Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

A leading Rhode Island opponent of a liquefied natural gas offloading facility for the Massachusetts waters of Mount Hope Bay says the new proposal by Weaver's Cove Energy is no better than the original plan offered by the company.

On Friday, the company has officially sought approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to build a tanker berthing station in the middle of the Bay and send the supercooled LNG though 4 miles of pipeline to Fall River. It has been talking about it for nearly a year.

Rep. Raymond E. Gallison, Jr., D-Bristol, said the new "offshore" proposal "makes even less sense" than the original proposal to send tankers up the Taunton River.

While a 950-foot-long LNG tanker is unloading its cargo in the Bay, "a one-mile exclusionary zone around the offloading platform would have to be maintained for a 24-hour period. This would result in an almost complete closure of Mount Hope Bay to commercial and recreational usage."

That assertion is a matter of debate. Weaver's Cove CEO Gordon Shearer said in April that the security zone for a parked tanker is actually one quarter mile from the hull. Boats could pass freely in the Bay without being affected by the zone.

Gallison said a study commissioned by the Newport County Chamber of Commerce "has clearly evidenced the fact that the tourism industry in the Newport County area would be severely negatively impacted as well as disrupting commercial activities in and on Narragansett Bay and Mount Hope Bay."

 Tags  Fall River Narragansett Bay Somerset

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