By Denise Civiletti
Times/Review Newspapers
Broadwater Energy’s appeal to the U.S. secretary of commerce has been denied, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced this morning.
The commerce secretary’s denial marks the end of the administrative process for Broadwater. The fate of the energy company’s plan to build a natural gas terminal in the middle of L.I. Sound now rests with the courts. Several court actions are already pending and a new one challenging the commerce secretary’s decision today is expected, opponents of the proposal say.
Broadwater Energy, a joint venture of Shell Oil and Transcanada Pipelines, wants to moor a 1,200-foot-long floating natural gas terminal in L.I. Sound, about nine miles off the coast of Wading River. The terminal would receive shipments of liquefied natural gas from oceangoing LNG tankers, heat the LNG to return it to its gaseous state, then supply it to the metropolitan New York area via a new 23-mile subsea pipeline that would connect to an existing gas distribution system.
The Broadwater terminal would supply the region with about 1.3 billion cubic yards of natural gas daily. Proponents of the plan argue that the region needs to increase its natural gas supply, and Broadwater would add consistency and stability to the regional supply, resulting in lower consumer energy costs. Opponents argue that the facility would increase our nation’s dependence on foreign fossil fuel energy sources, industrialize L.I. Sound, disrupt water transportation, harm the commercial and recreational boating and fishing industries and damage the Sound’s ecosystem.
Opposition to the Broadwater plan was swift and widespread upon its announcement in Nov. 2004. Suffolk County, as well as the towns of Riverhead, Southold and East Hampton brought lawsuits attempting to block the proposal. Although the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved Broadwater’s permit application in March 2008, it was subject to a ruling by the N.Y. secretary of state that the plan is consistent with the state’s coastal management policy. One year ago, Gov. David Paterson announced the state’s rejection of Broadwater’s proposal. The energy company then appealed to the U.S. commerce secretary to override the state’s objection, as federal law allows.
Opponents hope the secretary’s much-anticipated decision will be the death knell for the Broadwater plan. One leading opponent of the proposal, Adrienne Esposito of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, a Farmingdale-based environmental advocacy group, hailed the decision as a triumph for democracy.
“This truly is David winning over Goliath,” Ms. Esposito said.
Broadwater could appeal the commerce secretary’s decision in federal court. Broadwater senior vice president John Hritcko Jr. could not immediately be reached for comment.
Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton), long an outspoken opponent of Broadwater, said the commerce secretary’s decision was “the final nail in Broadwater’s coffin.”
The Department of Commerce concluded that the project’s adverse coastal impacts outweighed its national interest, Mr. Bishop said in a statement. He said the decision was made in part because the terminal’s location in an undeveloped region of the Sound would “significantly impair its unique scenic and aesthetic character and would undermine decades of federal, state, and local efforts to protect the region.”
“I am delighted and I think we can finally put this behind us and address Long Island’s energy needs in a more acceptable fashion,” said Sid Bail, president of the Wading River Civic Association and a driving force behind the Anti-Broadwater Coalition. “This is great news,” he said. “Christmas has come early on Long Island.”
denise@timesreview.com
Copyright 2009 Times/Review Newspapers Corp.
Showing posts with label L.I. Sound. Show all posts
Showing posts with label L.I. Sound. Show all posts
Monday, April 13, 2009
Friday, June 06, 2008
Broadwater filed its appeal with commerce secretary
See the breaking news story on the home page of one of our four newspapers:
Go to www.timesreview.com
Go to www.timesreview.com
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
What was on his mind? Not Broadwater!
While we were fretting over what Gov. Eliot Spitzer was thinking about the Shell/TransCanada plan to build a floating natural gas terminal in the middle of our estuary, Mr. Spitzer, it turns out, had other things on his mind.
Our busy governor was so busy it was hard for him to carve half an hour out of his schedule to meet with environmentalists about his Broadwater position. But he wasn’t too busy to find time to make complicated arrangements for the delivery of $4,000 or so in cash to his call-girl service.
