In another angle to the rancour about proposed liquefied natural gas projects that would connect The Bahamas and South Florida, environmental advocates are now pushing a national petition against LNG.
The focus is largely centred on the potential risks and dangers associated with LNG terminals, a point that wealthy investors on Cat Cay made quite recently.
“I donﾴt understand how the government, in good conscience, can proceed with this project without fully disclosing what the pros and cons of the project are,” said Sam Duncombe, spokesperson for the environmental group ReEarth which is spearheading the campaign.
“I donﾴt think that this is a good project for this country from an environmental point of view and the way that the public has been treated in this process has just been shameful because we have not been told what is going on,” she added.
Those who are raising the most sustained objections point to the potential for the chemical run-off to cause marine pollution, the pipeline damaging coral reefs and sea beds and the absence of legislation to govern such projects.
Others have argued that there are inadequate resources to police the industry and question what disaster response plan would be followed in the event of a crisis.
The government was mulling two proposals for LNG pipelines; one from the AES Corporation that would include a re-gassification plant for Ocean Cay, not far away from Cat Cay and the other from joint investors who represent the El Paso Corporation, Tractebel and the Florida Power and Light company pegged for Grand Bahama.
But the latter had suffered setbacks in the proposed sites for the project since the Bahamas Environment Science and Technology [BEST] Commission had rejected the proposed locations in the Freeport Harbour and at South Riding Point.
Prime Minister Perry Christie had announced that the AES proposal would have been approved by the end of January, but the vigorous objections raised by Cat Cay residents delayed that governmental endorsement.
“If this government does that, then it would be in breach of everything that they believed in when they joined the Clifton fight,” said Mrs. Duncombe, referring to the concerns that the Progressive Liberal Party, then in opposition, had raised about environmental harm.
The BEST Commission and the Minister responsible for the environment Senator Dr. Marcus Bethel had endorsed the LNG project based on the advice of consultants who had reported that the LNG terminal for Ocean Cay does not pose any threat for the people or the environment of The Bahamas, Trade and Industry Minister Leslie Miller reported last week.
Minister Bethel also said recently that the government will implement security measures to prevent a catastrophe, maintaining that the record shows that LNG is a safer alternative than fuel and gasoline.
“It has a very narrow explosive potential when the liquefied natural gas is warmed up and mixes with oxygen,” he told a group of Rotarians.
In addressing the potential economic impact of the AES project, Minister Miller said should it be approved, in the fifth year, the intake into the public treasury is projected to exceed $15 million and by the tenth year, it was expected to surpass $45 million.
The potential economic benefits of the proposal had been a bone of contention at a meeting with Cat Cay residents, with one of them claiming that the government would have only benefited to the tune of one million dollars per year.
But government officials have maintained that AES would be bound by an annual $ 9 million dollar license and a $6 million seabed lease.
“We donﾴt know enough about how natural gas travels and how easy it is for it to ignite. I recently saw information that basically talks about if natural gas escapes from the tanker or the plant it can form these long plumes which when mixed with the right amount of air can explode with a cigarette, so I am not satisfied that the safety issue has been addressed. Should there be an explosion what kind of areaﾅis going to be obliterated from the planet,” Mrs. Duncombe said.
Tameka Lundy, The Bahama Journal
