Attorney General, In Formal Filing, Says Broadwater Provided Inaccurate Information To New York
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, in a filing today, said that New York cannot grant Broadwater Energy an easement in Long Island Sound for its proposed massive liquefied natural gas terminal because the company has provided inaccurate and incomplete information. Blumenthal filed additional formal comments today with the New York Office of General Services (OGS) after Broadwater provided inaccurate and incomplete details about its facility in seeking an easement for its project in Long Island Sound.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, in a filing today, said that New York cannot grant Broadwater Energy an easement in Long Island Sound for its proposed massive liquefied natural gas terminal because the company has provided inaccurate and incomplete information.
Blumenthal filed additional formal comments today with the New York Office of General Services ( OGS ) after Broadwater provided inaccurate and incomplete details about its facility in seeking an easement for its project in Long Island Sound.
Blumenthal said Broadwater has completely misrepresented key facts about its proposed project - even failing to acknowledge that its project design remains incomplete, making it impossible to analyze its environmental and safety impacts.
"Broadwater has fabricated a fairy tale about the dangers of its massive natural gas facility - flying in the face of reason, and completely insulting New York authorities with its misinformation and omissions," Blumenthal said. "Claiming that a 1200 foot long, 100 foot high, floating LNG terminal will not deteriorate the visual quality - not to mention the environment and safety - of the Sound is plainly preposterous.
"Today we set the record straight: Broadwater would pose irreversible environmental harm; swallow a massive swath of public water, barring public use; and destroy the visual quality of the Sound for miles. Broadwater's threatened dangers are substantial, and its claimed benefits a sham. Numerous proposed liquefied natural gas facilities could provide safer and sounder supplies of natural gas to our region. If common sense and law prevail, New York will soundly reject Broadwater. My office will continue to fight this project before all three New York boards, at FERC - and even in court, if necessary."
Blumenthal disputed several other false or incomplete claims by Broadwater, including:
Broadwater wrongly stated that its proposed terminal is a "necessary source" of LNG for the region. In reality, a number of LNG projects under consideration - safer, sounder proposals - could supply the region with natural gas. Broadwater improperly claims that its project is consistent with the public trust doctrine because the facility is in the public interest. To the contrary, lands held in public trust are held - not for the benefit of any one private party - but for the benefit and use of all citizens of the state. Broadwater and its massive security zones would significantly intrude onto the public space of the Sound, and completely exclude any other public use.
Broadwater claims that its natural gas facility will not negatively impact what it describes as the "sense of the Sound." In reality, this massive facility will visibly deteriorate the visual quality of miles of coastline of the Sound.
Broadwater completely misrepresented the adverse safety impacts of its project, claiming there is little or no risk of damage to the 21.7 mile pipeline from anchor strikes. To the contrary, anchor strikes to utility infrastructure have occurred numerous times, and the consequences of such a strike on this pipeline could be catastrophic.
Broadwater has inaccurately minimized the environmental impacts, claiming that the damage from the pipeline and facility anchoring system will naturally "fix" itself in short order. To the contrary, every relevant environmental regulatory authority agrees that damage will be permanent and irreversible. Anchor scars up to six feet deep and other holes left by dredging and lay barges still exist from the 1991 Iroquois pipeline installation and continue to prevent use of that area for shellfishing.
The OGS cannot grant an easement at this time because Broadwater has failed to provide basic, critical information to allow for a complete evaluation of all potential impacts because its final anchoring design is incomplete. Without a final design, a complete and necessary impact study is impossible.
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