It’s ironic that, on the very day Mr. Spitzer finally granted an audience to Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment — Feb. 11 — he was apparently quite preoccupied arranging his transaction with the Emperor’s Club for his “date” with a high-priced hooker two days later. He was on the phone with the “booking agent” that day, making arrangements for the delivery of cash the following day, to pay a prostitute’s fee for sex in a Washington, D.C., hotel room on Feb. 13, according to documents published on The New York Times Web site this week. Presumably he had to personally withdraw the cash from his bank that day, too. No wonder he was too busy to spend a lot of time with Ms. Esposito in Albany that day. She reported after her meeting, which lasted all of 20 minutes, that the governor didn’t do a lot of talking, which surprised her. Going into it, she said, she was concerned that he’d talk more than listen.
But was he listening or was he distracted with the other matters on his mind that day?
Did the governor seem preoccupied on the day of your meeting? I asked Ms. Esposito yesterday. She hadn’t thought about it, she said. In fact, she hadn’t made the connection between the timing of her meeting with the governor and his preparations to meet the prostitute called “Kristen” in a Washington, D.C., hotel room two days later.
What does all this mean for Broadwater, anyway?
I was told by a source inside the agency more than two months ago that the N.Y. State Department had already completed its consistency review of the Broadwater plan. I’ve been told the agency found the Broadwater natural gas terminal proposal inconsistent with the state’s adopted waterfront management policy. The DOS determination of inconsistency could be the death knell for Broadwater. So Shell and TransCanada put the full court press on Mr. Spitzer, meeting with him and apparently convincing him to agree to a 60-day extension of the consistency ruling deadline, to allow the energy companies time to woo public opinion and allow the governor enough wiggle room to reverse his agency’s decision. Mr. Spitzer, reeling from a tough first year in the governor’s mansion — what with the “troopergate” scandal and the driver’s license fiasco — was understandably reluctant to further irritate voters.
So much for that.
Now, it seems, all the energy and effort that’s gone into convincing Mr. Spitzer to do the right thing for L.I. Sound was probably for naught, as the state’s decision on Broadwater will probably be made during the Paterson administration. There is a chance, I suppose, that Mr. Spitzer could see to it that the DOS decision — up or down — is issued before his March 17 departure date. Incoming Gov. David Paterson, if he’s got any political sense, would want this one to hang on his predecessor’s head, don’t you think?
But assuming the Broadwater decision does not make Mr. Spitzer’s short list of to-do items to be tidied up in the next four days, the attention of everyone on both sides of the Broadwater controversy must now focus on Mr. Paterson, to whom most people have not paid very much attention before Monday.
Mr. Paterson, to his credit, has a strong interest in renewable energy, and lists among his priorities as lieutenant governor increasing the use of renewable energy in New York. That has to be a plus for Broadwater opponents.
On the other hand, the former State Senate minority leader is a NYC guy, with NYC political connections and interests. That will be a plus for Broadwater, which is seen by NYC officials as a needed source of new natural gas.
Around and around and around it goes. Where it stops, nobody knows.
Our busy governor was so busy it was hard for him to carve half an hour out of his schedule to meet with environmentalists about his Broadwater position. But he wasn’t too busy to find time to make complicated arrangements for the delivery of $4,000 or so in cash to his call-girl service.
It’s ironic that, on the very day Mr. Spitzer finally granted an audience to Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment — Feb. 11 — he was apparently quite preoccupied arranging his transaction with the Emperor’s Club for his “date” with a high-priced hooker two days later. He was on the phone with the “booking agent” that day, making arrangements for the delivery of cash the following day, to pay a prostitute’s fee for sex in a Washington, D.C., hotel room on Feb. 13, according to documents published on The New York Times Web site this week. Presumably he had to personally withdraw the cash from his bank that day, too. No wonder he was too busy to spend a lot of time with Ms. Esposito in Albany that day. She reported after her meeting, which lasted all of 20 minutes, that the governor didn’t do a lot of talking, which surprised her. Going into it, she said, she was concerned that he’d talk more than listen.
But was he listening or was he distracted with the other matters on his mind that day?
