Example Letter to Coast Guard
Re Increasing Exclusion Zones for Marine LNG Spills to One Mile
Deadline For Submission is Monday, 2005 May 9
Comments can be submitted via online form at:
http://dmses.dot.gov/submit/dspSubmission.cfm
Others' comments can be read at:
http://dms.dot.gov/search/searchResultsSimple.cfm?numberValue=19615&searchType=docket
Following is the text of an actual letter sent to the Coast Guard. Please do not simply copy this letter, but make your own statement.
Agency : COAST GUARD
Title : Exclusion Zones for Marine LNG Spills
Subject Category : Rulemaking petitions: Fall River, MA
Docket ID : USCG-2004-19615
CFR Citation : 33 CFR Ch. I
Published : March 10, 2005
Comments Due : May 09, 2005
Phase : PROPOSED RULES
Docket Management Facility
U.S. Department of Transportation
400 Seventh St, SW
Washington, D.C. 20590-0001
Please note your REGULATIONS.GOV number.
Regulations.gov #: EREG - 2 Submitted May 05, 2005
Re: Coast Guard docket # USCG-2004-19615
Author : [YOUR NAME GOES HERE]
Organization : [YOUR ORGANIZATION NAME, IF APPLICABLE]
Attached Files : [ATTACHED FILE NAMES, IF APPLICABLE]
Comment : To the Coast Guard,
I am writing to you as a resident and business owner in Eastport, Maine, in response to your request for comments about the proposed rule change regarding the Exclusion Zones for Marine LNG Spills, Docket ID number USCG-2004-19615, initiated by the City of Fall River, MA.
There is a proposal to build an LNG terminal north of Eastport, Maine, on land belonging to the Passamaquoddy Tribe. Tankers coming to the proposed site would have to traverse waters that are subject to some of the highest tides in the world. These tides create unusually strong currents, making navigation by huge 1000 ft tankers potentially very challenging
The tankers would pass well within a half-mile of Eastport and the inhabited Canadian islands of Campobello and Deer Island, as they make their approach through Canadian waters. Most of the business district in downtown Eastport would be vulnerable should a catastrophic event occur as the tanker makes the sharp turn in its passage up the bay to the proposed terminal site.
I own a business on the waterfront in Eastport and I live on the shore just a few blocks south of the business district. I am very fearful of the consequences should a tanker's holds be breached, either by having the vessel ground out or be hit in a terrorist attack.
I am not an alarmist by nature, but the prospect of losing my home and business as well as my personal safety is truly terrifying.
I urge you to make the rule change, creating an exclusion zone of one mile to either side of an LNG tanker, to ensure that they do not jeopardize the safety and well-being of the people who live and work within that zone. This would require that LNG terminals be built and supplied in areas that are not inhabited. Under the current exclusion zone distance of 1000 feet, too many peoples' safety and livelihoods stand to be threatened. It's unconscionable that this type of project could be considered in settled areas anywhere along the coast of the United States.
In the strongest terms, I urge you to approve the rule change, making the exclusion zone on either side of LNG tankers one mile. I thank you for your attention and serious consideration of this issue. I appreciate having the opportunity to voice to the USCG my thoughts and grave reservations concerning the size of the present exclusion zone.
Sincerely,
[YOUR FULL NAME]
[STREET]
[CITY, STATE, ZIP]
Add our banner to your webpage: 
Read about the effort to Fix FERC: 