CALAIS – A new developer has turned up the heat on an LNG proposal that has simmered on the back burner for more than a year, and it has people talking.

Rep. Ian Emery, R-Cutler, has sought help from Texas-based Gelber and Associates. Art Gelber is a nationally recognized energy consultant and developer specializing in energy trading practices and protocols.

Gelber, who said he would meet with the press next week, was visiting Calais on Friday. He also plans to meet with key people, including city officials, over the next few days.

Emery and Passamaquoddy tribal state Rep. Fred Moore first proposed their joint plan for an LNG facility on Route 1 in Calais near Red Beach nearly three years ago. At the time, they had sought and received the backing of the Indian Township tribal government. For a time, it appeared they would be a rival developer to two other plans: the Oklahoma-based Quoddy Bay LNG, which proposes building a facility at the Passamaquoddys’ sister reservation at Pleasant Point near Eastport, and the Washington, D.C.-based Downeast LNG, which wants to build a facility in Robbinston. The Pleasant Point and Robbinston proposals are more than a year ahead of the Calais one in terms of obtaining the necessary state and federal licensing permits. Last year, Emery and Moore parted ways.

After the dissolution of the partnership, Emery consulted with Gelbert.

The city manager informed the Calais City Council of Gelber’s pending visit at its regular meeting Thursday night.

“I just want to let everybody know that the project manager for Calais LNG is going to be in the area next week, and they are going to be here to talk with the civic leaders of our community, and I look forward to meeting with them and hearing what they have to say,” City Manager Diane Barnes told the council.

Mayor Vinton Cassidy said during the meeting that Gelber confirmed during a telephone conversation he was interested in talking with key people.

“I was kind of hoping they would kind of do another [public meeting], but apparently these folks would rather get a feel of the community and all the leaders and the business people and then pursue [a meeting] if they wish to. Obviously I don’t have any input on how people should do their business,” he said.

The mayor noted that councilors had supported the concept of LNG when it first was introduced several years ago, but had stopped short of endorsing any one company. “We just said we liked the concept and if someone could get through the hoops … we’re certainly glad to see some economic development for the area,” he said. “I hope that if they feel there is a potential to do that, I hope they we can schedule a workshop with the council and planning board and the public.”

But not everyone is glad Gelber is here.

Canadian leaders oppose all three facilities because the LNG tankers would have to travel through the Canadian waters of Head Harbor Passage near Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Deer Island, and in the case of the Robbinston and Calais projects, past St. Andrews, before docking farther up the bay.

St. Andrews Mayor John Craig said Friday that’s not going to happen. “The government of Canada is not allowing the LNG tankers through Head Harbor Passage,” he said. “St. Andrews is dead set against it and we are working with all levels making sure this doesn’t happen. And Stephen Harper, the prime minister, has made it very clear to the United States and the [president] that this is not going to happen.”

Craig suggested that the developers go home. “Nothing has changed. They are not going to get through Head Harbor Passage, so their investors better wake up and realize that they are throwing money out the window and they are going to have to fight a whole country,” he said.

Bob Godfrey of Save Passamaquoddy Bay, the group that has provided organized opposition to any LNG facility Down East, also expressed disapproval. The proposed sitings of the three facilities “violate the LNG terminal siting standards as indicated by the Society of International Gas Terminal and Tanker Operators,” he said. For example, LNG terminals and shipping routes should not be sited in areas where spilled LNG vapors could affect civilian populations, and LNG tanker berths should not be located near shipping channels because of the possibility of a collision with other vessels.

Godfrey lumped the Calais project in with the other two and said he did not believe they would win government approval. “And this one has an even worse chance,” he said. “It is a more challenging transit route, for one thing.”

For information about Gelber, visit www.gelbercorp.com.

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