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BHarbor:Keeping fishing public informed
FYI-Just keeping folks informed on article in Globe South

For foes of LNG, image says it all
By Robert Knox, Globe Correspondent | February 16, 2006

What's the cost of putting a liquefied natural gas terminal on one of the Boston Harbor Islands?

It's the priceless view of Boston Harbor and Boston Light, one of the best known landmarks on the Massachusetts coast, according to Save The Brewsters, a grass-roots organization based in Hull that has put up a roadside billboard on busy Route 3A pointing to what it says would be lost if the LNG terminal were built.

The billboard, erected on the Weymouth side of the Fore River Bridge, features a colorful photograph of the harbor islands, including Outer Brewster Island -- the site of the proposed facility -- and its neighbor, Little Brewster, home to Boston Light. Jumping off the ad is the Hull group's fundamental message: ''The Harbor Islands Are Not For Sale."

In a statement, the group said siting the terminal on Outer Brewster would ''irreparably destroy natural habitat and marine wildlife, including the harbor's only major seal population, on and surrounding Outer Brewster Island while destroying a National Park, meant to be preserved for all and not sold for short-term interests."

The organization said it put up the billboard to counter efforts by the company proposing the LNG terminal and the public relations firm it hired, Regan Communications, to persuade the Legislature to approve putting the facility on the island, part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.

AES Inc. of Arlington, Va., wants a 99-year lease to build a $500 million LNG regasification plant on the island, which is 2 miles from the Hull shore and about 8 miles from downtown Boston. A legislative hearing on a bill to remove the island's state park designation, a step toward granting a lease, will take place next month.

AES is one of the world's largest energy companies, with operations in 26 companies. While its proposal to build on Outer Brewster requires a two-thirds vote of both houses of the Legislature, its opponents say they are afraid the regional energy situation might lead some legislators to support the company's plan.

Many people are under the erroneous impression that the LNG terminal in Everett would close if a new one were to be built on the harbor island, said Lory Newmyer, a spokeswoman for Save The Brewsters and also the executive director of the Hull Lifesaving Museum.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, state and local officials have worried about the possibility of an assault on a tanker serving the Suez-Distrigas LNG terminal in Everett, close to the population center of Boston. But Newmyer said that since different companies would own the facilities, the opening of one would have no consequences for the other.

Proponents have cited the region's growing hunger for natural gas in pushing for another LNG terminal in New England. AES has also sought to bring the local advantages of the plan home to Hull residents, saying that an estimated $3.5 million a year in property taxes on the facility would go to their town.

Jason Lefferts of Regan Communications said his company has made this argument with Hull officials.

''The overwhelming [benefit] is, frankly, the money," he said, pointing out that $3.5 million would be a significant bump to the town's tax levy. The town currently collects $19.3 million a year in property taxes, according to the assessors' department.

Lefferts said the $3.5 million could be used to help pay for the town's long-term capital needs, such as school projects and maintenance of the local beaches and harbor.

Hull selectmen opposed quick approval of the proposal last fall, but are still studying the issue. Newmyer said she hopes the board will take a position before the Legislative committee hearing on March 8.

She questions proponents' argument that New England needs another terminal to receive its supply of natural gas.

In fact, LNG facilities are national suppliers, she said, and a terminal on Outer Brewster would serve ''anywhere in the whole country, not just New England." So while New England would gain no special benefit from a second terminal, the Boston area would undertake a bigger burden -- and an increased security risk, Newmeyer said.

She said such a facility would mar the natural attractions of the harbor and its islands -- the point of her group's billboard.

The average LNG tanker ship is 900 feet long, 150 feet wide, and 120 feet tall -- and would dwarf Boston Light, at 89 feet tall with a diameter of only 22 feet, according to Save The Brewsters. Furthermore, construction work would destroy fisheries near the island, and the presence of the tankers would deny the area's waters to boaters, Newmyer said.

