The Saint Croix Courier

St. Stephen, NB

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2005 November 10

No closed LNG meetings

By BARB RAYNER

ST. ANDREWS — Town council will meet the president of Downeast LNG to discuss his company’s plans for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Passamaquoddy Bay, but the meeting will not take place in the council chambers, says Mayor John Craig.

He said at Monday night’s meeting that Dean Girdis has approached council about a public meeting, and he is willing to grant that, but it will have to be in a place that can accommodate all those interested in attending.

Also, said Mayor Craig, they don’t want to have that meeting in the next couple of months. Originally, he said, the company wanted to have the meeting in the summer, when people were busy and now they want it as people are getting ready for the Christmas season.

“To me, they are trying to set these meetings up when people are busy. I want people in that room to be asking questions and I expect Mr. Girdis to be able to answer them and I’ll send a warning out to him right now — he’d better be able to answer every question that he gets asked.

“There will be people from St. Andrews who will be asking him direct questions and he’d better not be sitting around on his hands and saying I don’t know — I’ll get back to you. He’d better have some answers.”

Art MacKay, executive director of the St. Croix Estuary Project, will be present at the meeting as well, said Mayor Craig who added, “I’m not going to expect the town of St. Andrews to be buffaloed by a snake salesman coming to the town.”

Councillor David Welch said the issue is now receiving national media coverage. He said Transport Canada has initiated a study into the movement of ships within Canadian waters and there has been talk in the House of Commons about LNG tankers in Head Harbour Passage.

Most comments were that it was not a good idea, said Councillor Welch, but there were some statements by the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Transport, Miramichi MP Charles Hubbard, which caused concern.

He said Elizabeth May, executive director of the Sierra Club in Canada, is meeting with Transport Canada this week to discuss the issue.