Three congressional lawmakers from New York have called on the head of FERC to recuse himself from all matters involving the pending Broadwater Energy LLC liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal to be located in Long Island Sound between Connecticut and Long Island, as well as an associated gas pipeline project.

In a letter sent to FERC Chairman Joseph Kelliher last Thursday, Democrat Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, and Democrat Rep. Tim Bishop, said Kelliher had previously worked for the same law firm — LeBoef, Lamb, Greene & McRae LLP — that Broadwater Energy and Broadwater Pipeline LLC have retained to represent them before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

While not accusing Kelliher of any impropriety, the lawmakers urged the chairman to recuse himself to “avoid even the appearance of any conflict of interest” while the agency deliberates the fate of the proposed LNG import terminal and associated gas pipeline.

“The chairman hasn’t responded yet [to their letter], but he will soon,” said FERC spokeswoman Tamara Young-Allen. Kelliher worked for the law firm for just 10 weeks in 2000, she said, adding that none of the cases he worked on involved natural gas.

Federal ethics laws require new Commissioners to recuse themselves for one year after joining FERC on matters that they were involved in prior to coming to the agency. Given that Kelliher has been at FERC since 2003, that so-called “cooling-off period” would have ended for the chairman in 2004 if he had been involved in the Broadwater case before joining the agency.

But since Kelliher did not work on any gas cases, let alone the Broadwater project, before coming to FERC, “there’s not even the appearance of a conflict of interest here,” said FERC spokesman Bryan Lee.

“The significance of the impact that Broadwater would have on the safety and environment of the Long Island Sound cannot be understated and the people of Long Island need to know that there is now even a chance that other considerations may be involved in FERC’s decision-making processing,” Schumer said. “I think recusing himself from any decisions related to Broadwater is the wisest course of action for Chairman Kelliher.”

The controversial Broadwater Energy offshore terminal would include a floating storage and regasification unit with an average sendout capacity of 1 Bcf/d and peak sendout of 1.25 Bcf/d. Broadwater Energy, a joint venture of TransCanada Corp. and Shell, would operate the facility, while Shell would own the capacity and supply the LNG. If approved by FERC, the $700 million project is expected to go into service in 2010.

The regasified gas from the proposed project would be transferred to the Iroquois Gas Transmission System in Long Island Sound and delivered to New York and Connecticut markets, according to Broadwater Energy.

In related action, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal last week urged FERC to reject the Broadwater LNG project, noting that the risks of serious accidents or terrorist attacks were substantial. “A careful, honest overall evaluation will show that Broadwater is the least safe, most dangerous and damaging proposal, and it should not be approved.”

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