Debate and protests over the possibility of a Liquefied Natural Gas facility at Sipayik, near Eastport, continue, as do negotiations between the Passamaquoddy Tribe and Quoddy Bay LLC.
The latest expression of concern has come from Eastport City Manager George “Bud” Finch and the City Council.
In an Oct. 18 letter to Sipayik Governor Melvin Francis, Finch said in part, “A few of these concerns range from analysis of the issues dealing with LNG that are site specific and elements necessary to address the FERC [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] requirements.”
Finch then listed the concerns: “Navigation through Head Harbor Passage and the passage between Deer Island Point and Eastport; Coast Guard approval of the ability to safely navigate; the winds, fog, currents and tides, berthing, mooring and anchorage; geological and archeological review; buffer zones for shipping, boating and fishing; buffer zones for facilities [for] unloading and storage; impact on local business such as lobstering, fishing, aquaculture, tourism, etc.; environmental and safety concerns; number and location of tanks; pipeline, right of ways; distance from pipeline; the Moosehorn [National Wildlife Refuge].
Fred Moore, Passamaquoddy representative to the Maine Legislature, said that Eastport’s concerns are “premature.”
He said the tribal government has been at pains to emphasize that, to date, all that has taken place is an exclusivity agreement between the tribe and Quoddy Bay.
In a related development, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, was the scene in October of an anti-LNG protest outside a conference on the Gulf of Maine by Canadian and American participants.