Did the governor seem preoccupied on the day of your meeting? I asked Ms. Esposito yesterday. She hadn’t thought about it, she said. In fact, she hadn’t made the connection between the timing of her meeting with the governor and his preparations to meet the prostitute called “Kristen” in a Washington, D.C., hotel room two days later.
What does all this mean for Broadwater, anyway?
I was told by a source inside the agency more than two months ago that the N.Y. State Department had already completed its consistency review of the Broadwater plan. I’ve been told the agency found the Broadwater natural gas terminal proposal inconsistent with the state’s adopted waterfront management policy. The DOS determination of inconsistency could be the death knell for Broadwater. So Shell and TransCanada put the full court press on Mr. Spitzer, meeting with him and apparently convincing him to agree to a 60-day extension of the consistency ruling deadline, to allow the energy companies time to woo public opinion and allow the governor enough wiggle room to reverse his agency’s decision. Mr. Spitzer, reeling from a tough first year in the governor’s mansion — what with the “troopergate” scandal and the driver’s license fiasco — was understandably reluctant to further irritate voters.
So much for that.
Now, it seems, all the energy and effort that’s gone into convincing Mr. Spitzer to do the right thing for L.I. Sound was probably for naught, as the state’s decision on Broadwater will probably be made during the Paterson administration. There is a chance, I suppose, that Mr. Spitzer could see to it that the DOS decision — up or down — is issued before his March 17 departure date. Incoming Gov. David Paterson, if he’s got any political sense, would want this one to hang on his predecessor’s head, don’t you think?
But assuming the Broadwater decision does not make Mr. Spitzer’s short list of to-do items to be tidied up in the next four days, the attention of everyone on both sides of the Broadwater controversy must now focus on Mr. Paterson, to whom most people have not paid very much attention before Monday.
Mr. Paterson, to his credit, has a strong interest in renewable energy, and lists among his priorities as lieutenant governor increasing the use of renewable energy in New York. That has to be a plus for Broadwater opponents.
On the other hand, the former State Senate minority leader is a NYC guy, with NYC political connections and interests. That will be a plus for Broadwater, which is seen by NYC officials as a needed source of new natural gas.
Around and around and around it goes. Where it stops, nobody knows.
Monday, February 11, 2008
News 12 Broadwater debate tonight is cancelled
Shell CEO John Hofmeister has begged off tonight's "LI Talks" debate on News 12 with Citizens Campaign for the Environment executive director Adrienne Esposito, according to Ms. Esposito.
She said News 12 called to tell her Mr. Hofmeister sent his regrets today in an e-mail to the cable news station, indicating he was called out of the country on business.
She said News 12 called to tell her Mr. Hofmeister sent his regrets today in an e-mail to the cable news station, indicating he was called out of the country on business.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
State and Broadwater agree to 60-day extension
From www.timesreview.com
By Denise Civiletti
Broadwater Energy and the N.Y. Department of State have signed an agreement extending by 60 days the state agency’s deadline for ruling on whether Broadwater’s plan to build a floating liquefied natural gas terminal in the L.I. Sound is consistent with the state’s coastal resources management plan.
The agreement was signed Thursday (Feb. 7), according to Froydis Cameron, a spokesperson for Broadwater. The extension, she said, was requested by the state.
The state’s consistency determination was due by Feb. 12. The deadline for the DOS decision had already been pushed back several times by agreement between Broadwater and the DOS, in order to allow the DOS the opportunity to review the final environmental impact statement issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission before making its consistency determination.
The FEIS was issued by FERC Jan. 11. FERC staff concluded that, with specified mitigation measures in place, Broadwater would have minimal adverse environmental impacts.
The State Department’s decision is a crucial one for the project. If the agency determines Broadwater’s plan is inconsistent with the state’s coastal resources management plan, the only way the project could move forward is upon the U.S. secretary of commerce ruling that its construction is in the interests of national security.
