Utility decries 'scare tactics' over LNG

An energy company spokesman predicts that officials will eventually recognize that large quantities of LNG can be transferred safely from tanker ships.

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, October 1, 2004

BY MARK REYNOLDS
Journal Staff Writer


The governors of Rhode Island and Massachusetts and dozens of lower level officials refuse to support plans for a new natural gas facility in Fall River because they've been influenced by inaccurate propaganda, the project's developer said yesterday.

A spokesman for Weaver's Cove Energy, James A. Grasso, said "scare tactics" have helped keep officials on the fence in both states.

"I think because of the amount of misinformation and because of the amount of misunderstanding, coupled with scare tactics, all of the public officials that are opposed are seeking more information," said Grasso.

Grasso predicted that officials will eventually recognize that large quantities of liquefied natural gas can be offloaded from tanker ships without jeopardizing public safety or fouling the environment.

The spokesman's remarks were a reaction to Carcieri's decision to withdraw his support for two different LNG projects that would bring aircraft-carrier size tanker ships to Fall River and Providence via Narragansett Bay.

On Wednesday, Carcieri's spokesman, Jeff Neal, said the governor isn't convinced that LNG tankers can ply Rhode Island's waters without compromising security or endangering the environment.

By yesterday, the carefully worded change in the governor's stance had already brought relief to some of the project's leading opponents, including Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch. But to others, it wasn't quite enough.

Rep. Raymond Gallison, D-Bristol, suggested that the administration is leaving the door open when it says its reason for opposing the projects, for the time being, is that developers have not done enough to resolve matters of security or concerns about potential environmental damage.

"I don't believe we need any more research or any more studies," Gallison said.

At this point, it is already clear that a tanker ship carrying LNG would "represent a target of opportunity" as it motors through the Bay, according to Gallison.

"We don't need to leave the door open at all," Gallison said. "The door should be completely closed."

"It doesn't warrant any further study," he added.

Several scientific studies, including a report commissioned by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, have shown that large amounts of spilled LNG are capable of fueling catastrophic fires under certain conditions.

The experts noted that liquefied natural gas is incapable of feeding a fire until it comes into contact with air and vaporizes into a specific concentration of natural gas. Even then, something has to ignite the flammable plume of gas, they say.

Gallison and other critics say officials cannot ignore that possibility.

The burden of guarding against the threat falls on shoreline communities, he said.

Lynch agreed. But he said he is satisfied with the governor's reassessment of the issue.

"I always take the governor in good faith," he said, adding that he hopes to see Carcieri speak out when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission takes feedback from the public.

The comment period for the Fall River plan has elapsed, but hearings are still in the offing for the project that KeySpan has proposed at Fields Point in Providence. The developer wants permission to equip an existing LNG facility to receive LNG from tanker ships.

A spokeswoman for KeySpan, Carmen Fields, declined to comment on the administration's new stance.

Meanwhile, Lynch said he hoped Carcieri's new position would help him rally Rhode Islanders to his cause.

"People are really not focused in Rhode Island," Lynch said.



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