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May 2, 2008

Weaver's Cove suit against R.I., Mass. DEMs dismissed

A federal appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by LNG developer Weaver’s Cove Energy against the environmental management agencies of Rhode Island and Massachusetts in which the company argued that the agencies were taking too long to evaluate its application to dredge sections of the Mount Hope Bay and the Taunton River.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit concluded this afternoon that Weaver’s Cove had not been hurt by the agencies’ inactions and that the company’s dispute may be with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, not the state agencies.

James Grasso, a spokesman for Weaver’s Cove, said the company was still reviewing the decision and had not formed a response yet.

Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, whose office argued the case before the three-judge panel in Washington, D.C., issued a statement: “Weaver’s Cove Energy, the Court found today, cannot bypass or short circuit this mandatory review by rushing to a Court that has no jurisdiction,” Lynch said.

Weaver’s Cove Energy is the company owned by Hess LNG that is seeking to build a liquefied natural gas terminal in Fall River, Mass. The LNG vessels that would bring the super-cooled fuel to the terminal are so large that parts of the Mount Hope Bay in Rhode Island and the Taunton River in Massachusetts would have to be dredged for the ships to pass. Weaver’s Cove needs permission from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management as well as the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to dredge the waterways.

The company filed a lawsuit with the appeals court, arguing that the agencies took longer than the one-year review period allowed by the federal Clean Water Act. Weaver’s Cove asked the court to declare that the state agencies missed the deadline and have therefore waived their right to deny permission to dredge.

-- Journal staff writer Timothy C. Barmann

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 5:35 PM | Permalink

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