Less than three weeks ago, the chief executives of Shell Oil Company and TransCanada Corp., joint venture partners in Broadwater Energy, met with Gov. Eliot Spitzer, according to John Hofmeister, president of Shell Oil.
Mr. Spitzer has been conspicuously silent about the Broadwater proposal, which has drawn the opposition of most elected officials on Long Island and in Connecticut, including Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell.
“We wanted to make sure he was fully apprised of our views of the FEIS and our efforts to meet the FEIS terms and conditions,” Mr. Hofmeister said in an interview Tuesday morning.
Mr. Spitzer was “very clear to explain his current neutrality” on the Broadwater plan, Mr. Hofmeister said. The governor told the energy chiefs “he would review the Department of State’s recommendation and make a decision from there,” Mr. Hofmeister said.
Mr. Hofmeister denied that he and TransCanada CEO Hal Kvisle asked Mr. Spitzer for an extension of the DOS consistency review deadline in order to have more time to sell their plan to the public.
On Tuesday, spokespersons for Mr. Spitzer and for Secretary of State Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez declined comment on whether discussions were held regarding extending the Feb. 12 deadline. But after the extension was announced yesterday, Mr. Spitzer’s office issued a statement that said “We support the mutual decision of the Department of State and Broadwater to take the appropriate time for dialogue without the looming pressure of a deadline.”
Last week, Broadwater Energy began a campaign aimed at winning public support for its project. In print, television and radio ads now running in the New York metropolitan area market, Broadwater says its proposed terminal will lower heating and electric costs for Long Islanders without damaging the environment.
Broadwater senior vice president John Hritcko said Tuesday this is “the appropriate time” for the company to get its message out to residents, with the deadline for the state department’s coastal consistency determination looming and the possibility that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may vote on Broadwater’s permit application as soon as Feb. 21.
“If the deadline is extended, Broadwater wins,” Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, said Tuesday. CCE, a Farmingdale-based nonprofit organization has led public opposition to Broadwater’s plans. Ms. Esposito said she fears Mr. Spitzer might support Broadwater if the energy company could garner more support from the public through its current media campaign and other community-outreach efforts such as corporate giving.
Mr. Hofmeister came to Long Island Tuesday to announce a $150,000 gift to United Way of Long Island. The gift on behalf of Broadwater won the company accolades from United Way of Long Island CEO Chris Hahn, who said the donation to the organization’s Project Warmth would provide emergency heating assistance to families in need on Long Island. “It really does show Broadwater is committed to Long Island,” Mr. Hahn said at a press conference called to announce the gift. “They are good corporate citizens on Long Island,” he said. “We’re very grateful that Shell Oil and Broadwater have stepped up to the plate.”
Ms. Esposito, who did not attend the press conference, said in a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon that the donation to United Way of Long Island was part of a “public relations scheme” by the energy company, and called the donation amount “pocket change.”
“With $27 billion in profits for 2007, it took Shell Oil less than three minutes to generate that $150,000. That’s not much of a peace offering,” she said.
The Broadwater facility and its 22 miles of new underwater pipeline will cost upwards of $800 million to build. It will be capable of supplying the region with 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas daily, an influx of new energy that the developer says will result in a median household energy savings of $300 per year for Long Islanders.
Suffolk County and several towns have also filed a lawsuit in an effort to stop the plan, which would moor a 1,215-foot-long floating liquefied natural gas storage and regasification terminal in Long Island Sound, nine miles off the coast of Wading River, in the Town of Riverhead.
Copyright 2007 Times/Review Newspapers Corp.
By Denise Civiletti
Broadwater Energy and the N.Y. Department of State have signed an agreement extending by 60 days the state agency’s deadline for ruling on whether Broadwater’s plan to build a floating liquefied natural gas terminal in the L.I. Sound is consistent with the state’s coastal resources management plan.
The agreement was signed Thursday (Feb. 7), according to Froydis Cameron, a spokesperson for Broadwater. The extension, she said, was requested by the state.
The state’s consistency determination was due by Feb. 12. The deadline for the DOS decision had already been pushed back several times by agreement between Broadwater and the DOS, in order to allow the DOS the opportunity to review the final environmental impact statement issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission before making its consistency determination.
