State questioned LNG island in '07

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The DEC said the application was incomplete and the project had the potential to harm the local environment.
Nevertheless, as recently reported in the Herald, ASIG continues to pursue approval for the 60.5-acre island 13 miles south of Long Beach. It is planning to submit an updated application to the DEC. Merrick and Bellmore residents have questioned the need for the project at recent meetings.
Acting on a request by the Herald, Lori Severino, a DEC spokeswoman, provided the department's response to ASIG's November 2007 application. The application, the statement read in part, "omits important environmental data; inadequately assesses the action's ecological impacts, especially the island's potential effects on the ocean column ... within a historically important fishery area, and the potential impacts on that area's traditional fishing uses; and insufficiently considers alternative project locations."
The statement concluded, "We identified major issues of concern ... We stated the project was likely to cause significant adverse environmental, social and recreational effects."
At the island, which ASIG is calling Safe Harbor Energy, liquefied natural gas - natural gas cooled to minus 265 degrees Fahrenheit - would be converted back to its original gaseous state. It would then be sent to New York City and Long Island via existing underwater pipes owned by the Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Corporation. The LNG would be delivered by ship from Russia, the Middle East and the Caribbean.
Before ASIG can move ahead with the project in the Cholera Bank, a fishery popular with commercial and recreational fisherman, it must provide a comprehensive application for approval by the DEC and the federal Maritime Administration, and receive approvals from Gov. David Paterson and New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine.
Severino explained that, in accordance with the federal Deep Water Ports Act, Safe Harbor Energy must adhere to the law of the nearest coastal state - in this case, New York.
The U.S. Coast Guard will help ASIG prepare an environmental impact statement for the DEC. Coast Guard Lt. Hannah Kawamoto said she is unsure when the EIS will be completed, but predicted that it may be finished this summer. At this point, Kawamoto said, the Coast Guard is studying the Cholera Bank to determine how the proposed island might affect the local marine habitat.
According to Severino, the DEC must approve ASIG's application and EIS before they can be submitted to the Maritime Administration.
Kawamoto said that the Coast Guard sent letters in August and January to ASIG requesting more information, and it was preparing a third round of letters. She said that multiple rounds of letters were a normal part of the application process.
In a recent interview, ASIG spokesman Gary Lewi, however, said that shipping natural gas from overseas would produce fewer greenhouse gases than burning domestic coal. Lewi further said that the natural gas transfer station would help Long Island meet its future energy needs responsibly. He noted that natural gas is clean burning, and the Island has rejected other clean-energy alternatives in the past, including a nuclear power plant and a wind farm off Jones Beach.
ASIG has also said that the island would act as an anchor where coral reefs could grow.
If passed, a recently proposed New York state policy to consider greenhouse gas emissions during the preparation of environmental impact statements might affect the Safe Harbor Energy EIS.