These hearings were the end of a years-long process for the Coast Guard and Maritime Administration, MARAD, who were tasked with the application from the company called Liberty Natural Gas for an offshore LNG facility less than 20 miles from Long Beach, NY. The NY and NJ Chapters and a large coalition of groups have been fighting this for years and were out in force at these hearings.
LNG is a fossil fuel gas that is supercooled to temperatures and pressures that turn it into a liquid so it can be put on tankers and shipped around the world. The fuel is highly volatile and needs to be re-gasified and pumped into existing pipeline infrastructure in order to be used.
Previous versions of offshore LNG facilities in the area have not fared well. They have either sunk by the weight of their own ridiculousness like the 60-acre island that was to be built from the seafloor us to serve as an LNG facility. Public opposition caused other proposals to be pulled before they were full blown applications, and NJ Governor Christie vetoed one project called Liberty Gas put forth by the company Liberty Natural Gas.
But Port Ambrose, also a Liberty Natural Gas Project, is almost identical to the vetoed project but in a different location.
Hundreds of people came out in the freezing cold of January for the set of public hearings following the Draft EIS, and similar numbers attended this final set of hearings.
Activists from the Central Long Island and New York City Chapters especially were joined by activists and fractivists from Food and Water Watch, Sane Energy Project, United for Action, Catskill Mountainkeeper, not to mention many elected officials against the project.
One of the worst aspected of the Port Ambrose project is its location. The area has been identified by the state of NY as a prime wind farm area. This project makes our case for Ocean Planning very clear, and Surfrider used it’s Mid Atlantic Recreational Data Survey and portal t make this point throughs the campaign.
Either The NY or NJ Governor can veto this project since both states have been granted “adjacent sate” status due to their proximity.
Our activists and countless others have waged a fantastic campaign so we are confident that one of these Governors will veto the project.