2012 November 9
Downeast LNG, a liquefied natural gas import terminal project proposed for Robbinston, has filed 54 additional documents with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that are not available for public review. In an October letter to FERC, Downeast LNG President Dean Girdis states that the material should not be released to the public. "Certain information included in the attached filing is considered commerciallysensitive, business confidential proprietary information," he wrote. "Downeast requests confidential and proprietary treatment for this material." The documents are in response to a FERC request for additional engineering information about the company's "flashing and jetting" scenarios for its vapor exclusion zone fencing.
In a September 12 FERC letter requesting additional information from Downeast LNG, Secretary Kimberly Bose wrote: "The input parameters, assumptions used, and results of the hazard modeling analysis should be filed as public information. FERC staff recognizes that some information, such as the model input and output files, may be considered proprietary. Therefore, you may request nonpublic treatment of certain portions of the analysis... for specific engineering, vulnerability, or detailed design." Bose continues about the specifics of the engineering studies needed, stating, "Please note that recent reports on the results of the experimental tests conducted by Sandia National Laboratories indicate different flame characteristics than those used by LNGFIREIII may be more appropriate for the thermal radiation calculations required."
The Quoddy Tides has filed a request with FERC for access to this information, "given the nature of the Downeast LNG project" and the need for the public to be knowledgeable about the project's scope, said Editor and Publisher Edward French.
Other document filings related to the Downeast LNG project may be viewed at FERC's elibrary on the website <www.ferc.gov> using Docket CP07-53.
© 2012 The Quoddy Tides
Eastport, Maine
Article republished on Save Passamaquoddy Bay website with permission.