ROBBINSTON – Bear Creek Investments Ltd. is requesting that a Robbinston LNG company’s application to build an LNG terminal and storage facility be denied.

Bear Creek has owned land on Route 1 in Robbinston for the past couple of years. The company has at least one pro-LNG investor, Quoddy Bay LNG, affiliated with it. Bear Creek filed comments on May 4 with the Maine Board of Environmental Protection against Downeast LNG, that owns land abutting the Bear Creek property.

“Bear Creek wishes to comment on that portion of the motion which relates to the lack of control over all of the property which the applicant – Downeast – is to ‘use’ in its development of the project,” the Bear Creek filing said.

“Bear Creek is pursuing development of the property and is therefore directly impacted by the proposed actions of Downeast, which could impact this development.”

Right now, Quoddy Bay LNG is in a horse race with Downeast LNG to be the first to receive not only state permits but also a permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to build its LNG facility at Pleasant Point. Downeast LNG hopes to build its facility in Robbinston, next to Bear Creek land.

In its filing, Bear Creek said it plans to build the Wabanaki Interpretive and Conference Center on its property. “Bear Creek has hired a local representative to further the development, and has preliminary architectural designs completed by the architecture firm of Lewis and Malm in Bucksport, Maine,” the company said in its filing. “The center will be developed in consultation with the Passamaquoddy Tribe and, among other things, is designed to provide access to certain geographic sites, including Pulpit Rock, which the tribe considers historically and culturally important.” Pulpit Rock is near where Downeast LNG hopes to build its facility.

The company fears that if the land falls within Downeast’s exclusion zone “Bear Creek would not be able to develop the land for the uses intended by it,” they said in their filing. Federal law requires that “LNG containers and LNG transfer systems have a thermal radiation exclusion zone and flammable vapor-gas dispersion exclusion zone,” the filing added.

Not to worry, Downeast LNG spokesman Rob Wyatt said Monday. He said his company has moved the location of its tanks and the Bear Creek land is no longer in the exclusion zone.

“We are excited at Quoddy Bay/Bear Creek’s announcement of their plans to develop the Wabanaki Interpretive and Conference Center as a neighbor to our own facility,” he said. “It’s a great use of the land adjacent to our site and as noted, will provide a valuable access point to Pulpit Rock, one of the concerns that the tribe had previously expressed about our project. We’ve already moved our tank location such that our facility will not impact the proposed center of any property to the south of us, so we gladly welcome this proposed community enhancement.”

Donald Smith, who is president of the Oklahoma-based Quoddy Bay LNG, is connected with Bear Creek, his son, Brian, confirmed on Monday.

Bear Creek and Quoddy Bay are “affiliated” companies. Brian Smith said. “They have some owners in common, I’ll put it that way. Some of the owners of Quoddy Bay are affiliated with the owners of Bear Creek.”

Smith elaborated. “The main reason why Bear Creek is in Maine to begin with was to try and work with Quoddy Bay. Bear Creek was trying to buy land that Quoddy Bay was interested in,” Smith said. “Otherwise, it would be unlikely that Bear Creek would have been up there.”

At one point, Quoddy Bay was looking at land in Robbinston to build its LNG storage tanks on. It later changed the plan to put the tank farm in Perry. Donald Smith also owns Oklahoma-based Smith Cogeneration International Inc. Brian Smith said Bear Creek’s representative also works for Smith Cogeneration Management.

In filing with the state, Bear Creek joined with the anti-LNG groups Save Passamaquoddy Bay and Pleasant Point-based We Protect Our Homeland, which is known as Nulankeyutmonen Nkihaqmikon in the Passamaquoddy language, and two Canadian groups to ask the state to “deny without prejudice” Downeast LNG’s applications.

As part of the permitting process, Downeast LNG has filed applications with the state for air emission, site location of development, natural resources protection act and water quality certification.

But Save Passamaquoddy Bay and the We Protect Our Homeland group also are locked in a battle with Quoddy Bay LNG to stop its multi-million dollar project from being built on Passamaquoddy tribal land at Pleasant Point.

Save Passamaquoddy Bay spokeswoman Linda Godfrey said Monday that Bear Creek’s idea for Robbinston was too preliminary to comment. “Ecoeconomy businesses like a cultural center are certainly more compatible with our area than large industrial operations,” she said.

Bear Creek could not comment Monday. “I do know that Bear Creek has hired a local representative in Perry or Pleasant Point. I don’t believe they’ve appointed a spokesperson yet, but they do plan to in the next couple of days to answer questions about that and about whatever else,” Smith said.

Asked if there was anyone from Bear Creek who could be called on Monday, Smith said, “I don’t think they have anyone who is willing to talk to the press.” He declined to identify the Bear Creek spokesman.