The FEIS was issued by FERC Jan. 11. FERC staff concluded that, with specified mitigation measures in place, Broadwater would have minimal adverse environmental impacts.
The State Department’s decision is a crucial one for the project. If the agency determines Broadwater’s plan is inconsistent with the state’s coastal resources management plan, the only way the project could move forward is upon the U.S. secretary of commerce ruling that its construction is in the interests of national security.
Less than three weeks ago, the chief executives of Shell Oil Company and TransCanada Corp., joint venture partners in Broadwater Energy, met with Gov. Eliot Spitzer, according to John Hofmeister, president of Shell Oil.
Mr. Spitzer has been conspicuously silent about the Broadwater proposal, which has drawn the opposition of most elected officials on Long Island and in Connecticut, including Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell.
“We wanted to make sure he was fully apprised of our views of the FEIS and our efforts to meet the FEIS terms and conditions,” Mr. Hofmeister said in an interview Tuesday morning.
Mr. Spitzer was “very clear to explain his current neutrality” on the Broadwater plan, Mr. Hofmeister said. The governor told the energy chiefs “he would review the Department of State’s recommendation and make a decision from there,” Mr. Hofmeister said.
Mr. Hofmeister denied that he and TransCanada CEO Hal Kvisle asked Mr. Spitzer for an extension of the DOS consistency review deadline in order to have more time to sell their plan to the public.
On Tuesday, spokespersons for Mr. Spitzer and for Secretary of State Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez declined comment on whether discussions were held regarding extending the Feb. 12 deadline. But after the extension was announced yesterday, Mr. Spitzer’s office issued a statement that said “We support the mutual decision of the Department of State and Broadwater to take the appropriate time for dialogue without the looming pressure of a deadline.”
Last week, Broadwater Energy began a campaign aimed at winning public support for its project. In print, television and radio ads now running in the New York metropolitan area market, Broadwater says its proposed terminal will lower heating and electric costs for Long Islanders without damaging the environment.
Broadwater senior vice president John Hritcko said Tuesday this is “the appropriate time” for the company to get its message out to residents, with the deadline for the state department’s coastal consistency determination looming and the possibility that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may vote on Broadwater’s permit application as soon as Feb. 21.
“If the deadline is extended, Broadwater wins,” Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, said Tuesday. CCE, a Farmingdale-based nonprofit organization has led public opposition to Broadwater’s plans. Ms. Esposito said she fears Mr. Spitzer might support Broadwater if the energy company could garner more support from the public through its current media campaign and other community-outreach efforts such as corporate giving.
Mr. Hofmeister came to Long Island Tuesday to announce a $150,000 gift to United Way of Long Island. The gift on behalf of Broadwater won the company accolades from United Way of Long Island CEO Chris Hahn, who said the donation to the organization’s Project Warmth would provide emergency heating assistance to families in need on Long Island. “It really does show Broadwater is committed to Long Island,” Mr. Hahn said at a press conference called to announce the gift. “They are good corporate citizens on Long Island,” he said. “We’re very grateful that Shell Oil and Broadwater have stepped up to the plate.”
Ms. Esposito, who did not attend the press conference, said in a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon that the donation to United Way of Long Island was part of a “public relations scheme” by the energy company, and called the donation amount “pocket change.”
“With $27 billion in profits for 2007, it took Shell Oil less than three minutes to generate that $150,000. That’s not much of a peace offering,” she said.
The Broadwater facility and its 22 miles of new underwater pipeline will cost upwards of $800 million to build. It will be capable of supplying the region with 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas daily, an influx of new energy that the developer says will result in a median household energy savings of $300 per year for Long Islanders.
Suffolk County and several towns have also filed a lawsuit in an effort to stop the plan, which would moor a 1,215-foot-long floating liquefied natural gas storage and regasification terminal in Long Island Sound, nine miles off the coast of Wading River, in the Town of Riverhead.
Copyright 2007 Times/Review Newspapers Corp.
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