Ocean advocates seek to block LNG facilities Groups rally against proposed LNG facilities off the Jersey coast BY MELISSA KARSH Staff Writer SEA BRIGHT- Local environmentalists have drawn a line in the sand and continue to voice their opposition on proposals to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage facilities off the coast. In recent weeks, two controversial proposals, one from ExxonMobil and one from a New York City-based investment group called Atlantic Sea Island Group (ASIG), are calling for deepwater LNG ports to be built and operated within miles of the Jersey Shore coastline. The proposals have garnered strong opposition from state officials and ocean advocates. "We must come together as a community to preserve and protect our ocean against these proposed LNG ports," said state Assemblyman Dave Rible (R-11th District) in a press release. "A clean and healthy ocean is essential to our economy and the recreational activities we enjoy in Monmouth County. "We cannot afford to have these environmental hazards located off our shores," he said. Rible, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6th District), Sea Bright Mayor Maria Fernandes, a representative from Monmouth Beach and the Monmouth County Freeholders as well as 75 citizens wielding surfboards, fishing poles, banners and beach blankets, were all in attendance at a rally on the beach to block the proposals and others like them, according to Clean Ocean Action (COA) Executive Director Cindy Zipf. The Earth Day rally was sponsored by COA, a broad coalition of ocean advocates. It worked as a springboard for the group to launch an action campaign to build opposition to proposed LNG facilities. "For 20 years we have worked hard to turn our ocean from Ocean Dumping Capital of theWorld to the Clean Ocean Zone," Zipf said in a press release. "We are enjoying the benefits and our coastal economy is thriving. Now Big Oil has set its greedy eyes on our ocean and threatens our quality of life." Zipf added in an interview after the rally, "This is just the kick-off and we're going to be announcing all summer long new and other actions that citizens can take part in. "Right now we are asking citizens to sign the petitions that are online and let their governors know that they are going to fight this and not stand by," she said. The petition can be found online at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/68 9151878. The campaign also includes a statement of opposition for groups, a sample resolution for municipalities and a series of cartoons highlighting concerns with the projects and LNG, according to a COA press release. "We hope to have 25,000 [petition signatures] by the end of Labor Day," said Zipf. To date, the group has collected a total of 400 signatures online and on paper, according to Zipf. Zipf and COA maintain that the proposals for the LNG facilities would harm the marine environment and threaten their coastal way of life. "It's a lose-lose-lose for the citizens of New Jersey and beyond," Zipf said. She added that industrial foreign fossil fuel facilities pose a risk to the environment, will increase energy costs and increase dependency on fossil fuels. Citizens also rallied in response to recent statements by high-ranking officials from New York and Connecticut, who promoted sites off New Jersey for LNG projects, according to the COA release. Two group and citizen sign-on letters to these officials were released at the rally, according to the press release. "One is a letter to Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell, expressing outrage to comments made by her and Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal that promote building LNG facilities off New Jersey. The second letter is to New York Gov. David Patterson, which responds to comments by N.Y. Secretary of State that promote building LNG facilities at two sites off New Jersey," according to the press release. In the letter to Patterson, it states, "We also write to express our grave concern over statements made by Lorraine A. Cortes-Vasquez, your Secretary of State in the Broadwater consistency decision. We are specifically concerned with Secretary Cortes-Vasquez's recommendations to grant consistency to two alternate Broadwater sites in the shared waters off N.Y.'s south shore and New Jersey." In the letter, which is signed by Zipf and refers to the rejection of a proposed LNG plant for Long Island Sound called Broadwater Energy, COAofficials request a meeting with Patterson and his staff to discuss issues related to LNG development in the Atlantic Ocean. "For two decades, New Jersey has succeeded in cleaning up our beaches by opposing efforts to build facilities like liquefied natural gas terminals off our coasts," said Pallone in a press release. "New Jersey, New York and Connecticut should be working together to preserve our coastlines for all residents and visitors to enjoy. On Earth Day, we should unite and fight these efforts to undermine our beaches and our marine ocean environment." While both LNG port proposals off New Jersey are being opposed, the two differ in design and location. ExxonMobil is seeking regulatory approval for BlueOcean Energy, a floating LNG receiving terminal 20 miles off the coast of Manasquan. The ASIG submitted an application to build and operate Safe Harbor Energy, a 62.5-acre man-made island to store LNG in the Atlantic Ocean 19 miles off the coast of Sea Bright. COA officials have dubbed the Safe Harbor Energy proposal "Insanity Island," which inspired the "Stop the Insanity" slogan seen on banners at the rally. On Feb. 15, ASIG filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking a preliminary injunction to stay a decision by the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), giving New Jersey review power of their LNG proposal. ASIG filed the suit on the basis that they believe MARAD did not have the authority to make the designation. Also, ASIG said the agency did not apply the standards that Congress required when it created the Adjacent Coastal State (ACS) statute in 1974, according to a Feb. 19 ASIG press release. The decision by U.S. Maritime Administrator Sean T. Connaughton to uphold his Nov. 2 decision designating New Jersey as an ACS under the Deep Water Port Act (DWPA) of 1974, was considered a victory for environmental activists. The suit is currently pending in the District of Columbia District Court, and nothing significant has been ruled on yet by the judge, according to COA water policy attorney David Byer. Byer said last week that the state of New Jersey has since filed a motion to intervene saying New Jersey officials should be party to the lawsuit, but that motion has not yet been decided.