2008 Nov 25
CALAIS — While things seem to be slowing down for two liquefied natural gas projects proposed for Passamaquoddy Bay, plans are continuing for a third and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will be holding a scoping meeting for Calais LNG Thursday, Dec. 4.
The meeting will take place at Washington County Community College at 7 p.m. (Atlantic) [6 p.m. Eastern] and all interested parties are invited to attend and present comments either in written form or verbally.
Calais LNG is proposing to build an LNG receiving terminal and storage facility on the outskirts of Calais. Their 135-hectare site is located approximately 11 kilometres south of downtown Calais and has 850 metres of shoreline along the banks of the St. Croix River and Passamaquoddy Bay.
The company website states that the site is considered the best in the north-eastern U.S. because of several factors including its close proximity to the existing Maritimes and Northeast pipeline, the topography of the land, which prevents visibility from Route 1, its proximity to an industrial facility across the river in New Brunswick (the port of Bayside) and the relatively minimal length of its pier.
The facility [would] feature a pier with berthing for one LNG vessel, two 160,000 cubic metre full-containment LNG storage tanks with potential expansion for a third tank, an LNG receiving facility, a send-out plant and ancillary features, and a 30 kilometre pipeline connecting the facility to the Maritimes and Northeast pipeline.
The company says the project, which has received the support of Calais City Council, will support approximately 250 construction jobs and between 40 and 60 permanent operations and maintenance jobs.
Calais LNG has secured the financial support of Goldman Sachs as a key investor and says they have put together a group of experienced industry and regional experts dedicated to bringing Maine a state-of-the-art LNG facility that [would] provide a reliable, safe, source of energy.
Linda Godfrey, of Save Passamaquoddy Bay, a group opposed to any LNG developments in the bay, said they will be making a number of points at the scoping meeting.
In order to reach the terminal, LNG tankers [would] still have to travel through Canada's Head Harbour Passage, which Prime Minister Stephen Harper has already said he will not permit.
Godfrey said she wants to see the area protected from such developments for economic, environmental, and heritage reasons. She also questions the need for the LNG terminal when the U.S. is going to have plentiful supplies of shale gas.
FERC will also be conducting a site visit at [10 a.m. Atlantic, 9 a.m. Eastern] the same day as the scoping meeting and Godfrey said the public will also be able to go along.
She noted that abutting the Calais LNG property is the Devil's Head conservation area. She said city council worked to get this declared a conservation area.
© 2008 Advocate Media
Article republished on Save Passamaquoddy Bay website with permission.
The Saint Croix Courier, St. Stephen, NB