Coast Guard and FERC Await More Information from Broadwater
There hasn’t been much news lately about Broadwater’s plan to put a liquefied natural gas terminal in the middle of Long Island Sound, but that’s probably because Broadwater itself has been slow in getting information to FERC and the U.S. Coast Guard, the two agencies that have to say yes before the terminal is built. Judy Benson, of the New London Day, reports:
Broadwater Energy Inc., which applied for permits in January to park a liquefied natural gas terminal in New York waters 11 miles south of Branford, has been told it must fulfill the requests for additional information before the analysis by federal regulators can proceed. The requests came in a June 14 letter from the Coast Guard, which is conducting a safety and security analysis of the plan, and in a June 20 letter from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which will have final say over whether a permit is granted.
Both letters said the agencies were reiterating requests made repeatedly, most recently at a June 6 meeting. The Coast Guard said it first made its request May 5, while FERC said it was making its fourth request since Nov. 23 for the engineering and design information.
The Coast Guard is interested in studying the possibility of a freak shipping accident:
… the Coast Guard asked for an analysis of what would happen if the yoke mooring system that would hold the floating LNG terminal in place were hit by a bulk carrier or tanker weighing 90,000 tons. While such an event is unlikely, he said, the Coast Guard wants to ensure that proper backup systems are in place if the terminal were to break free of the yoke mooring.
Except for Broadwater’s delay in getting the information, the Coast Guard’s report would have been finished already; and FERC is holding up the release of the project’s environmental impact statement because of the delay.
Broadwater Energy Inc., which applied for permits in January to park a liquefied natural gas terminal in New York waters 11 miles south of Branford, has been told it must fulfill the requests for additional information before the analysis by federal regulators can proceed. The requests came in a June 14 letter from the Coast Guard, which is conducting a safety and security analysis of the plan, and in a June 20 letter from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which will have final say over whether a permit is granted.
Both letters said the agencies were reiterating requests made repeatedly, most recently at a June 6 meeting. The Coast Guard said it first made its request May 5, while FERC said it was making its fourth request since Nov. 23 for the engineering and design information.
The Coast Guard is interested in studying the possibility of a freak shipping accident:
… the Coast Guard asked for an analysis of what would happen if the yoke mooring system that would hold the floating LNG terminal in place were hit by a bulk carrier or tanker weighing 90,000 tons. While such an event is unlikely, he said, the Coast Guard wants to ensure that proper backup systems are in place if the terminal were to break free of the yoke mooring.
Except for Broadwater’s delay in getting the information, the Coast Guard’s report would have been finished already; and FERC is holding up the release of the project’s environmental impact statement because of the delay.
posted by Tom Andersen at 11:13 AM
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