Lawmakers set to kill Fall River LNG plan

May be final blow in fight on siting

August 20, 2010|Michelle R. Smith, Associated Press

FALL RIVER — Two Massachusetts congressmen said yesterday they hope to deal a final blow to a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal in Fall River with an attempt to bar the US Department of Energy from spending money on its regulatory review.

US Representatives Barney Frank and James McGovern, both Democrats, said they are adding language to a House appropriations bill that would effectively stop the department from authorizing any LNG project within 5 miles of the city.

The project, proposed by Weaver’s Cove Energy LLC, has drawn opposition from local residents and officials in Massachusetts and Rhode Island who say it poses unacceptable risks to the heavily populated area. Tankers carrying LNG would have to pass through Narragansett Bay to get to the site.

Jim Grasso, a spokesman for the energy company, said he could not comment on the latest plan until he sees the language of the bill. But he said that New England has some of the highest energy costs in the nation and that the proposed terminal would benefit the whole region by driving down costs.

Frank said the bill will have to be approved before Oct. 1, when the next fiscal year begins. He said he has assurances from House leadership that it will pass with the language on the Fall River terminal, though he acknowledged it is possible the language could be dropped. He also said the measure has bipartisan support, with Senator Scott Brown, a Republican, behind it.

If passed, the language would have to be renewed annually to remain in effect.

Mayor William A. Flanagan of Fall River said the fight against the terminal has cost the city millions of dollars in legal fees and led to hesitancy among investors who might otherwise want to develop on the waterfront.

He said the plan would lift “a huge albatross’’ from the city. “We’re going to take this project off life support, and we’re going to kill it,’’ Flanagan said.