New York LNG Terminal Gets Environmental Thumbs up
Date: 21-Nov-06
Country: US
Author: Tom Doggett
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff said last Friday in a preliminary report that the Broadwater terminal, which would receive about two or three large tankers a week carrying the natural gas super-cooled into a liquid, would have "limited adverse environmental impacts."
Specifically, the primary impact of the terminal during construction would be disturbances to the seafloor.
The floating Broadwater LNG terminal, which would deliver about 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day, would be anchored about 9 miles from the Long Island shoreline and 11 miles from the closest point to Connecticut's coastline. The project will cost between US$700 million and US$1 billion.
Once it is built, FERC staff said the terminal's operations would have minor impacts on water and air quality, local fish, recreational boating and fishing and commercial vessel traffic.
Nonetheless, agency staff said the terminal's owners TransCanada Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell could take steps to mitigate the impacts and make the project "an environmentally acceptable action."
The FERC's five sitting commissioners will consider the staff's report when they vote on the project at a later meeting, and they usually follow staff recommendations.
GRAVE CONCERNS
The terminal, which would likely operate for at least 30 years, would regasify the LNG and then transport it through a new 22-mile underwater pipeline that would connect to an existing pipeline network.
About half the gas from the Broadwater terminal would go to New York City, another 25 to 30 percent would go to Long Island and the remaining supplies would go to Connecticut.
"We found that the demand for natural gas in each of these areas is rising and is projected to generate increasing price pressure and volatility in the future if the supply remains at its current level," the report said.
In general, the United States will need to import much more LNG over the next 15 years to keep up with growing gas demand, especially from electricity generating plants fueled by gas.
The Broadwater project would be built in two phases. The first phase would focus on building the undersea pipeline between October 2009 and April 2010. The second phase includes building the floating import terminal and connecting it to the pipeline between September and December 2010, so it can be operational by the end of that year.
Connecticut's attorney general and environmental groups are against the project.
Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman also opposes the Broadwater terminal and said the FERC staff's preliminary report on the project was "deeply flawed."
Lieberman said he was "gravely concerned about the negative impact that the proposed exclusionary zones around the regasification facility, as well as the LNG supply tankers entering and leaving the Sound, would have on both the commercial and recreational enjoyment of the Sound."
