The four U.S. senators who represent Rhode Island and Massachusetts have asked a Senate appropriations committee to permanently block federal funds from being used to approve or construct any liquefied natural gas facility in Fall River.

Senators Jack Reed, Sheldon Whitehouse, Edward M. Kennedy and John Kerry said that their request, if approved, would essentially kill plans by Weaver’s Cove LNG to build a terminal in the city.

In a letter sent yesterday to the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, the four legislators noted that the project is opposed by the elected officials in both states.

The letter was addressed to Sen. Byron L. Dorgan, D-N.D., chairman of the subcommittee, and Sen. Pete V. Domenici, R-N.M., the subcommittee’s ranking member.

“Unfortunately, [the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] did not take these concerns into consideration during the federal LNG siting process,” the four senators wrote.

They asked for this specific language to be included in an energy and water appropriations bill for fiscal year 2008:

“No funds made available by this or any other Act for any fiscal year may be used to take any action to approve or allow the construction of any liquefied natural gas facility to be located within the City of Fall River, Massachusetts.”

The FERC has already approved the Weaver’s Cove proposal, with a number of conditions, including winning approvals from the Coast Guard and other agencies.

Last week, the Coast Guard told the developer that the water route leading to the site “may not be suitable for the type and frequency of LNG marine traffic” that the company has proposed.

The agency, in its preliminary report, concluded that “extraordinary maneuvers” would be required to bring ships to the LNG terminal, leaving little margin for navigational error.

The New England senators said the facility would be in a densely populated area and would require that LNG-carrying vessels make “several complex navigational maneuvers” to go under bridges. They also cited the concerns from the Coast Guard review.

Asked why the senators felt they needed to circumvent the federal siting process, a spokeswoman for Whitehouse did not provide an answer.

James Grasso, a spokesman for Weaver’s Cove, could not be reached yesterday afternoon.

tbarmann@projo.com