But Lefferts said AES proposes to make significant efforts to reduce the effect of the facility on the Harbor Islands park system.

AES plans to build most of the facility underground, with the tanks protruding only 20 to 30 feet above the island's current horizon. The plant would be sited on the north side of the island, the side farthest away from Point Allerton in Hull and a safe distance from the town, he said.

Those efforts are not likely to mollify the company's opponents. Newmyer said that even if state and national policy makers decide a new LNG terminal is needed, ''a national park is the wrong place."

The billboard pushing that view on Route 3A motorists will be up for a month. Save The Brewsters says the ad costs $1,500, paid for by donations to the group.

Robert Knox can be reached at rc.knox@gmail.com.
__________________

I have heard the following:

"There will also be a "security zone" that will?? include Green/Calf and all the brewsters!

Bass fishing in the HABA will not be the same without these areas. Never mind anchoring, camping and general diving."

There has been alot of information/misinformation about the security zone and what is prohibitted and when???

Is there any info out there on this issue?

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay Response
I just got this email for SHSB...

TO: Coalition Members January 24, 2006
FROM: Bruce Berman, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay
RE: Grassroots Effort

In February there will be a legislative hearing on House Bill 4500, the bill to lease Outer Brewster Island in the Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area to AES Corporation of Arlington Virginia to site what they have described as the “largest LNG terminal and storage depot in the country”.

I am writing on behalf of a coalition of more than two dozen organizations, including Mass Audubon, the Sierra Club, The Environmental League of Massachusetts, Mass PIRG, the Conservation Law Foundation, The Island Alliance, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, The Mass Lobsterman’s Association, Mass Boating, and the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association.

We need your help today to stop this bill.

An important part of our strategy is to let our Legislators hear from us with a personal phone call or letter expressing our opposition to this bill. We have attached brief talking points as well as a sample telephone script and letter to help you.

These calls and letters are a critical part of our strategy, so please distribute this memo widely, to your members, friends and allies, and ask them to take a few minutes to help.

It’s easy to find out who your State Representative or State Senator is: Just visit http://www.wheredoivotema.com and enter your street address.

For a complete list of legislators telephone numbers and addresses, visit
http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenu.htm

Please Note: Only the room numbers are listed in the directory. The full mailing address is:
Senator X (or Representative Y)
State House, Room xxx
Boston, MA 02133

If each of us takes the time to call or write our State Senator and State Representative to let them know that we (and our members and organizations) want them to “Vote No on HB 4500” it will make a big difference when this comes before the committee for a vote.

Lauren Thirer from Save the Harbor will be calling you shortly to discuss how many calls you think your organization can make. It is our experience that even 20 phone calls to a legislator can make a difference, so we’d like to try for 40!

Please take a moment to let us know how your calls are going by sending email updates to both
Jen Baker jenbaker@masspirg.org and Lauren Thirer thirer@savetheharbor.org

Thanks again for your hard work and support. Together I am confident that we can stop HB4500, “Save The Brewsters” and protect the Boston Harbor Island National Park!

Sincerely,
E. Bruce Berman, Jr.
Save the Harbor / Save the Bay

PS: While email is convenient, it is not as effective as a call or a letter to an elected official: Emails gets deleted, misplaced, etc., so try to call or write if you can.

Sample Telephone Script

HELLO, MY NAME IS ________ .

WHAT’S YOUR NAME? IT’S NICE TO MEET YOU.

I AM CALLING TODAY TO ASK SENATOR X (OR REPRESENTATIVE Y) TO OPPOSE HOUSE BILL 4500 TO ALLOW AES CORPORATION OF ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA TO BUILD AN LNG TERMINAL AND STORAGE DEPOT ON OUTER BREWSTER ISLAND IN THE BOSTON HARBOR ISLANDS NATIONAL PARK.

IT WILL DESTROY CRITICAL HABITAT, WHICH WE SHOULD PROTECT.

IT WILL RESTRICT ACCESS TO OUR PARK FOREVER.

