Weaver’s Cove LNG, the liquefied natural gas (LNG) import project that seemed hardest to kill, may have finally received a death blow. Massachusetts state Sen. Joan Menard (D-Fall River) and state Rep. Robert Correia (D-Fall River) said last Monday that legislation they sponsored to restrict LNG tankers in Massachusetts waters passed in both the House and Senate and was enacted on Monday.

According to the legislation, which amends Chapter 102 of the General Laws on Harbors and Harbormasters, no company can operate an LNG vessel under a bridge if the vessel has a horizontal clearance of 250 feet or less unless the beam of the vessel is equal to or less than two-thirds of the horizontal clearance of the bridge. Operation of a vessel under a bridge having a vertical clearance of 185 feet or less is also prohibited. Any violation of the safe clearance requirements established in the bill would subject the operator to a civil penalty not to exceed $1 million. The bill includes a caveat to affect only transportation of LNG to facilities that were built or expanded after July 1, 2006.

The legislation puts a new twist on the sword that was buried deep in Weaver’s Cove last August when about seven lines of text were added to the federal Transportation Equity Act by by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), making it illegal for the Brightman Street Bridge, connecting Fall River and Somerset, MA, to be demolished to allow LNG cargo traffic up the Taunton River to the terminal.

Along with the clearance restrictions, Correia and Menard also included language in their bill that mimics a law passed by Rhode Island last week that would block LNG tankers from coming up the Narragansett Bay, which serves as the waterfront for two of Rhode Island’s largest cities — Providence and Newport. The $250 million Weaver’s Cove LNG terminal, which would provide 800 MMcf/d of peak sendout capacity and 200,000 metric tons of LNG storage, would be located at a former petroleum import terminal on the Taunton River, which feeds into Mount Hope Bay and the Narragansett Bay.

The Massachusetts legislation disallows assets of the commonwealth from being in the safety and security zones for LNG tankers as established by the Coast Guard. That zone extends two miles ahead of the ship, one mile behind it, 1,000 yards on each side and 30 feet above the ship. The bill prohibits people, waterfront facilities, wharves, piers and other structures and areas from being in the zone.

Correia told the Herald News, her legislation would make obsolete Hess LNG’s proposal to build Weaver’s Cove. “This would close it down,” she said. Both Menard and Correia sit on the governor-approved commission studying LNG siting issues in the commonwealth.

Menard said the bill was designed to stop Weaver’s Cove while not affecting proposals for terminals offshore of Gloucester, MA, or on Outer Brewster Island in Boston Harbor. Excelerate Energy, Suez Energy and AES Corp., respectively, are planning LNG import projects in those areas.

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