"We Just LOVE the Passamaquoddy!"...Cianbro Corp.

Cianbro, Passamaquoddy reach LNG deal
Saturday, November 19, 2005 - Bangor Daily News

INDIAN TOWNSHIP - The details of an agreement between Cianbro Corp. of Pittsfield and the Passamaquoddy Tribe may be Washington County's latest secret, but it is clear the corporate giant will have some kind of role in the Calais LNG project.

"I can confirm there is an agreement between Cianbro and Indian Township tribal government on LNG for Calais," Fred Moore of Washington County-based St. Croix Development confirmed. He declined to elaborate. "I am not going to get into the specifics," he said.

He said the agreement was reached in the past week.

Asked if Cianbro would have a role in the development of the proposed facility, he said, "I can only say that there is an agreement, the details of which I am not in a position to speak to."

Gov. Bobby Newell and Lt. Gov. Joe Socabasin did not return telephone calls Friday.

Cianbro President and CEO Peter Vigue confirmed Friday that an agreement has been reached with the Passamaquoddy Tribe to develop an LNG facility Down East. Vigue did not elaborate.

"We have a longstanding relationship with the Passamaquoddy that dates back many, many years, and we just have an agreement to work with them and support them," he said. "I think it is obviously pretty clear in terms of the Calais LNG facility and the development of that facility."

Moore agreed with Vigue that the company and tribe have worked together on other projects. He said the company at one time managed Dragon Products Co. of Thomaston for the tribe. "They are a credible organization and a good company," Moore said. "The tribe has had a long and successful history with Cianbro."

Vigue, who said he had cut his teeth working with the Dicenzo Corp. Construction Co. in Calais, said he was very supportive of efforts in Washington County. "All we are trying to do is assist efforts and bring some economic development to Washington County and improve the well-being of those people who live in that area, as well as maybe provide some additional alternatives to the energy challenges that we face here."

Now known as Calais LNG, earlier this year St. Croix Development announced plans to construct a $500 million terminal and storage tank facility on more than 300 acres in Red Beach, south of Calais. The principal partners in the land deal are tribal state Rep. Fred Moore and Rep. Ian Emery, R-Cutler. The company will own the land and the tribe will own the facility, which would employ approximately 50 people. The land is located between Devil's Head Conservation Park and St. Croix Island on what was formerly the Fenderson land.

Plans call for a pier to be built in the St. Croix River, across from the Canadian shipping port at Bayside, New Brunswick. The gas would be piped along the pier to two storage tanks.

Although everyone was tight-lipped about the project, Cianbro's interest in the Calais LNG project is not a surprise.

Last year, company officials expressed interest in building a liquefied natural gas terminal in the Gouldsboro village of Corea. Residents told Vigue in no uncertain terms that the local community was opposed to the construction of a facility. The company dropped the plan.

There are two other proposed LNG projects that also are moving forward. The Oklahoma-based Quoddy Bay LLC entered into a lease agreement with the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point, a reservation located approximately 60 miles from Indian Township, to build a facility at Split Rock with a pipeline that would connect with storage tanks in either Robbinston or Perry.

Also, Washington D.C.-based Downeast LNG has proposed building a facility in Robbinston.

http://www.bangordailynews.com

The Extreme Price of LNG.....

Ventura County Star

t http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/opinion/article/0,1375,VCS_125_4265851,00.html
Pricing of LNG a question not yet even asked

By Thomas D. Elias
November 25, 2005

A decision from state officials on whether to build California's first in-state liquefied natural gas facility and where to put it might come as early as the first part of next year, unless a lawsuit by opponents can somehow delay it.

The early-book favorite is a plan by Australia's energy giant BHP Billiton for an LNG receiving facility set a few miles off the shore of Ventura County near Oxnard. All gas moving through this plant into the state's network of pipelines would come from Billiton's own fields in the Timor and Arafura seas near Darwin, Australia.

