Don't Give Up The River!

With the issuance of a state environmental certificate, we are all one step closer to the prospect of huge tanker ships bearing flammable Liquefied Natural Gas through Mount Hope Bay and the mouth of the Taunton River – past thousands of homes and businesses, highways, and fishing grounds – leaves one gasping for breath. The years of discussion, revisions, and dueling are exhausting for all, but we urge all involved to stay the course and continue to fight this misguided and dangerous proposal.

The Massachusetts Secretary of Environmental Affairs has ruled that Weavers Cove must satisfy the Department of Environmental Protection and the Office of Coastal Zone Management on several key issues related to water quality, use of the public tidelands and coastal policy. The Secretary strongly suggested that Department of Environmental Protection should re-open the public hearing on water quality impacts, a step that will give citizens another opportunity to comment on the disastrous effects of dredging the river to make way for LNG tankers.

The outcome of the poorly conceived Weaver’s Cove Energy project is not certain. Rhode Island has enacted a law that prevents the transport of LNG cargoes through the Bay by expanding the required security zone to 1,000 feet. Representative Robert Correira and Senator Joan Menard have been working to get similar protections in the Bay State. Governor Mitt Romney has gone on the record opposing the Fall River LNG proposal. However, he is concerned that legislation on his desk would restrict the state’s current LNG facility in Everett. If the Governor vetoes the bill or sends it back to the House for changes, Fall River legislators should work out a solution or file a new bill that could be taken up after the November elections.
At a critical time for the Taunton River – the Aquaria water plant in Dighton is also moving through final permitting, the City of Brockton has agreed to clean up its large wastewater treatment plant, and the Brayton Point power plant in Somerset has been ordered to vastly improve its environmental performance – to allow the LNG terminal would be a massive step backwards.

On the regulatory front, several state and federal permits must still be obtained by those proposing this dangerous misappropriation of the public’s waterways.

Next up: although the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has signed off on the Weaver’s Cove plan, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard have not. The Coast Guard is grappling with the navigation issues and the Army Corps will have to approve the dredging plans. Lawsuits have also challenged the project.

As currently proposed, Weaver’s Cove has refused to cut back on dredging when anadromous fish return to the sea in the fall. It is misguided and ineffective to protect the parent fish migrating upstream in spring if the young of the year will not be able to reach the ocean come fall because giant dredges are stirring up sediment across nearly the entire width of the river in Fall River.

We believe Weaver’s Cove so-called “mitigation” measures will not protect the species in the River and utterly fail to address the impact of three years of dredging 191 acres of river bottom.

Weaver’s Cove also contends that the future operation of the terminal, and the regular churning of the river bottom by ships entering & leaving, would have no impact on fish and shellfish. This head in the sediment attitude must be challenged.

Around New England and eastern Canada, other LNG proposals are also being considered. One LNG terminal is already under construction in Canada. Our region does need clean, reliable energy but LNG tankers through the City of Fall River are not the answer. Weaver’s Cove should be compared to the other available sites and a decision reached on the public benefits and the worst-case scenario of each location rather than giving carte blanche to the for-profit companies seeking to serve the region. A special commission of the Massachusetts legislature recently recommended that a proposal for one of the Boston Harbor Islands at least deserves further study.

The Taunton River Watershed Alliance is part of the Taunton River Watershed Campaign, a coalition of eleven conservation and planning organizations working to preserve the landscape and natural resources of the watershed. Five campaign organizations [Save the Bay, Taunton River Watershed Alliance, The Nature Conservancy, Mass Audubon, and the Jones River Watershed Association] filed written comments last month strenuously opposing the dredging of the estuary of the Taunton River to create a turning basin for LNG tankers.

DEP should reopen the public hearing to address concerns about water quality and the loss of public waterfront and Governor Romney should sign the bill setting reasonable set-backs for ships carrying LNG cargoes.

Karen Augeri Benson
TRWA Advocacy Attorney

Kate Kilguss
TRWA Executive Director

Susan Speers
Taunton River Watershed Campaign