New York State Governor Paterson Says NO to Broadwater! The public prevails over Big Oil!
Governor David Paterson announced on April 10, 2008, at Sunken Meadow State Park on Long Island to a crowd of Broadwater opponents that the State finds the Broadwater proposal to violate the Coastal Zone Management Act and ruled the project inconsistent with the values and uses of the Sound. This challenging campaign to stop Broadwater spanned three years, and CCE is eternally grateful to every person who wrote a letter, attended a public hearing, made a phone call, and stood up to keep Shell Oil from industrializing Long Island Sound. This victory for Long Island Sound was won by the thousands of citizens, organizations, and elected officials who worked tirelessly to ensure the Sound’s integrity is preserved for future generations.
What
is Broadwater?
Broadwater, a joint venture between Shell Oil and TransCanada, was a proposal to place a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in the middle of the Sound, approximately 9 miles from Rocky Point. The LNG terminal would have been permanently moored to the bottom of LIS—destroying 13,000 square feet of critical habitat for lobsters. The LNG terminal would also require 2-3 LNG tankers per week, causing constant disruption to the waterway. A new 22-mile pipeline would have been required to transport the gas into the existing Iroquois Pipeline.
The massive LNG terminal would have forever changed the way we currently use the Sound!
A Permanent NO Public Access Zone and an
Additional Moving No Access Zone
A “no public access zone” of 1.5 square
miles will surround the LNG terminal. This means that
for the first time in the Sound’s history, a
section of the open water body will be given over
to a private corporation. Gunned security vessels
would patrol the no access zone 24/7. No fishing,
boating, canoeing, swimming or sailing will be allowed.
The Coast Guard report mandates an additional
moving “no public access zone” around
the incoming LNG tankers that would be 2 miles in
front, 1 mile in back and 750 yards on each side.
Armed escort boats would surround the tankers as they
transverse the Sound, marking the moving zone and
requiring all vessels to get out of the way.
Problems and disruptions in “The
Race”
“The Race”, named for its strong currents
and navigational challenges, is the main passageway
into the Sound. There would be 2-3 LNG tankers that
enter The Race each week. The Coast Guard report identified
that The Race as having a heavy concentration of recreational
fisherman throughout the boating season.
These security zones would disrupt and
conflict with traditional uses including commercial
and recreational fishing, boating activities, fishing,
shell fishing, sailing and even enjoyment of our beaches.
The Broadwater Energy proposal was awaiting a New York State consistency ruling under the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). Click here for a CZMA summary and to learn why Broadwater was inconsistent with the values and uses of Long Island Sound.
Listen
to Bust a Lung, a "Hippie protest
song" by the band BEARKLOWN, written in opposition
to the proposed Broadwater facility.
INDEPENDENT
REPORT CONCLUDES BROADWATER NOT NEEDED IN REGION
“Having
carefully reviewed the project documentation put forth
by Broadwater, we find that they have failed to identify
any compelling local or regional need for the proposed
project that would justify the impact that this project
would have on the environmental, economic, recreational
and historical value of Long Island Sound.”
(Synapse Energy Economics, 2006)
Synapse
Energy Economics, Inc., a Boston based consulting firm,
released a report concluding that the massive liquefied
natural gas (LNG) storage facility, known as Broadwater,
proposed for the Long Island Sound, is unnecessary to
meet the region’s energy needs. Broadwater spokespersons
repeatedly claim that a growing need for LNG in the
region is the justification for the facility. Broadwater’s
claim is debunked by the Synapse analysis. The report
cites specific examples of how future energy needs can
be met through a combination of energy projects already
approved, existing renewable energy initiatives, and
demand side management techniques.
CCE
was invited by the NYS Senate Standing Committee on
Environmental Conservation, the NYS Assembly standing
Committee on Environmental Conservation, the Senate
Standing Committee on Energy and Telecommunications,
and the Assembly Standing Committee on Energy to testify
at a public hearing regarding the Broadwater proposal.
Under current practices, both Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) and State authorities monitor the citing
of new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facilities. FERC recently
attempted to usurp local authority by asserting its authority
as the sole designator and approver of LNG facilities
built and operated in the United States.
CCE
has recently helped to spearhead the Anti-Broadwater
Coalition (ABC), which now consists of over 80 local
environmental and civic groups (click
here for ABC membership list). Not only does the
facility pose significant environmental effects on both
the Long Island Sound and its surrounding communities,
but also poses as a security risk and a fiscal burden
on local and state governments. The Sounds fragile ecosystem
is already severely stressed and New York State, Connecticut
and the Federal Government have already partnered and
spent close to $45 million on restoration of its waters.
This project would jeopardize the hard work and commitments
already made to restoring this Estuary of National Significance.
Citizens Campaign for the Environment and Renew Community Earth co-sponsored a Broadwater forum: A New Human Rights Perspective. The forum provided an update on the Broadwater proposal and offered a new human rights perspective on the project sponsor, Shell Oil.
Valentine-themed Press Conference on 1/16/08 Against Broadwater:
Anti-Broadwater Coalition (ABC) Lobby in Albany on 6/12/07 Against Broadwater
[photos by Casey Gobbi]:
At
a news conference on Friday, August 12, 2005, in Wading
River, NY, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton joined her
colleagues in New York and Connecticut in opposition
to the Broadwater project
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at the news conference. CCE Executive Director Adrienne Esposito is pictured to her left, and Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy stands to her right.
On May 17, 2005, the Suffolk Legislature unanimously approved
an Anti-Broadwater Resolution. Thousands of residents
voiced opposition to Broadwater proposal…and Suffolk
County responded by taking a formal stance of opposition.
Dick Amper, Executive Director, LI Pine Barrens Society,
Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director, Citizens
Campaign for the Environment, Doug Ditko, President
of ABCO, and Sid Bail, President of Wading River
Civic Association, work together to lead the Anti-Broadwater
campaign.
Brendan Mahoney, LI Program Coordinator, Adrienne Esposito,
Executive Director, Jason Kulczyk, LI Staff Director,
and Megan Smith, LI Field Manger, show off some
of the 5,000 signatures that CCE collected in
opposition to the project.
Environmentalists, Civic Leaders, and Elected Officials all stand together in opposing the risky Broadwater facility.
On
October 21, 2005, CCE hosted Sunset Cruise on Long Island
Sound to stop Broadwater
The James Joseph II left Huntington Harbor October 21, 2005. Bon Voyage!
Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director of CCE, and Huntington Town Supervisor Frank Petrone cut "Our Water Not Broadwater" cake.
New York State Governor Paterson Says NO to Broadwater! The public prevails over Big Oil!
