Pallone to oppose offshore gas terminal plans

Asbury Park Press on 04/12/06

BY KIRK MOORE

 (from Jersey Coast Anglers Association May 2006 Newsletter)

Rep. Frank J. Pallone Jr., D-N.J., said he will oppose plans to build an artificial island and liquid natural gas terminal 19 miles east of Sea Bright, including it in a list of industrial uses he would ban by legislation.

"Over the past two decades, we've made great strides in closing the offshore dump sites and cleaning up the ocean off Monmouth County," Pallone said in a prepared statement issued this week.

Pallone called it "disturbing" that the New York-based Atlantic Sea Island Group proposes to create the LNG terminal at the apex of the New York Bight, the section of the Atlantic Ocean between New Jersey and Long Island.

The group's Safe Harbor Energy venture would build an island as large as 65 acres some 13 miles south of Long Beach, N.Y., with the ability to berth and unload two LNG tankers at a time. From storage tanks on the island, liquefied gas would be warmed and vaporized for delivery through the Northeast region's natural gas delivery network.

Among other details, Safe Harbor backers have yet to propose a route for where gas transmission lines might cross the sea floor and come ashore.

Early indications are "it's supposed to go into New York. That's why it's closer to Long Beach," said Thomas P. Fote, legislative chairman for the Jersey Coast Anglers Association, who said the company plans to make a presentation to JCAA members this month.

Fote said fishermen will have problems with the artificial island idea. "They're going to put it on one of the shoals (shallow areas) out there, and it's the same old story — that's where the fish hang out," he said. "We're going to lose access to the bottom."

Pallone said he's planning legislation to designate a "clean ocean zone" off the coasts of New Jersey and New York. First proposed by the Sandy Hook-based group Clean Ocean Action, the bill would codify ocean protections created since the 1980s — including a ban on mining sand and gravel, the capping of old dump sites six miles off New Jersey, and a prohibition on oil and gas facilities.