BRISTOL -- State and local officials gathered last night in Bristol Town Hall and called on coastal communities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island to join in the fight against Weaver's Cove Energy's proposed liquefied natural gas terminal in Fall River.
Members of the Bristol Town Council and Fall River Mayor Edward M. Lambert Jr. asked cities and towns around Mount Hope and Narragansett bays to help pay for a Washington-based legal team to appeal a recent federal decision in favor of the facility.
Fall River has set aside $650,000 to pay for the services of energy lawyer Edward Berlin, environmental lawyer Robert Taylor and Lester Hyman, a lawyer who specializes in legislative and political matters.
The Bristol council voted last week to back the Massachusetts city and give the lawyers $25,000 to file a friend-of-the-court brief on its behalf.
And in a separate meeting last night, in Newport, the City Council voted to put in up to $25,000 for the brief.
Lambert wants other elected leaders to take the same action and said his city would set up a legal defense fund to lead the appeal.
"This is not just Fall River's fight," he said in Bristol. "This is a fight we all need to take on."
Members of the Portsmouth and Jamestown town councils were also at the meeting. They said afterward that they will decide in the coming weeks whether to contribute. In a letter to the Bristol council, Tiverton officials said they will also consider making a contribution.
On June 30, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved Weaver's Cove Energy's $250 million plan for a marine terminal for natural gas in Fall River's North End. On the same day, the commission rejected a proposed $100 million upgrade of KeySpan LNG's facility in the Fields Point section of Providence.
If the Fall River proposal goes ahead, 1,000-foot tankers carrying the potentially combustible fuel would pass by six waterfront communities in Rhode Island on their way to the terminal.
Opponents of the plan say the transportation of LNG would disrupt boat traffic and that coastal residents would be put at risk if there were an accident or terrorist attack.
"We are facing potential security and safety risks," state Rep. Raymond E. Gallison Jr., D-Bristol, Portsmouth said last night. "We are facing environmental and ecological nightmares."
By the end of the month, Fall River plans to file a petition with the federal regulatory agency for another hearing on the proposedterminal. According to Lambert, Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly will announce today that his office will also file a petition.
Lester Hyman, one of the lawyers representing Fall River, said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will likely reject the petitions. The next course of action, he said, is to file a case in the U.S. Court of Appeals.
In court, Fall River plans to argue that the commission abused its authority in approving the terminal by not adequately considering all the potential safety problems it could cause, said Hyman.
The amicus briefs from Rhode Island communities would strengthen Fall River's case by broadening the base of opposition to Weaver's Cove Energy's proposal, he said.
"We're ready to go to court," he said. "We really need to have the support of everyone to make this thing work."
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