Similarly, all gas coming to the LNG facility already under construction by San Diego's Sempra Energy near Ensenada in Baja California, Mexico, will come from the Far Eastern gas fields of its partner, Shell Trading, a wing of the Shell Oil Co.

And if the Long Beach Harbor LNG plant jointly proposed by Japan's Mitsubishi Corp. and the Texas-based Conoco/Phillips oil company ever gets approval, all gas it provides would come from fields developed by the old Phillips Petroleum Co. before it merged with Conoco.

All these plants will receive the gas in subfreezing liquid form, then warm it and convert it back to a gaseous state.

State officials from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on down accept as gospel truth contentions from the sponsoring companies that California must have energy from these foreign LNG sources in the near future. No evidentiary hearing has ever been held on the issue, and unless the courts force one soon, it will be time for Californians to stop worrying about whether we get LNG and focus instead on the next question: How much will it cost?

With that strong possibility in mind, does anyone smell something fishy in the exclusive supply arrangements set up for each of the planned LNG plants?

None would be equipped to take natural gas from anyone but its own project partner or another wing of its own company. Essentially, one part of the operation can charge the other whatever it likes, and that price will be passed on to California consumers.

This is very unlike the way most businesses operate. Normally, they buy from the lowest-price supplier who provides needed levels of quality.

Yes, there are exceptions: If you open a Chevron gasoline station, you will presumably buy gasoline only from Chevron, then sell it to your customers. But they can go elsewhere if they don't like the price or quality.

There's nothing compelling authorities to allow any of the LNG receiving plants now proposed to be, in effect, a franchise handling only products of the company that builds it. For an LNG facility would put its supply of natural gas into the general pool of fuel going to all Californians. They would be, in effect, public utilities and -- unlike a service station -- would operate without foreseeable competition.

Allowing each of them to accept liquefied gas from only one source guarantees that each plant will get its product either from another part of the same company or from a partner invested in the plant, sharing in its profits.

This guarantees high prices in perpetuity for any Californians who get the gas -- which is all of us, since once regasified, LNG would be mixed with all other natural gas going to consumers.

Yet, not a single public official has voiced even a squeak of protest over the monolithic, monopolistic nature of every planned California LNG venture. Not one has pointed out that LNG plants on the East Coast and in other countries are usually set up to take supplies from all comers, assuring the public they serve that they are going after the lowest-price energy available.

What's wrong with California officials, from the governor on down, who pay no attention to the critical matter of pricing? Have they learned nothing from watching public fury over the swift rise in gasoline prices?

Or do they stay quiet and quiescent because all are Schwarzenegger appointees, and he gets a steady flow of big campaign donations from companies like Sempra -- parent of Southern California Gas and San Diego Gas & Electric -- and Chevron Corp.?

The upshot: It's high time for a lot of hard questions about liquefied natural gas, from whether it's needed to how much it will cost and who might supply it. But state officials right now are universally unwilling to ask.

-- Thomas D. Elias is a columnist and author. His e-mail address is tdelias@aol.com.

LNG Study delays LNG at Passamaquoddy Bay

Petitioners seek LNG vote delay pending study
Monday, November 07, 2005 - Bangor Daily News

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




ROBBINSTON - Opponents of three proposed liquefied natural gas terminals along Passamaquoddy Bay are asking voters in the various communities to wait until an economic and environmental study commissioned by the group is complete before they decide if they want a multimillion-dollar facility in their backyard.

On Saturday, opponent Richard Berry of Robbinston presented Robbinston Town Clerk Pam Reynolds a petition asking for a delay of the vote. More than 70 people signed the petition. The group Save Passamaquoddy Bay is behind the effort.

The opponents plan to raise the $50,000 needed to hire Yellow Wood Associates of Vermont to do the study. The company did a similar study for Harpswell, Berry said. Last year, the Harpswell LNG plan ran out of gas.

"Everyone around this bay is involved with raising funds to support this effort," Berry said.

