Quoddy Bay vows to forge ahead on LNG

Quoddy Bay LNG developers joined Downeast LNG on Thursday in pledging to move forward with their plans to construct liquefied natural gas terminals on Passamaquoddy Bay.

Their announcement comes one day after the Canadian government declared its opposition to the projects.

Donald Smith, president of Quoddy Bay LNG in Perry, sent a letter Thursday to the U.S. State Department in response to a letter Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Wilson sent Wednesday to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Wilson’s letter said the Canadian government will not allow LNG tankers to travel through Head Harbor Passage in order to access LNG terminals in Passamaquoddy Bay.

In his letter, Smith asked the State Department to clarify its position on the matter.

“Canada appears to have pre-judged the matter without giving Quoddy Bay an opportunity to complete the appropriate review process,” Smith wrote. “This denial of due process is contrary to the spirit and letter of the Free Trade Agreement entered into by the United States and Canada.”

The State Department did not return calls for comment.

FERC is currently reviewing applications submitted in December by Quoddy Bay LNG and Downeast LNG in Robbinston.

FERC spokeswoman Tamara Young-Allen confirmed that her office had received Wilson’s letter. Young-Allen said FERC will continue to process the LNG project applications unless the applicants file a formal request to withdraw.

FERC Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher will comment at a later date, Young-Allen said.

In his letter, Wilson said the Canadian government commissioned a study of the environmental and safety risks of LNG tankers passing through the marine and coastal areas of Head Harbor Passage. The study concluded the tankers “present risks to the region of southwest New Brunswick and its inhabitants that the Government of Canada cannot accept,” Wilson said.

Downeast LNG and Quoddy Bay LNG said the study Wilson cited was conducted without public or international participation and has not been made available to project developers or U.S. government officials.

In Thursday’s Bangor Daily News story on the LNG controversy, The Associated Press erroneously reported that New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham has spoken out against LNG.

Graham and the province’s Department of Intergovernmental Affairs have yet to publicly take a stance for or against the two proposed LNG terminals, according to Gisele Regimbal, director of communications for the department. The Department of Intergovernmental Affairs has applied for intervener status with FERC, meaning that it wants to be recognized as an official party in the proceedings, Regimbal said.

In response to the Canadian government’s opposition to the proposed projects, Downeast LNG President Dean Girdis said he expects “a strong push back” from the State Department, the Maine congressional delegation and the governor’s office.

Gov. John Baldacci remained impartial on the matter in a statement his office released Thursday. Baldacci said Wilson’s letter to FERC was not a surprise.

“The Canadian government hasn’t made a secret of their opposition to the proposed LNG terminals in Maine,” Baldacci said. “We have our own process, which has begun. Ultimately, that will determine what happens with the terminals.”

Baldacci has said he is in favor of the proposed LNG terminals as long as they are approved by their surrounding communities.

State Sen. Kevin L. Raye, R-Perry, released a statement Thursday calling Wilson’s letter an “unwarranted intrusion of Canadian political leaders seeking to control U.S. access to Maine ports of Passamaquoddy Bay.”

Greg Thompson, regional minister for New Brunswick and national minister of veterans affairs, suggested Thursday that LNG project developers either find new locations or abandon their proposals entirely.

“They have to know they’re taking on a sovereign nation and we’ll take every legal means to enforce our position,” Thompson said.