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COMMUNITY SPEAKS OUT AGAINST BROADWATER
COMMUNITY SPEAKS OUT AGAINST BROADWATER
Charles lane
(South Shore Press, 7/10/06)
Last week in a decidedly anti-Broadwater setting, local politicians and citizens spoke out harshly against the proposed liquid natural gas facility at a “public information meeting” organized by two environmental groups, the Anti-Broadwater Coalition and the Citizens Campaign for the Environment.
“We don’t need it,” said County Executive Steve Levy, “people keep saying we need it but we have plenty of other sources of energy.”
Levy has taken the lead against Broadwater by proposing legislation that would block the federal government from okaying the plan to build floating storage tanks of liquid natural gas 9 miles out in the Long Island Sound. Levy says there are environmental, economic, and security reasons not to locate the facility in the Sound.
“Imagine what would happen if there was a floating vapor cloud of natural gas over Long Island,” Levy told the audience of 130.
“This is just fear mongering, classic fear mongering,” said Charles Hersh, the sole citizen speaking in favor of Broadwater at the meeting. The crowd erupted in boos when Hersh tried to explain that Broadwater was actually good for the environment. Hersh, an electrical engineer who said he was a member of the environmental group Sierra Club, said later in an interview that natural gas will cut carbon dioxide and will never cause an oil slick, but did acknowledge other environmental risks exist.
“There will always be people who are for this,” said Riverhead councilmen John Dunleavy who readily describes himself as against Broadwater. “But you have to listen to these people and give them a forum.”
The mood quickly returned to its anti-Broadwater sentiment as several politicians used the meeting to speak on the issue, including Senator Kennth Lavalle (R-Selden), Assemblyman Fred Thiele (R-Bridgehampton), Assemblyman Thomas DiNapoli (D-Great Neck), Assemblyman Marc Alessi (D-Wading River), and Assemblyman Andrew Raia (R-Northport).
Citizens and members of the community came from as far away as Northport to register their complaints. South shore resident and president of the Moriches Bay Civic Association Keith Romaine called the Broadwater project dangerous for the entire island.
“Even though we’re on the south shore it’s a regional concern because it will industrialize the Sound and it will damage the environment by digging a 22 mile trench on the ocean bottom.”
(Broadwater officials say the trench will cause limited environmental damage and has been rerouted in some instances).
Broadwater’s plan to construct a platform-like barge, while still in New York waters, falls within the jurisdiction of the US Coast Guard. Many politicians and lobbyists are anxiously waiting for the Coast Guard’s Water Way Suitability Report, due at the end of July, because it will ultimately influence how the federal government proceeds with the project. Among other things, the report will examine the security threat posed by storing liquid natural gas so close to Long Island.
Lt. Commander Allan Blume of the US Coast Guard attended the meeting and gave a presentation explaining what will and will not be in the report.
Blume, well aware of the passions involved with the issue, told the crowd “The Coast Guard is not for or against the project. Our role is to asses the safety and security of the project.”
“We can’t reveal our play book before the big game,” Blume said later in an interview when asked about what will in the report will not be public. “It’s like an alarm system. Sometimes you want people to know that there is an alarm but you don’t want them to know when or how that alarm will go off.”
The size of the restricted safety zone around Broadwater and its tanker shipments is one of the most sought part of the report. The size will have a direct impact on local maritime traffic for fishing, recreational boating, and commercial shipping—the larger the size the more of a financial impact Broadwater will have on the regional economy. The size has been estimated anywhere from a few hundred yards to several miles.
Blume would not say what the size of the safety zone will be, but he compared it to a similar facility near Boston that cordoned-off an area two miles in front of and one mile behind a vessel carrying natural gas. Blume added that such a safety zone “may require traffic scheduling” in the heavily used shipping lanes near Block Island called the Race.
Broadwater officials attended the meeting but were not allowed to give a presentation, despite asking permission from the organizers. They were instead offered to give comments as members of the public but declined.
“It’s clear that this was set up to be an anti-Broadwater meeting,” said Broadwater vice president John Hritcko. “It was a good fact free debate.”
The event, held at East Winds Hotel and Spa, cost $750 and was paid for by the Citizens Campaign for the Environment (an environmental lobbying group) and the Anti-Broadwater Coalition (a group closely aligned with the Long Island Pine Barrens Society).
Karen Shenker, a New Jersey resident planning a move to Wading River, started the meeting by questioning the wisdom of locating the facility on water and thought it more suited for land. However, by the end of the meeting she was less sure and found talking to Broadwater officials.
“I expected to get more information here,” she said, “it was politics only.”
Posted by 1000monkeys on July 10, 2006 07:33 PM