Although the petition addresses the proposed Robbinston project specifically, the Save Passamaquoddy Bay group is asking all communities along the coast to wait.

"The study is going to be the whole bay, from Lubec to St. Stephen to Deer Island and so on ... so that would take in any and all sites," Berry said.

Whether voters were for or against a proposed LNG project, the study will offer insight into the economic and environmental impact a terminal would have on the area, opponent Suzanne Crawford of Robbinston said Saturday.

"This is the kind of study that economically should have been done by the state for the bay," she said. "None was done. ... If we're going to live and be stewards of this land as the [Passamaquoddy tribes] have been for years, then we have to look at it as a whole."

Berry said the study would take about four months to complete.

Efforts to reach Robbinston First Selectman Tommy Moholland for comment were unsuccessful.

Three developers have proposed separate projects along the coast. The first developer to appear Down East was the Oklahoma-based Quoddy Bay LLC. It hopes to build a terminal on the Pleasant Point reservation at Split Rock with companion storage tanks in either Robbinston or Perry. The tanks would be connected to the terminal by an underground pipe.

The Washington, D.C.-based Downeast LNG appeared next with a plan to build a terminal and storage tank facility in Robbinston.

The third developer is the Washington County-St. Croix Development, formerly BP Developers. The group is looking at a site in Red Beach along the St. Croix River. Red Beach is just south of Calais.

The ultimate decision for a facility now rests with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, although it is believed that local and state officials would have a say.

Downeast LNG spokesman Dean Girdis said he would not favor a delay in the vote because it would cost his company money.

"We want them to vote as soon as possible because we've spent more than a half-million dollars in studies," he said. "We want to know where they stand, because frankly I don't want to be spending more money in a situation where they are not supportive, and it's better to know that sooner than later from our perspective."

Quoddy Bay LLC's project director Brian Smith took a different view.

"I think it's a wise decision to delay votes until a lot more information is learned about the general facility," he said.

The project director said his company already has done a number of environmental and water suitability analyses on the proposed site, but studies were needed on the storage tank facilities.

"Neither us or the residents of any community can be fully informed until all the reports and studies have been done to show the impact of this facility," he added.

Fred Moore of St. Croix Consulting also said he too supported an independent study. He said he could not comment on what kind of study Yellow Wood Associates would produce.

"I don't know if they are biased or unbiased one way or the other. I have no idea, but I would support a truly bona fide independent study," he said.

But the developer warned that a study shouldn't stop development.

"There are groups out there that do not want development, any development," he said. "I would have to say we're relying on process, and FERC will determine whether or not it's feasible or safe to have these developments irrespective of what an independent study might conclude."



PHOTO COURTESY OF THE DOWNEAST TIMES

Richard Berry of Robbinston presents Town Clerk Pam Reynolds with a petition Saturday asking selectmen to delay a vote on a proposed LNG facility until an independent study is completed.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.bangordailynews.com

Fay Report on LNG Safety

http://www.nolng.org/Dr.Fay-report.pdf

Federal Lawsuit Against BIA in LNG CASE

Nulankeyutmonen Nkihaqmikon
(We Protect Our Homeland)
Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Affiliate
Save Passamaquoddy Bay 3-Nation Alliance
----------------------------------------

November 2, 2005

For immediate release

Contact:
Madonna Soctomah, Nulankeyutmonen Nkihaqmikon (207-853-2985)
Vera Francis, Nulankeyutmonen Nkihaqmikon (506-449-3831; leave message
for callback)
Patrick Parenteau, Director, Environmental and Natural Resource Law
Clinic,
Vermont Law School pparenteau@vermontlaw.edu (802-831-1305)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------

LNG-related Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Bureau of Indian Affairs
& US Secretary of the Interior by Passamaquoddy Tribal Members

A federal lawsuit charging four separate violations of U.S. federal law
was filed on Wednesday, November 2nd in the U.S. District Court for
Maine in Bangor. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Nulankeyutmonen
Nkihaqmikon (We Protect Our Homeland), an affiliate of Save
Passamaquoddy Bay 3-Nation Alliance, and six members of the Pleasant
Point Passamaquoddy community.

