Four members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation sent a letter to the U.S. Coast Guard Wednesday expressing their opposition to the controversial proposed Weaver’s Cove liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal to be located in Fall River, MA.

“As you know, we strongly oppose this project,” wrote Democrat Sens. Edward Kennedy and John Kerry and Reps. Barney Frank and James McGovern in their letter to Coast Guard Admiral Thomas Collins in Washington, DC. “It would pose an unacceptable risk as a terrorist target in the densely populated city of Fall River,” they said.

Since a meeting with Coast Guard officials is out of the question due to the pending nature of the project, “we ask at least for assurance that the Coast Guard will be mindful of the safety and security of our constituents during the project application review period,” the four lawmakers noted. “We believe that if the Coast Guard considers [the] risk factors in light of the population density of Fall River, it will inevitably reach the conclusion that no mitigating factors are reasonably sufficient to allow the project to go forward.”

The letter comes two days after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected requests by New England parties to reopen the record of the proposed LNG terminal in Fall River (see Daily GPI, April 19). The Commission ruled that the parties had failed to demonstrate that Weaver’s Cove revised plan to use smaller LNG tankers to navigate the Taunton River amounted to “extraordinary circumstances.”

The parties argued that Weaver’s Cove LNG’s plan to use smaller tankers to clear the existing Brightman Street Bridge and make deliveries to the proposed terminal fundamentally altered the project, and required FERC to reopen the record to conduct further environmental analysis and public interest review.

FERC’s latest decision leaves the Coast Guard review as the last major federal regulatory hurdle facing the Weaver’s Cove terminal, according to Congressional Quarterly’s Midday Update. The Commission’s ruling was a major victory for the Weaver’s Cove LNG project, which is sponsored by Hess LNG and Poten & Partners, but it faces significant obstacles at the state and local levels.

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