Federal regulators have approved a liquefied natural gas terminal proposed for Long Island Sound.
The $700 million terminal has been proposed by Broadwater Energy. It would be located 9 miles from Long Island and 10 miles from the Connecticut shoreline.
Environmentalists and elected officials oppose the project. They say it could endanger the ecosystem in Long Island Sound. They also worry about a terrorist attack on the facility.
“FERC’s decision today is nothing short of a disgrace. It is an insult to the people of Connecticut and New York, a discourtesy to New York Governor David A. Paterson – who has been in office less than a week – and an assault on the most precious environmental asset our two states possess: the reinvigorated Long Island Sound,” said Gov. M. Jodi Rell in a statement. “Experts, advocates, ecologists, boaters, lobstermen, fishermen and state and local leaders from both Connecticut and New York have submitted reams of evidence about the dangers of placing an enormous and potentially flammable industrial facility in the middle of the Sound. Earlier this week I pleaded with FERC to delay their decision until Governor Paterson had a chance to become familiar with the critical issues at stake.”
New York officials have yet to decide on issuing permits for the project. Connecticut officials have warned they will fight in court.
An AP report was used in this article.
