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April 12, 2006

LNG bill passes House committee

PROVIDENCE -- The House Environment and Natural Resources Committee approved a bill today aimed at blocking tankers carrying liquefied natural gas from entering Rhode Island waters.

“We have a right to protect our resources in Rhode Island and our people in Rhode Island,” said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Raymond E. Gallison Jr., D-Bristol, Portsmouth.

The legislation would place exclusion zones around LNG tankers traveling up Narragansett Bay to the $250 million facility that has been proposed by Weaver's Cove Energy and Hess LNG.

According to the bill, the tankers cannot come with 500 yards (on each side) of any piers, wharfs, waterfront facilities, flammable materials, hunting grounds, welding work, or people. To reach the Weaver's Cove facility tankers would have to pass densely populated coastal areas in Narragansett and Mount Hope bays, which would be prohibited by the bill.

It was Gallison's third attempt at a bill along these lines. He said the bill should come before the full House for a vote sometime next month.

--Journal staff writer Kia Hall Hayes

Posted by Steve Peoples  at 6:20 PM | Permalink

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