Mayor: LNG security not enough

Mayor: LNG security not enough Daniel Fowler, Herald News Staff Reporter03/22/2005 FALL RIVER -- Mayor Edward M. Lambert Jr. denounced the Coast Guard’s recently completed security plan for the proposed Hess LNG facility Monday, which apparently does not include the city’s suggested proactive evacuation strategy. Under the proposal offered by Police Chief John Souza, every time a liquefied natural gas tanker is scheduled to arrive at the facility (roughly once a week), everyone within a 500-yard radius of the tanker, along the Fall River and Somerset coastline, would be evacuated. Advertisement While the mayor said he "understands the difficulties" associated with evacuating the hundreds, if not thousands, who live in the area between Globe Mills Avenue and the proposed facility at the former Shell Oil site on North Main Street, "it speaks to the absurdity of putting a facility where public security is almost impossible to guarantee." The city’s proposal was meant to prevent a rocket-propelled grenade from being fired from the coastline at a tanker. Both Souza and Lambert said they realize the proactive evacuation would take a great deal of personnel and that, constitutionally, it would be illegal to force people out of their homes. "It is my hope that when people see what is required, they would realize it’s not something that any community should be put through," Lambert said. Lambert, who hasn’t seen the Coast Guard’s plan, said the city will send its proactive evacuation strategy to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is ultimately responsible for deciding whether to approve the proposed Hess LNG facility. Souza was among a group that Coast Guard Cpt. Mary Landry said included representatives from the Coast Guard, FERC, Hess LNG, the Secret Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, state police, marine environmental police, Somerset police and others that participated in a series of workshops to come up with the security plan. To participate in the workshops, those invited by the Coast Guard had to sign non-disclosure agreements, so people like Souza, Bristol County Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson and Somerset Police Cpt. John Solomito, who saw the plan, were not allowed to discuss its specifics. But all three of them said they weren’t satisfied with it. "They were talking about mitigation down to a certain point that didn’t satisfy me," Souza said. Souza said his proposed proactive evacuation is "the closest we can get to zero risk." Though she wouldn’t release specifics, Landry defended the Coast Guard’s plan Monday. "I feel like the robust security plan we outlined puts (an attack) in a category of low probability, high consequence," Landry said. The Coast Guard’s plan, which was completed Wednesday, has not yet been submitted to FERC, Landry said. "This (Hess LNG) application is very far off in the future, (so) you don’t know what technologies or change to our threat picture might come up between now and the time they want to operate if they were approved," Landry said. Landry said the plan "integrates air, land and sea security." In terms of Fall River’s criticism, Landry said, "It’s their prerogative to say what they want." Because of his dissatisfaction with the plan and the process, Lambert sent a letter to Landry Monday calling for the "security process to begin anew, with all relevant parties invited ... and with deference to local officials who you will hand the responsibility to for protection of our people." Lambert said that officials from more than 10 communities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island that would be affected by the tankers should be invited to the new set of workshops. "Captain Landry said to place faith in local public safety officials," Lambert said. "(But) the recommendation of local public safety officials has been rejected." But even if the Coast Guard were to accept Fall River’s recommendation, it was unclear whether the city would actually be willing to put its citizens through the inconvenience of weekly evacuations. "If the Coast Guard accepts the 500-yard zone, the next step is to discuss resources to accomplish that," Director of Municipal Services James Smith said. "Our job was to work with the Coast Guard and provide adequate protection of the ship and site. And with the info the city has with (rocket-propelled grenades), it’s our belief that to protect the ship you’d have to eliminate the possibility of attack." E-mail Daniel Fowler at dfowler@heraldnews.com. The Herald News 2005