Coast Guard stands firm on ruling against LNG tanker plan
5:11 PM Mon, Dec 10, 2007 | Permalink
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The Coast Guard has upheld its finding that the waterway approach to the proposed Weaver's Cove liquefied natural gas terminal in Fall River, Mass., is "unsuitable" for tanker traffic because of navigational safety, rejecting the company's appeal. Weaver's Cove Energy asserted in a Nov. 20 letter that the Coast Guard did not fairly examine all of the supporting documentation when it determined a portion of the route posed major safety challenges. The Coast Guard had announced its original findings on Oct. 24. In a news release today, the Coast Guard reaffirmed its finding. "After a thorough review of your request, including its exhibits and other documents referenced therein, I find no substantive issue, nor new information, that would suggest my recommendation of unsuitability was incorrect or made without due consideration of the record," Capt. Roy Nash, of the Port of Providence, said in the letter. While officials in the region have cast the Coast Guard finding as potentially spelling doom for the project -- a project that many of them and residents oppose -- the company has maintained that it does not. The Coast Guard said the waterway is unsuitable for the proposed tanker trips because vessel masters would face "extraordinary challenges during approaches to Weaver's Cove." The main concern is the limited maneuvering room between the old and new Brightman Street bridges, which run nearly parallel and are about 1,100 feet apart. The old bridge's opening is 98 feet wide and is not aligned with the new bridge opening. The proposed tankers are more 700 feet long, more than 80 feet wide and have drafts up to 37.5 feet, the Coast Guard said. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is the main agency for permitting the building of terminals. The Coast Guard helps FERC by doing a waterway suitability assessment and making safety recommendations based on those findings. Last summer, the FERC voted 2-1 not to revisit its earlier decision to approve the Weaver's Cove site for an LNG facility. 
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