County commissioners hear LNG firm’s plan

MACHIAS – There were more questions than answers as a spokesman for a proposed liquefied natural gas facility at Pleasant Point met Wednesday with Washington County Commissioners.

Among the questions: How do you get more than 1,600 people off an island if the only road to it is closed as a result of a mishap? The community in question is neighboring Eastport. “We’re working on that right now,” Jerzy Kichner, Quoddy Bay LNG’s security and safety consultant, said Wednesday.

This is the first time that the commissioners have had a chance to hear the company’s presentation and they had lots of questions. The commissioners also wanted to hear the other side and invited Save Passamaquoddy Bay to meet with them.

But it was Quoddy Bay LNG’s day as Kichner walked the commissioners through a Power Point presentation.

The Oklahoma-based Quoddy Bay hopes to build a $700 million facility on a small piece of land at Split Rock at the Pleasant Point Reservation. They plan to run a pipeline under Route 190, the only road into the neighboring city of Eastport. The pipeline would travel for about a half mile under Half Moon Cove to a three-tank storage farm in Perry.

The company hopes to build a 900-foot pier with two berths. Initially, they would offload the gas into the pipeline until storage tanks are built. That would mean that initially at least 150 ships could make their way through Passamaquoddy Bay each year on their way to Split Rock. That number is expected to go down once the tanks are built.

The company presented an ambitious timeline that would include construction starting in November of next year, with the first shipment being received in the fourth quarter of 2009.

If that timeline remains on track, it would mean that motels from Calais to Machias would be overflowing with workers because the Maine Department of Transportation plans to begin construction of a third bridge in Calais next year. Calais is about a 25-minute drive from Pleasant Point. Construction on the bridge is expected to continue through 2008.

Although the company has its supporters, one country that is not yet on board is Canada. The ships would have to sail through Canadian waters on their way to the pier. Canadian officials have been quite vocal in their opposition to the project, citing safety and security concerns for neighboring Canadian islands including Deer Island and Campobello Island.

The ships would sail past Campobello Island, home to the Roosevelt-Campobello International Park. “Although Canada is listening, it isn’t playing, there’s a lot of politics going on,” Kichner said. He said water jurisdictional issues were being discussed at the Department of State level.

Another issue that Kichner raised was where the U.S. Coast Guard would board the ships for inspection. Initial plans suggest an area between Jonesport and Lubec if the inspection team can’t board at the pilot boarding area, which would be located in Canadian waters. That boarding problem also would have to be resolved with Canada.

A question also left unanswered was who Quoddy Bay’s partners would be if the project receives federal approval. Kichner said he was not involved with that aspect of the plan but said the company would retain a 51 percent interest in the venture. But the company is looking for investors.

He said countries that supply LNG might be potential investors. Asked what would happen if the foreign investor was a country that did not look favorably upon the United States, Andrea Barstow, the company’s community relation’s spokesman, said she would refer that question to the company’s project director. Brian Smith did not attend the commission meeting.

Kichner then talked about what he characterized as misperceptions, including a protection zone around the ship that could go for miles. He said that the mile-long distance that was required to move an LNG tanker past downtown Boston was not something that would be applicable in Passamaquoddy Bay. “Everyone is under the impression that everything is going to have to stop,” he said. “That is not correct. The security zone affects people on the water.” He also said that it would be up to the U.S. Coast Guard to allow local boats to move in the area of the ship.

Kichner said that an LNG ship would not interfere with aquaculture operations Down East. Nor would the ships impact the right whale conservation area in the bay. Kichner said there would be escort boats as well as state-of-the-art tugboats to move the ships into and out of the area.

Plans to build a tidal power facility near Eastport also would not interfere with the project. He said the two entities could work together for their mutual benefits.

Kichner said the company was looking at real security issues including the possibility that the ship could be used as a weapon or as a target. “We will look at all aspects of that,” he said. He did not elaborate.

But Kichner also stressed the safety record of the industry and said that the company was building a facility that would address all safety and security issues.