Connecticut Attorney General Takes Broadwater Fight To New York

April 20, 2007 -- Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal took another step in the fight against Broadwater Energy today, urging a New York State agency to reject a permit for the massive liquefied gas (LNG) facility.

Broadwater is seeking permission from the New York Office of General Services to occupy land and anchor its LNG facility in the middle of Long Island Sound in New York waters, just short of the Connecticut line.

Blumenthal urged New York to deny the permit because Broadwater poses a direct and substantial threat to human health and safety and critical ecosystem resources of national importance in the Long Island Sound.

"Our two states have a huge common stake in this shared threat," Blumenthal said. "My hope is that New York will join Connecticut in vehemently and vigorously opposing a project imperiling the scenic and visual quality of the public trust lands and waters of the Sound. Its sheer scale will blight the visual quality of miles of coastline of the Sound. It will be visible from both shores as the largest man-made object in the Sound, permanently scarring the horizon.

"Our states are stewards together for this national treasure. From the thousands of large and small ships passing within one or two miles, the visual impact will be overwhelming. Unlike the existing open seascapes that have captivated artists, residents and tourists, Broadwater will be, first and foremost, an industrial site, an utterly discordant feature that cannot be harmonized in scale or shape to anything currently in or around the Sound."

Blumenthal said the proposal is completely inconsistent with New York's Long Island Coastal Management Plan because the planned security zones will ban recreational and commercial designated water dependent uses and because the massive environmental impacts will disrupt or destroy important marine resources.

The proposed project would also violate New York's Environmental Quality Review Act, which mandates that agencies consider and choose alternatives to the maximum extent practicable to minimize or avoid adverse environmental effects. Blumenthal said there are already proposals for sounder and safer alternatives to Broadwater - onshore - that would satisfy natural gas needs.

Blumenthal said Connecticut's sovereign interests are directly affected by this project because the land underlying the Long Island Sound is owned by New York and Connecticut.

Source: Connecticut Attorney General's Office