Quoddy Bay LNG meeting draws foes

PERRY – A meeting to announce Quoddy Bay LNG’s plans to file its application with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection attracted a crowd that expressed strong opposition to the liquefied natural gas project and concerns about its impact on the environment, human safety and locally owned property.

About 80 people traveled from local towns and across the Canadian border to Perry Elementary School on Wednesday night to hear from the project manager and an environmental consultant about the proposal to construct and operate a 2-billion-cubic-feet-per-day LNG import and regasification facility, including a pier and two vessel berths, at the Passamaquoddy Tribe’s Pleasant Point Reservation in Washington County.

Quoddy Bay LNG has filed a formal application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and plans to file its permits with various state agencies in June, project manager Brian Smith said.

“If you’re not familiar with the FERC process, it is a comprehensive environmental review process,” Smith said. “The state permit process goes above and beyond the FERC application with a greater level of depth and detail.”

Smith and Quoddy Bay LNG environmental consultant Paul Martin gave a slide-show presentation on the federal and state application process and the company’s plans to reduce and remedy the project’s potential impact on wetlands, wildlife, fisheries, water, air, noise and landscape.

“Keep in mind that when you’re up close to these facilities, they seem big, but when you move farther away, they seem smaller,” said Martin, from Boston-based TRC Companies. His comment drew guffaws from the crowd.

Audience members concerned about the environmental impact focused on Half Moon Cove, located near the proposed LNG receiving terminal.

“There are probably more people digging for clams in Half Moon Cove than will be employed by the facility,” said Robert Costa, a land surveyor and environmental consultant who lives in Perry. “You’ve given us, the public, a lot of work to do to respond to this and given the state a lot of work to do to respond to this.”

Martin said fewer than 15 acres of wetlands, none of it rare, would be permanently affected by the project. According to state and Army Corps of Engineers regulations, damage to wetlands must be offset by creating new ones, restoring other degraded wetlands and enhancing, preserving or protecting existing wetlands within the state.

“We’re probably looking at a combination of those options,” Martin said.

After the presentation, a question and comment session quickly turned from environmental concerns to other aspects of the project.

“I’m hearing all about birds and wetlands, but what about humans?” asked former tribal state Rep. Madonna Sactomah, a Passamaquoddy tribal elder. “How are your timelines affected with the Canadian government taking a stand [against LNG tankers in Head Harbour Passage]?”

“We don’t expect our timeline to be impacted by that,” Smith said.

Nancy MacIntosh, who is running for political office in New Brunswick, responded to the exchange.

“Head Harbour Passage is internal waters. … We’re willing to take you to international court,” MacIntosh said, prompting applause from the audience.

“It’s something that needs to be worked out between the two countries, not between a company and a country,” Smith said.

More than 20 people rose to ask at least one question or make a comment, pushing the meeting past the two-hour mark.

Among the topics briefly covered were Quoddy Bay LNG’s lack of advertising for the meeting, terrorist threats, construction on sacred tribal land, documents that FERC has not published for public review and the export pipeline.

“It looks like there’s a pipeline probably in my backyard. What if I don’t want a pipeline or my friends don’t want a pipeline in their backyard?” asked Patrick Mehr, a resident of Charlotte.

If a resident does not agree to sell land needed for the project, then Quoddy Bay LNG may obtain an easement on the land by invoking eminent domain, which refers to the state’s power to appropriate property for a public use, Smith said.

In response to shouts from the audience, Smith said, “Our goal is not to convince everyone that this [project] is the right thing. My personal goal is to make sure everyone understands what we’re doing.”

Throughout the meeting, not one person spoke in favor of the project. Yet the town of Perry and the Passamaquoddy reservations at Indian Township and Pleasant Point have all voted in favor of Quoddy Bay LNG. The city of Eastport has taken a stand against it.

“We know that the majority of the voting community members support this project,” said Andrea Barstow, community relations director for Quoddy Bay LNG. “But the supporters don’t always show up to these meetings for some reason. It could be that since these meetings are held so that people can voice concerns, the proponents don’t feel a need to show up because their concerns have already been addressed.”