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January 26, 2006

Updated: R.I. joins appeal over LNG site in Fall River

FALL RIVER, Mass. - As promised, officials from two states and the Conservation Law Foundation today filed appeals in federal court seeking to overturn the
federal government's approval of a widely-opposed liquefied natural gas terminal
on the Taunton River near a densely populated area.

The opponents of the plan filed a petition today, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First District in Boston to review the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's decision to let Weaver's Cove Energy build an LNG terminal in Fall River and Mill River Pipeline construct pipelines to connect the terminal to interstate pipelines.

If a judge does not overturn the decision of the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, opponents at least hope the court will send the case back to FERC
for a rehearing so witnesses in the case can, for the first time,
be cross examined.

Fall River Mayor Edward M. Lambert Jr. said even a decision to force a rehearing would probably kill the project because it would expose FERC's willingness to put LNG
tanks, and the supertankers that supply them, in areas where a major accident
or terrorist attack would cause rapid, widespread devastation.

``We have great confidence'' that an impartial court will conclude that Fall River was was denied due process by FERC during its review of the project, Lambert said at press conference, where he was joined by the attorneys general from Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Critics have complained that a major accident or terrorist attack on the LNG's storage tank or one of the supertankers transporting fueld up Narragansett Bay would spark a devastating fire. Last week, FERC rejected a request to reconsider its decision.

- Journal staff writer C. Eugene Emery Jr.

Posted by Jack Perry  at 1:55 PM | Permalink