The U.S. Coast Guard earlier this week extended its ban on tanker shipments to include a Distrigas liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker into Boston Harbor, saying that the ship will be denied entry until it has provided an “approved safety and security plan and all response agencies are confident that appropriate safety and security measures are in place.”

The Coast Guard said its action Wednesday applied only to the tanker that was transporting about 33 million gallons of LNG from Trinidad to the Distrigas terminal in Everett, MA. However, it noted that the Coast Guard will work with its “partners in industry and the government to review this process for each ensuing delivery” of LNG into the harbor.

“We don’t have an exact timeframe at this point” as to how long the Coast Guard ban on Distrigas LNG shipments will remain in force, said Julie Vitek, a spokeswoman for Distrigas of Massachusetts LLC. She noted the tanker that was turned away currently is headed for an undisclosed Southern U.S. port to unload.

The Coast Guard acknowledged that there have been no specific threats to LNG tanker shipments in the Boston Harbor area, but nevertheless it decided to take this action in response to the heightened awareness and safety concerns in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes in New York City, suburban Washington, DC, and western Pennsylvania.

The Coast Guard’s action could have a significant impact on New England, given that Distrigas provides an average of 15% to 20% of the region’s energy supplies on an annual basis. This climbs to about 35% in the winter, as the company supplies LNG to local storage facilities for peak shaving, Vitek said.

“Everybody’s looking at things differently in light of the attacks on Sept. 11,” Vitek noted. But, she added, “we’ve had a 30-year working relationship with the Coast Guard, and we hope to resume that soon.”

While Distrigas recognizes the impact of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the nation, “we also recognize the importance of LNG to the New England energy supply, particularly as we approach the winter heating season. We look forward to working with the Coast Guard, the mayors of Boston and Everett, and with the governor to resume safe transportation of LNG into New England as soon as possible,” the company said in a prepared statement. “We hope any delay will be temporary and that we can resume bringing much-needed energy into the area,” noted Distrigas CEO Richard Grant.

U.S. Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) called on Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta this week to give “urgent attention” to ensuring the safety of LNG transportation and storage at the Everett facility. “LNG is a critical component of the energy supply of our region, a supply source that has been interrupted by the events of Sept. 11. It is critical to everyone in the Boston area that this supply be restored at the earliest opportunity, but only in a way that ensures the safety of the community,” he wrote in a letter to Mineta.

Markey and others are concerned that LNG tankers could in some cases be sitting ducks for terrorists. “While it is important to recognize that this gas can quickly and harmlessly vaporize when exposed to air, thus reducing its value as a terrorist target, it is highly flammable under some circumstances, and its ignition could result in a fire that could cause significant loss of life and property,” he said.

The lawmaker underscored the value of the Distrigas facility to New England’s economy and its energy needs. Distrigas, a unit of Tractebel North America, received 46 LNG shipments last year and has a storage capacity of 3.5 Bcf. It has a sendout capability of 450,000 MMBtu/d by reconversion into natural gas at its onsite vaporization facility and 100,000 MMBtu/d by truck, Markey said. Construction currently is underway to more than double the LNG vaporization capacity at the Everett terminal to over 1 Bcf/d by late 2001.

“Given the importance of the Distrigas facility to New England’s energy infrastructure, I believe it vitally important that every reasonable effort be undertaken to assure the facility is able to safely continue its operations and that the surrounding community is protected from the consequences of such an attack,” he noted.

Markey urged Mineta to put “appropriate protections” in place for all LNG facilities in the United States to “secure them from the potential for terrorist attack.” Currently, there are only two operating LNG terminals in the U.S. — the Everett facility and a Trunkline facility in Lake Charles, LA. Efforts are under way to resurrect mothballed terminal facilities in Cove Point, MD, and Elba Island, GA.

Distrigas’s Vitek noted that LNG deliveries still were being made to the Trunkline facility.

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