Sponsors of the Weaver’s Cove LNG project say the tactic used last summer by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) to block their project was creative but won’t prevent them from building the LNG import terminal on the Taunton River.

McGovern inserted seven lines of text into the Transportation Authorization Bill — later signed into law by President Bush — that blocked demolition of the Brightman Street Bridge over the river. If the bridge can’t be taken down, Hess LNG and Poten & Partners, sponsors of Weaver’s Cove, can’t bring conventional LNG vessels up the river because they won’t fit through the 98-foot wide openings in the old bridge.

But if smaller vessels can be built, maybe the project can work, the sponsor told FERC on Friday in a letter. Weaver’s Cove attorney Bruce F. Kiely told the Commission the “flexibility to utilize smaller ships is the result of efforts by others to leave in place the existing Brightman Street Bridge to preclude the use of regular size vessels.” Kiely said if the bridge ends up being removed or altered, Weaver’s Cove would revert to the 145-foot-wide conventional LNG vessels.

“While this represents a less than optimal outcome, it will permit the company to advance the project to bring a much needed source of natural gas supply to New England and help lower gas prices,” said Weaver’s Cove spokesman James Grasso.

Not only would smaller vessels make the Weaver’s Cove project viable even with the existing bridge in place, it also would increase the safety and security concerns that McGovern and others were trying their creative best to prevent. The new smaller vessels would be making many more trips to the terminal than conventional vessels under the original plan.

McGovern blasted the new idea. ”All of the concerns I initially had are made worse by plans for more ships making more trips,” he told the Boston Globe. ”More ships means more safety risks for the people of the Greater Fall River area. It means more expenses for the Coast Guard in security. It means more air pollution and environmental harm. It means, frankly, more targets” for terrorists.

Fall River Mayor Ed Lambert said the new plan fundamentally changes the project and will require FERC to review the project again. The City of Fall River and the attorneys general of Massachusetts and Rhode Island already are appealing FERC’s approval of the import terminal.

Other opponents said they doubted the new plan would work mainly because it would significantly increase the cost of the project.

Grasso acknowledged the cost increase. Special ships will have to be built. The smaller ships will require more frequent visits, more transportation costs and greater security requirements. Grasso said it would easily more than double the cost of the project. But he said the sponsors are willing to pay extra “to bring more affordable natural gas to New England.

“While the costs will be higher, the elevated transportation and other costs will not prevent the project from moving forward,” he said. This is “a good solution to the barrier put in place by Congressmen McGovern.”

He said instead of building ships with 145,000 cubic meters of capacity that are 950 feet long, 145 feet wide and have a 37.5-foot draft, the new smaller ships would have 55,000 cubic meters of capacity, would be 725 feet long and only 82 feet wide with a 36-foot draft. They would arrive once every three days rather than once a week.

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