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Power
Fairwinds LNG Project Blown Away in Maine Vote
(enr.construction.com - 03/10/04)
By Paul
Kemezis
Partners TransCanada PipeLines and ConocoPhillips
suspended plans to build an LNG terminal in Harpswell, Maine,
after the town residents voted March 9 against leasing town-owned
land at a former naval fuel depot for the project.
The $350-million Fairwinds LNG project
would have allowed imports of 500 million cu ft per day of
natural gas into New England and brought the town $8-million/year
in fees and taxes. But the plan was opposed by groups who
said it would harm fishing and "industrialize" the
town. It was defeated in a 55% to 45% vote.
After the vote, the project sponsors
issued a statement saying they "respected the choice
of the people" and would pursue LNG projects elsewhere
in the Northeast..
The Harpswell vote is expected to shift attention to a separate
plan by the state of Maine to develop an LNG terminal on Sears
Island in Penobscot Bay which is owned by the state.
In 1996 the state had dropped a plan
to build a wood-chip and container port on the uninhabited,
940-acre island because of environmental protests. State officials
have acknowledged in recent months that they have held talks
with unidentified groups about developing an LNG terminal
there along with a 12-mile connection to the Maritimes and
Northeast gas pipeline.
Richard Stander in Searsport, Maine,
a spokesman for local opposition group Friends of Sears Island,
says "bidding for Sears Island will now heat up with
TransCanada-ConocoPhillips getting in line behind the other
groups."
Stander’s group claims the project
will ruin the island’s natural state and the LNG shipping
in the narrow bay will disrupt lobstering and create a major
safety hazard. They are currently lobbying Maine Gov. John
Baldacci (D) who has ultimate authority to approve or reject
the sale of the island.
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