AUGUSTA – State environmental regulators are gearing up for a week of public meetings on the first of several controversial liquefied natural gas facilities proposed for Down East Maine.

And if a meeting Thursday was any indication, the coming regulatory review will be a perplexing legal maze for even the lawyers on both sides.

Members of Maine’s Board of Environmental Protection face a dizzying mix of state, national and international issues as they review Downeast LNG’s proposal to build a shipping terminal and natural gas storage facility off U.S. Route 1 in Robbinston.

Board leadership, with help from state attorneys, have spent weeks trying to figure out what regulatory areas are within the BEP’s jurisdiction and which areas will be decided by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the U.S. Coast Guard or any of the other federal agencies involved in approving such a complex project.

Further complicating matters, both the Downeast LNG project and a second proposal by a company called Quoddy Bay LNG are located just across the bay from Canada, resulting in cross-border tensions and more regulatory confusion.

Just how muddy those regulatory waters can be became clear Thursday as the board heard appeals by Downeast LNG and project opponents, operating under the umbrella group Save Passamaquoddy Bay.

For example, the board voted to allow pre-filed testimony from a group of U.S. fishermen working in U.S. waters near the LNG site but would not accept pre-filed testimony from several Canadian fishermen working just across the border, even though several did business in Maine.

FERC, meanwhile, will be responsible for addressing any safety concerns tied to the LNG terminal. But it’s the BEP that has jurisdiction over any potential environmental impacts from an explosion or accident at the LNG facility.

“We’ve spent days on this and we’re still confused, so don’t feel ashamed if you get confused,” Peggy Bensinger, an assistant attorney general, told board members at one point.

One contentious issue that surfaced repeatedly Thursday was over whom should be allowed to submit pre-filed testimony for the board to consider. Save Passamaquoddy Bay had submitted testimony from several Canadian fishermen and businesses that either work near the LNG site or have ties to Maine businesses.

Board Chairman Virginia Plummer disallowed pre-filed testimony from several Canadian fishermen who fish only in Canadian waters, saying they were beyond the board’s jurisdiction.

“The board looks at the environment in the United States, not the environmental issues in Canada, even if there are secondary impacts,” Matt Manahan, an attorney for Downeast LNG, told the board.

But attorney Ronald Kreisman, representing Save Passamaquoddy Bay, argued that the LNG facility would have direct and secondary impacts on fishermen on both sides of the border.

Kreisman pointed out that several of the Canadian fishermen caught herring that later were sold as bait to Maine lobstermen. One of the Canadian fishermen supplied crabs to a processing plant in Southwest Harbor whose owner predicted he would have to close shop if he lost the Canadian fisherman’s business, Kreisman said.

“We have working men and women who feel they are going to be very impacted, who go back generations in this area,” Kreisman told the board in a plea to listen to as many people as possible.

Plummer pointed out, however, that Southwest Harbor was not part of the immediate area near the proposed LNG terminal and that the Canadian herring also went to lobstermen outside of the area.

But two BEP members – Wing Goodale and Ernest Hilton – sided with Kreisman.

“I was struck by the fact that if this were all happening within the state of Maine, none of this would be a question,” Goodale said. “I hate to make decisions based on political boundaries.”

In the end, Goodale and Hilton were outvoted 4-2 to support Plummer’s original decision.

The Robbinston facility’s potential environmental impact, both in Maine and in Canada, will likely be a hot topic during public hearings and official work sessions scheduled for the week of July 16. The BEP has scheduled public hearings, including one evening session, from July 16 through July 20 at Calais High School and at 6:30 p.m. July 17 at Robbinston Grade School.

Dean Girdis, president of Downeast LNG, said afterward that his company considered other sites farther away from the Canadian border, but no other place offered the same combination of assets as the Robbinston site.