Coast Guard rejects LNG plan
<font size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">T</span></font><font size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">he United States Coast Guard is recommending against the Weaver's Cove Energy plan to locate a liquefied natural gas terminal in the city.</span></font>
<font size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Captain Roy A. Nash, captain of the port of Southeastern New England, informed Weaver's Cove officials and city leaders of the decision in a two-page written letter Wednesday afternoon that was part of a 30-page report.</span></font>
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<font size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">"My ultimate recommendation is that the waterway from near Sandy Point, Prudence Island, Rhode Island … to the proposed facility in Fall River, Massachusetts, is unsuitable from a navigation safety perspective for the type, size, and frequency of LNG marine traffic associated with your proposal," Nash wrote.</span></font>
<font size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Nash said because of the finding that the transportation route is unsuitable, "an exhaustive analysis of the other segments of the intended transit route… and other factors relevant to waterway suitability for LNG traffic, such as maritime security, were not further analyzed in detail."</span></font>
<font size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The decision means that no additional public meetings or workshops to address issues such as security risks, resource demands, capabilities and coordination requirements are required.</span></font>
<font size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Weaver's Cove Energy is able to request a reconsideration of the decision to Nash, in writing, within 30 days of the receipt of the letter.</span></font>
<font size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">"As far as I'm concerned, as a practical matter, this project is now dead," city Corporations Counsel Thomas F. McGuire Jr. said at a press conference Mayor Edward M. Lambert Jr. called within hours of Coast Guard notification.</span></font>
<font size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">"This is something we had hoped would happen for a very long time," Lambert said. He planned to write Thursday to the board of trustees of Hess LNG, project proponent partners, asking they "recognize that this project is over." </span></font>
<font size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Weaver's Cove spokesmen have said they plan to appeal the Coast Guard's decision.</span></font>