Downeast Pipeline LLC has submitted to FERC a revised route for its pipeline facilities that would serve a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal proposed for Robbinston, ME.

Downeast originally routed its proposed 31-mile pipeline through Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge in Washington County, ME, which is owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). But the FWS last September rejected the company’s plan to run the pipeline through the refuge (see NGI, Oct. 8, 2007) .

The company now proposes to build a 29.8-mile, 30-inch diameter pipeline that would completely avoid crossing the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge [CP07-53]. The facilities would extend from the proposed Downeast LNG terminal to the Maritimes and Northeast pipeline at the existing Baileyville Compressor Station in Baileyville, ME.

With the exception of the modification to the 7.5-mile crossing through the wildlife refuge, Downeast Pipeline said the pipe route basically “remains unchanged.” As a result, it asked that the filing of the amended route “cause no significant delay in the processing” of its application, which was filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in December 2006.

The Downeast LNG and pipeline project has faced its share of problems over the past year, putting it almost in the same class as the embattled Weaver’s Cove LNG facility planned for Fall River, MA, in terms of the level of opposition. The project has been the target of criticism in Maine. Downeast LNG and rival project Quoddy Bay — a proposed 2 Bcf LNG import terminal on a Native American reservation at Split Rock, ME — also have run into opposition from Canada, which has objected to tankers using its waters to transport LNG to the Maine terminals (see NGI, Feb. 19, 2007).

The Downeast LNG project would consist of two storage tanks, a regasification facility and a pier to receive LNG carriers, according to the company. The proposed terminal would have storage capacity of 320,000 cubic meters, with an output capacity of 500 MMcf/d and peaking capacity of 625 MMcf/d.

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