“As the Commission may be aware, despite Weaver’s Cove’s and Mill River’s best efforts to obtain all the federal and state permits and approvals necessary to begin construction of the project, Weaver’s Cove and Mill River are still in the process of securing certain permits and approvals because of a series of unanticipated delays and decisions affecting the timely receipt of such permits and approvals,” the companies said in their two-page request.

“Weaver’s Cove and Mill River have worked diligently to obtain all federal and state permits and approvals related to the construction and operation of the project, but have experienced delays beyond their control.”

But Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, and the city of Fall River, said the request is “wholly deficient, unsupported, and premature.”

In their nine-page response, submitted to FERC this afternoon, Lynch and the city said Weaver’s Cove has only satisfied one of the 77 environmental conditions it must meet before it is allow to construct the terminal.

They said that Weaver’s Cove failed to mention that the U.S. Coast Guard found that it would be too risky to allow LNG tankers to traverse parts of the Taunton River because of the closeness of the old and new Brightman Street bridges. Coast Guard approval is one of the conditions set by FERC that Weaver’s Cove must obtain.

That Coast Guard finding, Lynch and the city of Fall River argued, “is largely the reason for delays in issuing permits related to dredging and related activities, including the required dredging permit from the Army Corps of Engineers.”