DeLauro: New Report Proves Broadwater Facility Not Needed

DeLauro: New Report Proves Broadwater Facility Not Needed

WASHINGTON, D.C. - At a press conference on Capitol Hill, Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) today joined members of the Connecticut and New York Congressional delegations to release a new report on the Broadwater proposed LNG facility. The report, commissioned by the Connecticut Fund for the Environment, concluded that the need for the Broadwater project has been greatly overstated.

"We already knew the environmental and economic damage Broadwater would cause to the Sound and we knew the impact it would have on our region's security. What we did not know until this report was released was the extent to which this facility would not be needed in our region," said DeLauro. "But as this report finds, for all but a few days of the year, our region does not even utilize the full capacity of the existing infrastructure. What's more, it finds that other facilities from around the region and Canada will be coming online in the near-future that will add more energy capacity to the region. With other programs that will improve energy efficiency, this will be sufficient to meet New England's energy needs in the next several years, while we continue to develop and expand our alternative energy capacity."

On January 30, Broadwater Energy officially filed its application with FERC to construct and operate an LNG Import Terminal to be located just south of the New York/Connecticut border in Long Island Sound. Connecticut Attorney General Blumenthal filed a petition opposing the plan. This application follows a safety and security review conducted by the Coast Guard, which found numerous concerns with the project. Most notably, in submitting this report Broadwater had used meteorological data from the Chesapeake Bay in addressing the effects of weather on the project. The weather from this region is far more protected and has far more mild temperatures than the Sound.

"We ought to be improving our energy efficiency and maximizing our domestic energy production in an environmentally sound way - by investing in promising biofuel and other renewable technologies. By investing in these areas, we would not have to put resources like the Long Island Sound and small businesses that depend on it at risk," concluded DeLauro.

"With this report, those of us in Washington and the citizens in our states are better prepared to fight this. We are going to show them what vision, foresight and political courage means. And we are going to win."

http://www.house.gov/delauro/press/2006/March/broadwater_event_3_2_06.html