Statement of Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell on New York Governor Paterson's Decision to Reject Broadwater Project

April 10, 2008 -- Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell today issued the following statement after the New York Department of State denied a coastal consistency permit for the Broadwater liquefied natural gas platform proposed for Long Island Sound:

“‘We did it!’

LNG tanker at night: Photo by chablis2008 (CC)

“Those are the words I used when we won the fight to save our sub base, and I have to tell you – it feels great to use them again today.

“We did it! We did it! We did it!

“Of course, we had a little help from our friends in New York.

“This is exactly the news we hoped to hear today: That New York’s Department of State has recognized the peril that the Broadwater project represents. Peril to the reinvigorated Long Island Sound; peril to the underwater environment, to the shellfish beds and lobster population; peril to fish and other aquatic species; and peril to people from a gigantic industrial platform that is a menace to navigation and an enormous, potentially explosive magnet for terrorism.

“I want to thank New York Governor David A. Paterson; the New York Department of State; state Sens. Andrea Stillman and Len Fasano, who co-chaired the Liquefied Natural Gas Task Force I formed by Executive Order No. 9 in 2005; the other members of the Task Force; the Connecticut Fund for the Environment and Save the Sound; and all of the citizens – on both sides of the Sound – who have worked so hard for so long to stop this project.

“Today’s decision is truly a relief – but it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

“Today’s decision comes from an agency whose task was to decide whether a project like Broadwater met simple standards: Was it good for the Sound? Was it good the future of the Sound? Was it in keeping with the idea that we should preserve the Sound for our children and our children’s children?

“The answers were obvious. No! No on every count.

“Not surprisingly, the New York Department of State was able to see what federal regulators refused to see – that Broadwater is a tremendous peril and, what is worse, there is no compelling reason for risking that peril.

“The task force that I put together found that the demand for Broadwater simply does not exist. Federal regulators assumed – and I underline that word, assumed – that this region will someday need 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. To no one’s surprise, the only project that could meet that demand was Broadwater.

“Of course, anyone who takes a realistic look at our need for natural gas, now and in the future, realizes that demand is likely to be far smaller. In fact, there are projects under way or already on the drawing boards that will more than meet that future demand – without ever needing the disaster-in-the-making that is Broadwater.

“What is more, even if we did need a project of the size and scope of Broadwater, there is an alternative: An LNG project called BlueOcean is planned for the coast of New Jersey that would supply 20 percent more natural gas than Broadwater. It would be located in a less sensitive area, closer to New York, subject to less controversy and facing less opposition.

“We made all these points to regulators, but we were ignored. So we turned, with hope in our hearts, to the State of New York – to people who live and work here on the shores of the Sound, to people who have a far more intimate understanding of what is at stake. And we were not disappointed.

“Anyone who has ever stood on these shores and looked out over these beautiful waters understands that this is no place for a giant industrial barge. This is no place for a floating terrorist target.

“This is a place to treasure. It is an environmental jewel. It is an heirloom. It is a place for us to treat with dignity and respect. It is a place for us to defend and maintain for the generations that follow.

“That is the responsibility we are given. That is the duty Governor Paterson and New York’s Department of State has today discharged.

“On behalf of all the people of Connecticut, I thank them. And on behalf of all of us who worked so hard to see this day, I say again, ‘We did it!’”

Source: Connecticut Governor

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