Broadwater Energy was a
Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal
A liquefied natural gas terminal is a facility for managing the import and/or export of liquefied natural gas (LNG). It comprises equipment for loading and unloading of LNG cargo to/from ocean-going tankers, for transfer across the site, liquefac ...
proposed to be built in
Long Island Sound between
New York State
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...
and
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
. The project received vociferous objections from Connecticut officials and some New York state officials.
New York state officials had yet to decide whether to issue permits for the project as of March 2008, and Governor
David Paterson
David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to December 2010. ...
said he might postpone a decision, originally scheduled to be made in April 2008 on whether to support the terminal.
[Associated Press article, "U.S. Commission Approves Gas Terminal in L.I. Sound", March 21, 2008, as it appeared in '']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', p B4 The terminal received federal approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on March 21, 2008,
[ but energy analysts have said that state rather than regulators generally have the decisive role in deciding whether liquefied natural gas terminals may be built.][Rather, John, "Long Island Sound Proposal Awaits Crucial Ruling", '']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', "Connecticut and the Region" section, page CT6, January 27, 2008
It is to be operated by Broadwater Energy L.L.C., a joint venture by TransCanada Corporation
TC Energy Corporation (formerly TransCanada Corporation) is a major North American energy company, based in the TC Energy Tower building in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, that develops and operates energy infrastructure in Canada, the United States, ...
and Shell Oil for the transfer of liquefied natural gas
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the vol ...
from ships to pipelines. The proposed floating unit would be about nine miles (14 km) north of Wading River, New York
Wading River is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the CDP population was 7,719. It is adjacent to Shoreham and shares a school dis ...
and south of New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...
-- the widest point in the Sound. After being unloaded, the liquefied gas would be warmed back into a gas and pumped through pipelines (with the specific pipeline on the bottom of the sound called the "Iroquois Gas Transmission." The company calls the term a " Floating Storage Regasification Unit," or FSRU. It is expected of natural gas per day into the pipeline.
The terminal would be about long and wide and would rise about 75 to above the water. It would have the capability to stockpile eight billion cubic feet of gas. The project also involves the laying of a long pipeline from the platform to the Iroquois line (off the shore the village of Nissequogue, New York
Nissequogue () is a village in Suffolk County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The village population was 1,564 at the 2020 census.
The Incorporated Village of Nissequogue is located entirely within the Town of ...
).
Broadwater's website notes advantages to consumers of cutting the cost of natural gas, cleaner fuel than oil, and the lack requirements to build onshore.
The State of New York which has territorial jurisdiction over the sound will have ultimate decisions on whether it will permit the project. Broadwater says on its website the project if built on plan between 2009 and 2010 would cost $20 million directly.
Opposition
The project, which will be located off the coast of expensive residential property on eastern Long Island and eastern Connecticut, has stirred considerable local opposition including New York Senators, Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
, and Representative Tim Bishop
Timothy Howard Bishop (born June 1, 1950) is an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative for from 2003 to 2015. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
The district includes most of Central and Eastern Suffolk County, includin ...
. Clinton said:
:I, like many Long Islanders, remain concerned that the security risks and environmental threats posed by the project have not been properly addressed. I also share the view held by many Long Islanders that this project would have detrimental impacts on the quality of water and air surrounding the sound.
Among the controversiesis concern that legislation may pass that would permit the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to override local opposition.
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who resigned from office in March 2008 and was replaced by David Paterson, took no position on the project but raised eyebrows in November 2007 when he hired Bruce Gyory, a Broadwater lobbyist, to advise the governor.
Decision
On April 10, 2008, Governor Paterson rejects the Broadwater plan, stating at a Press Conference at Sunken Meadow State Park that it "Is not what Long Island Sound needs." Broadwater however does have the right to appeal to the US Department of Commerce.
Timeline
* January 2008 — Staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission concludes the project will have only limited environmental impact.[
* January 10, 2008 — U.S. General Accounting Office released a report on the U.S. Coast Guard's ability to provide security for the terminals and involved ships.][
* January 16, 2008 — Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell writes to New York Governor Spitzer that the plant would hurt the Sound.][
* March 20, 2008 — Federal Energy Regulatory Commission votes 5-0 to approve the project.][
* April 10, 2008 — New York Governor ]David Paterson
David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to December 2010. ...
officially rejects the Broadwater plan altogether."Gas Plant in L.I. Sound Is Rejected"
''New York Times''
References
{{reflist, 2
External links
Broadwaterenergy.com
Fraudwater.com
Article about the Broadwater proposal in the Hartford Advocate
Long Island Sound
Proposed liquefied natural gas terminals
Natural gas infrastructure in the United States
Joint ventures
Shell plc buildings and structures
TC Energy