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Post by woodburyknolls on Dec 6, 2014 22:43:45 GMT -5
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Post by CoNCA Admin on Jan 25, 2015 11:19:43 GMT -5
Hundreds of citizens speak out against the Port Ambrose project at public hearing
Jamaica Queens, N.Y. - 01-07-15
A broad bi-state coalition of environmental, advocacy, and civic groups called on NY Governor Andrew Cuomo to veto the proposed Port Ambrose Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) facility offshore. They cited safety, climate, the lack of need, destruction of the marine environment, and dubious economics at a press conference at the JFK Airport Hilton in Queens, moments before the official public hearing on the project.
"LNG ports are a target for terrorism; threaten fishing, jobs, and tourism; and are a disaster for our climate," said Cassandra Ornell, Staff Scientist for Clean Ocean Action. "Port Ambrose would bring tankers as long as the Empire State Building is tall, filled with extremely volatile fuel, near the entrance to the New York Harbor. This would exclude longstanding activities such as fishing from an ecologically productive swath of the ocean, and Liberty offers no compensation for the inevitable economic losses."
"It makes no sense for New Yorkers to take a risk with dirty and dangerous fossil fuels that require us to further degrade our ocean environment," said Nikita Scott, of the Surfrider Foundation, NYC Chapter. "We have other competitive options that don't threaten our oceans, waves and beaches, Ms. Scott added.
"Port Ambrose is the wrong choice for New York because producing, transporting, and using LNG releases massive amounts of greenhouse gases which exacerbates climate change," said Jessica Roff of New Yorkers Against Fracking. "Governor Cuomo just said no to fracking, now we need him to join New Yorkers and say no to LNG.
LNG requires super cooling natural gas to turn it into a liquid state so it can be pumped on to supertankers and shipped around the world. This makes its carbon footprint much closer to coal. The Port Ambrose project would be located 19 miles south of Jones Beach, NY and would require 21 miles of seafloor to be dug up for a new gas pipeline to connect to existing pipelines. The project would be in the middle of major shipping lanes and also in an area identified by the State of NY as a prime area for wind energy generation.
"Right now, we have the power to start building renewable wind energy that truly benefits downstate New York, and we see Port Ambrose as a deadly distraction from the real work of meeting our energy needs while addressing the climate crisis," said Patrick Robbins, Communications Coordinator for the Sane Energy Project.
The closest community to the facility is Long Beach, NY whose elected leaders sent a letter to Governor Cuomo urging him to veto the project. They also sent a letter to the agencies responsible for the public hearings and reviewing the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, DEIS, the Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration, MARAD.
"Elected leaders of Long Beach have come out strongly against this project," said Jeremy Thornton of the Central Long Island Chapter of Surfrider Foundation. "Tonight we will see other elected leaders stand up and represent their community's voice by also coming out against Port Ambrose," he added.
Advocacy groups and elected officials alike have complained about the public part of this process, with the public hearings announced just before the holidays, and a short period of time to go through an 1800 page Draft EIS.
"To hold just one hearing in New Jersey and one in New York City stifles the voice of the Long Island communities," said Claudia Borecky of the Coalition of Nassau Civic Associations. "Given the large attendance at the initial hearing in Long Beach, we request that at least two more hearings be held on the Long Beach barrier island and that the comment period be extended for another 90 days," she added.
Project proponents claim the facility would be only for importing gas, which we have in abundance in this country. Critics fear this facility would be used to export gas as well, thereby enabling fracking in inland areas. Existing LNG import facilities around the country are operating well below capacity due to the lack of demand for imported gas.
"Port Ambrose, will only increase fracking throughout the US, harming our environment and contributing to our current, critical climate crisis," said Jim Brown, Conservation Chair of the South Shore Audubon Society. "We call upon our Governor to again do the right thing and veto Port Ambrose!"
"Don't believe what the industry tells you. Port Ambrose would mean natural gas exportation and an increased demand for the dangerous and polluting practice of fracking throughout the Northeast," said Eric Weltman, senior organizer with Food & Water Watch, an advocacy group. "The last thing we need is a doubling down on the fossil fuel infrastructure that has put us in this precarious position in the first place."
"There is no need to build Port Ambrose to import natural gas into our area when we have an abundant supply in our region," said Ling Tsou, Co-Founder of United for Action. "If there is no need and no benefits in building Port Ambrose which is opposed by the majority of the residents in the affected communities, then the application to build Port Ambrose should be denied.
Those who have analyzed the DEIS claim there will only be six permanent jobs created by the project, and the staging areas for construction will be in Rhode Island and near Albany, NY.
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