Opponents -- and advocates -- stake out positions on a proposed liquefied natural gas facility on Outer Brewster Island.

01:44 AM EST on Thursday, November 17, 2005

The plan to build a liquefied natural gas facility on an island in Boston Harbor -- pitched as an alternative to proposed LNG sites in heavily populated areas in Fall River and Providence -- has stirred up a storm of opposition.

AES Corp., of Arlington, Va., in September proposed a $500-million project to build an LNG facility on Outer Brewster Island, part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. The plan requires a two-thirds vote of the Massachusetts legislature to convert the parkland to a new use before a developer can begin to seek a host of other needed state and federal approvals. Even though the island is part of the national parks system, it is owned by the state.

AES, making the proposal as Battery Rock LNG, argues that as natural gas prices spike and supplies dwindle, New England requires a new source of LNG to meet the region's needs. Also, AES argues that a new facility proposed in Fall River and another that would convert a truck-supplied plant in Providence to a tanker-supplied depot have encountered heavy opposition because of their locations in urban areas.

But the proposal for outer Brewster Island also faces many opponents:

Environmentalists have organized "Save the Brewsters" and the nonprofit Save the Harbor/Save the Bay have formed coalitions to fight the project. "We were right to invest in a cleaner harbor, we were right to create a national park and it would be wrong to give up the jewel of the park," said Bruce Berman, a spokesman for Save the Harbor/Save the Bay.

Residents of Hull, the coastal community located about 2 1/2 miles from the 22-acre island, and local officials oppose the plan. Rep. Garrett Bradley, D-Hingham, said accidents or attacks are among a list of concerns that includes impacts on the fishing and lobstering industries, airplane flight paths, aesthetics and frequent shutdowns of activity around other Harbor Islands when tankers -- which require safety zones buffering their courses -- dock at the facility.

Other legislators and opponents say the bill pending in the legislature that authorizes the state to put a lease for Outer Brewster Island up for public bid unfairly allows just one company to build an LNG plant there -- AES. "It's a really bad idea for a bill to cynically say it is establishing a fair and open process and by its language sets up a sweetheart deal for one big company with political connections," said Jim Gomes, president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts.

While opponents have organized, the plan also has advocates.

The Massachusetts House cochairmen of committees that review economic development and energy-related bills have agreed to sponsor the bill.

Rep. Brian Dempsey, D-Haverhill, co-chairman of the Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, said, "The proposal certainly has merit, given its remoteness, and it would be the only potential LNG site in which the state would have direct control of the land."

Rep. Daniel Bosley, D-North Adams, cochairman of the Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, is cosponsoring the legislation. Rep. Cheryl Rivera, D-Springfield, cochairwoman of the Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security, also supports the bill, Dempsey said.

"It's a good base of support," he said. "It shows that we are trying to be proactive in looking at our energy needs."

Bosley said he lent support to the bill, which calls for a 99-year-lease, to "jump start this discussion.

"It's clear that we need to bring more product into this area, and we're in a situation where every time something comes up, someone suggests a space, it gets shot down by the people in the local area," he said. "Brian Dempsey and I wanted to file a bill that would start the discussion, and coalesce some support, or not."

Governor Romney and Senate President Robert Travaglini, D-East Boston, while stopping short of endorsing the Outer Brewster Island proposal, have spoken of its potential merit and indicated it warrants further review.

A hearing on his bill would likely occur early next year.

Bradley has been an outspoken critic of the plan.

Acknowledging the looming natural gas shortage, Bradley said, "There are numerous ways to do this without the significant safety, environmental and FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] concerns that this particular project has. And, if you get over that, there's ways of doing that without closing a national park district."

Beyond worries about a dramatic island explosion, Bradley said he is also concerned about terrorists potentially rigging a controlled gas leak, creating a cloud that would detonate further inland once it found an ignition point.

Another argument against siting the facility on the island, Bradley said, hinges on state land use laws requiring that the lease of state-owned land result in "no net loss" for the commonwealth, and that the buyer compensate the state with similar property.

"Last I checked, they weren't making any more islands," Bradley said. Environmental impacts could include devastating damage to the island and surrounding waters, said Berman, communications director of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay.

"The outer islands are a fragile ecosystem that are home to a number of species or endangered or protected seabirds" such as ibis, petrel, heron and oyster-catcher," Berman said. As the "crown jewel," of the island system, Outer Brewster Island also offers a habitat to juvenile fanfish, juvenile lobsters, and the harbor's only seal colony, he said.

"The impacts in that shallow bay are going to be devastating, there's no question about it," said Berman.

The House recently approved legislation calling for a special commission to review LNG siting and demand issues. Dempsey said the Outer Brewster bill could be reviewed in tandem with the commission proceedings.

Aaron Samson, managing director for Battery Rock LNG, said in a statement that the company appreciated Dempsey's "recognition of Battery Rock LNG as the only LNG proposal on the table that will give state government control over the siting process, plus provide a safe and secure method of delivering much-needed energy supply to the region.

"Our proposal offers a necessary new source of natural gas supply while providing maximum public safety and significant revenue to state and local government. We look forward to demonstrating this project's unique benefits during the legislative process over the coming months."

At a glance

Details about the two LNG projects proposed on Narragansett Bay:

KEYSPAN LNG

WHERE: Fields Point waterfront, Providence, R.I.

WHAT: $100 million expansion of current facility

CURRENTLY: Only receives liquefied natural gas shipments by truck

PROPOSAL: Would add marine dock to receive LNG deliveries by ship, expand capacity and add a direct connection to the Algonquin Gas Trasmission system.

STATUS: Federal regulators rejected the proposal in June because the proposed site and existing tank would not meet current safety standards.s KeySpanshas asked the regulators to reconsider their decision, and the regulators have not yet decided whether they will.

WEAVER'S COVE ENERGY LLC

WHERE: Fall River, Mass.

WHAT: New $250 million liquefied natural gas terminal

FORMERLY: Shell Oil site

PROPOSAL: Construction of a ship unloading berth, storage tank and two pipelines, which could transport up to 800 million cubic feet of LNG per day.

STATUS: Federal regulators approved the proposal in June. Several major hurdles remain before construction can begin, including state and federal approvals to dredge sections of the Mount Hope Bay. Opponents of the project, including Atty. Gen. Patrick Lynch and Fall River Mayor Edward Lambert, have asked the regulators to reconsider. The regulators haven't decided whether they'll revisit the approval.