IT WON’T DECREASE LNG TANKER TRAFFIC INTO BOSTON HARBOR, OR PUT A STOP TO ANY OTHER PROPOSED LNG FACILITY IN THE REGION.

IT’S BAD IDEA TO PUT AN LNG TERMINAL IN A STATE OR NATIONAL PARK.

I HOPE THAT SENATOR X (OR REPRESENTATIVE Y) WILL DO THE RIGHT THING HERE, AND OPPOSE HOUSE BILL 4500.

THANKS FOR YOUR TIME.

PLEASE BE SURE TO LET SENATOR X (OR REPRESENTATIVE Y) KNOW
THAT I CALLED, AND THAT SENATORS HEDLUND AND RESOR AND REPRESENTATIVE BRADLEY ARE CIRCULATING LETTERS OPPOSING HOUSE BILL 4500 THAT I HOPE YOU WILL SIGN.

THANKS AGAIN.

Sample Letter

Dear Senator X (or Representative Y)

I am writing to you today to ask you to oppose House Bill 4500 that would allow AES Corporation of Arlington, Virginia to build an LNG terminal and storage depot on Outer Brewster Island in the Boston Harbor Islands National Park.

The Boston Globe and more than two dozen organizations, including Mass Audubon, the Sierra Club, The Environmental League of Massachusetts, Mass PIRG, the Conservation Law Foundation, The Island Alliance, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, The Mass Lobsterman’s Association, Mass Boating, and the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association all oppose this special interest legislation because:

• It will restrict access to our park forever.

• It will destroy critical habitat for lobsters, birds and seals.

• It won’t decrease LNG tanker traffic into Boston Harbor, or put a stop to any other proposed LNG facility in the region.

• It’s bad idea to put an LNG terminal in a state or national park.

I hope that Senator X (or Representative Y) will do the right thing here, and oppose House Bill 4500! Additionally, Senators Hedlund and Resor and Representative Bradley are circulating letters opposing House Bill 4500 that I hope you will sign.

Sincerely,

Your Name and Address

Talking Points

More than 24 organizations have joined together in opposing the Outer Brewster Island LNG proposal, including the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association and every important environmental organization in the Commonwealth.

Together we represent more than 250,000 Bay State residents, more than 10,000 recreational boaters and fisherman, 75 area yacht clubs and nearly 1,000 commercial lobstermen, whose livelihood depends on the lobsters they take from these waters.

We oppose this proposal because:

• Since 1986, we have spent more than $4.5 billion dollars on the Boston Harbor Clean-up, and millions more on the creation of the Boston Harbor Islands National Park. It’s simply wrong to squander these public investments for the private gain of one out of state company.

• Outer Brewster and the adjacent shallow bays are among the most popular and productive waters in the Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area for recreational boating, sailing, diving, fishing and lobstering. This proposal would restrict access to this part of our Park forever.

• Outer Brewster is the seasonal home to many threatened and protected species of sea and shore birds, as well as to the parks only colony of seals. The AES proposal would destroy this critical habitat.

• With more than a dozen proposals to locate LNG facilities in the Northeast United States and Canadian Maritimes already under review, there are clearly other ways to meet the region’s energy needs, including renewable energy and increased efficiency. Until there is a region-wide programmatic study of LNG siting and the alternatives, we simply will not know how much gas we really need.

• This proposal simply won’t decrease tanker traffic to Everett, or put a stop to other pending LNG terminal proposals in the region. In fact, it will result in a significant increase in LNG traffic into the Boston Harbor region.

• HR 4500 is inconsistent with state and federal law. If we don’t stop this proposal now, legal impediments to the proposed transfer are likely to result in both State and Federal legal challenges, embroiling us in a controversy that could take years to resolve.

For more information about this proposal or the coalition that opposes it, or to download recent press clips or copies of our joint statement in opposition to HR 4500, visit http://www.savetheharbor.org and follow the links.