Lambert makes anti-LNG case to national press

Daniel Fowler, Herald News Staff Reporter 06/10/2005

WASHINGTON -- Should the federal agency responsible for the siting of liquefied natural gas import terminals approve such a facility in Fall River, Mayor Edward M. Lambert Jr. warned a group of national media representatives Thursday, there is no reason it won’t happen in other areas around the country where they also don’t belong.

"This case will set a precedent for national energy policy," Lambert said. "If (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) can shove down the throats of a city like Fall River a project that its citizens vehemently oppose for good and sufficient reason, it can and will happen elsewhere in America."

Lambert told a group of reporters at the National Press Club that Fall River’s opposition to Hess LNG’s plan to build an LNG facility "is not a case of NIMBY-ism."

"These should not be sited in anybody’s back yards," he said.

Lambert held the press conference in an effort to generate national support and exposure for Fall River’s fight to prevent FERC from approving Hess LNG’s plan.

In his remarks, Lambert reiterated his request for an adjudicatory hearing before FERC.

"We are also asking that FERC consider not just this one application, but rather all applications that would serve the needs of our region and New England."

LNG facilities, Lambert said, should not be sited on a "first come, first serve" basis.

Besides Lambert, Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Mass., Richard Clarke, a former counterterrorism adviser to several presidents, LNG expert Jerry Havens and Fall River residents Michael Miozza and Barbara Dubuque addressed the media.

"I stand on behalf of ..the entire Massachusetts (Congressional) delegation," McGovern said. "We are united that this is a mistake."

McGovern said homes are just 1,200 feet from the site of the proposed facility on North Main Street, and that 9,000 people live within a one-mile radius of it.

"This LNG proposal is a terrible idea," McGovern said.

McGovern also took exception to FERC’s handling of the situation. "Never, and I mean never, have I ever dealt with a more arrogant and out-of-touch agency," he said.

Clarke, who recently released a report entitled "LNG Facilities in Urban Areas," and concluded that an LNG facility does not belong in Fall River, highlighted some key aspects of his study.

"What it says, in a nutshell, is that government agencies made decisions on a risk management profile, which is no longer (suitable) in a post-9/11 world," Clarke said.

"We believe you cannot determine the probability of a terror attack. The probability of airplanes flying into the World Trade Center ..was extremely low."

Clarke’s study looks at five issues: intent, capability, vulnerability, consequence and recovery. Clarke said terrorists have the intent and capability to attack LNG facilities or tankers and that they are vulnerable targets.

Additionally, Clarke said, such an attack would have grave consequences that Fall River and the surrounding area could not deal with and would likely be unable to recover from.

"There is nothing inherently wrong with LNG facilities or LNG tankers," Clarke said. "They become targets only in so far as they are located where an explosion could kill thousands of people."

Havens said he believes the exclusion zones for the Hess LNG project were miscalculated.

"If they were done correctly," Havens said. "It would probably prevent the siting."

Miozza and Dubuque talked about their families and fellow Fall River residents.

"(Hess LNG) would be a direct threat to my family," Miozza said. "It is unconscionable that FERC would approve the facility."

Said Dubuque, "Thousands of our fellow residents are up in arms."

After the press conference, which lasted about 30 minutes, Lambert, Miozza, Dubuque and Fall River lawyers went to FERC headquarters to deliver expert testimony to FERC in opposition of the Hess LNG facility.

Lambert, Clarke, Havens and number of others provided testimony.

Filing the testimony is part of the process of preparing for a potential lawsuit against FERC, should the agency approve Hess LNG’s proposal to build the facility.

Originally, the city had planned to wait for FERC to rule on its May request for an adjudicatory hearing to evaluate all the LNG proposals in the region together and determine the most suitable option for meeting New England’s LNG needs before filing evidentiary testimony.

But the city changed its strategy after FERC released a favorable environmental impact statement on the project when "there is so much they don’t know yet," said Edward Berlin, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney for the city.

Berlin said FERC’s release of the report raised concern that the agency wouldn’t grant the hearing.

E-mail Daniel Fowler at dfowler@heraldnews.com. The Herald News 2005