North America’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) transshipment and storage terminal proposed for Grassy Point at the head of Placentia Bay in Newfoundland and Labrador has been found not to be a threat to the environment if appropriate mitigation measures are taken.

Canadian Environment Minister John Baird made the finding and referred the project back to Transport Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada for action, it was announced Monday.

Project backer Newfoundland LNG is a joint venture of North Atlantic Pipeline Partners LP and LNG Partners LLC. It filed plans for the project with federal and provincial regulators in late 2006 (see Daily GPI, Nov. 29, 2006). The project would include eight 160,000-cubic-meter storage tanks, three jetties with berthing facilities capable of mooring 265,000-cubic-meter LNG cargo ships, and a tugboat basin along one of North America’s deepest ice-free ports. It would not include LNG regasification facilities.

The project, which is intended to accommodate up to 400 vessels per year, was slated to begin construction in summer 2007, but Newfoundland LNG President Mark Turner told NGI in April that construction was delayed and is expected to begin late this year or in early 2009 (see Daily GPI, April 30).

Newfoundland LNG said it believes the province offers “unique and strategic geographical advantages,” particularly for LNG suppliers in the North Sea and Barents Sea regions but also for suppliers in the Persian Gulf. Suppliers bringing LNG from those areas will require “market flexibility, penetration and logistical consideration for addressing long transportation distances and accessibility.” The Grassy Point project is designed to provide these Atlantic Basin LNG suppliers with supply-chain solutions.

For more information on the project, go to www.newfoundlandlng.com. A copy of the environmental assessment decision statement is available on the Canadian Environmental Assessment Registry at www.ceaa.gc.ca, reference number 07-03-26546.

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