that owns the Distrigas LNG terminal in Everett, is expected within two weeks. That project is called Neptune.

Doug Bailey, a spokesman for Distrigas, said Excelerate’s initial approval did not jeopardize his company’s plan.

“This is another step in a very careful and deliberate process. We are on virtually identical timetables,” Bailey said.

The U.S. Coast Guard, the lead federal permitting agent for both projects, is expected to issue final decisions in December on both plans.

Environmentalists and government officials note that ships using offshore facilities don’t have to steam near populated areas, such as the one where the Everett LNG terminal is located. The Excelerate plan calls for a 16.4-mile pipeline to connect to New England’s distribution network.

Over the last three years, more than a half-dozen LNG proposals have been made for New England and Atlantic Canada, but the U.S. government has approved just one – in Fall River.