The suit names as defendants Robert K. Impson, Acting Regional
Director, Eastern Region, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and Gale
Norton, Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior.

The suit challenges Defendant Impson's approval on June 1, 2005 of the
"Ground Lease" to Quoddy Bay LLC to allow construction of a Liquified
Natural Gas Terminal at Split Rock at Pleasant Point.

The suit alleges that Defendants violated the following federal laws in
the process of approving the Quoddy Bay lease:

1) BIA failed to conduct an environmental assessment on the impacts of
siting a major industrial facility at Split Rock as required by the
National Environmental Policy Act.
2) BIA violated the National Historic Preservation Act by failing to
consider the historic significance of the Split Rock site.
3) BIA violated the Long Term Leasing Act by failing to consider the
impact of the lease on the nearby Pleasant Point community and failing
to insure that the tribe receives fair market value for the leased
lands.
4) BIA violated the Indian Trust Responsibility by failing to insure
that the lease was in the best interests of the entire Passamaquoddy
Tribe.

The suit seeks an order setting aside the Quoddy Bay LLC lease and
directing the BIA to fully comply with all applicable laws.

The plaintiffs’ ultimate objective is to reopen the lease decision and
provide an opportunity for all tribal members to vote on whether this
project is truly in the best interests of the community based on sound
environmental and economic information.

The lawsuit is being handled by the Environmental and Natural Resources
Law Clinic at Vermont Law School with Director Patrick Parenteau acting
as lead attorney.

Members of Nulankeyutmonen Nkihaqmikon, who are plaintiffs in this
lawsuit, will hold a news conference at 11:00am ET on Thursday on
November 3 at Split Rock (From US-1, follow Route-190 east to the
eastern-most edge of the reservation, near the wharf. In case of bad
weather, the news conference will be held on the second floor of the
Tribal Housing Authority Office, which is across the street from
Beatrice Rafferty School entrance, and next to St. Ann’s Church.)

Persons wishing to have a complete electronic or paper copy of the
lawsuit may contact the US District Court for Maine in Bangor
(207-945-0575). (Hard copies are 50¢/page. Electronic copies require a
free PACER account, but
cost just 8¢/page. To access documents with a PACER account:
.)

Speaking about the lawsuit, Madonna Soctomah, Media Coordinator for
Nulankeyutmonen Nkihaqmikon said: “The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the
U.S. Department of the Interior have been negligent in their Trust
Responsibility in safeguarding our tribal land from potentially harmful
corporate development. Let it be known that we will do our utmost to
safeguard the last vestige of our communal land. We stand in solidarity
in opposing any government, department, or policy that threatens our
land. We are connected to the land; the land is connected to us.”

Vera Francis, coordinator of Nulankeyutmonen Nkihaqmikon said, “Since
the moment this proposed LNG crept into our community, Nulankeyutmonen
Nkihaqmikon has had a clear vision, and that vision is in our name
which translates to “We Protect Our Homeland.” Today, we have made
concrete our vision. We are extremely clear about our actions, and we
will follow this legal process to its conclusion.”

Francis continued, “ Our Passamaquoddy people, and all of Maine’s
people can do better than unsustainable projects like LNG. We are
entitled to our lands, our waters, and that which sustains us. Bringing
projects like LNG into Passamaquoddy Bay will cause destruction now and
for generations to come. LNG in Passamaquoddy Bay is neither about an
economic nor energy crisis, it is about a leadership crisis.”

“All people statewide need to come to grips with, and speak out about,
the current direction of Maine’s top leaders who are trying to usher
into Maine’s coastal communities this degrading and dangerous project.
Other coastal communities have spoken about their determination to keep
LNG from their shores and homes, to protect their lives and
livelihoods. Today, we join our voices with theirs and say that we
don’t want LNG in our community and we will not tolerate illegal
actions which have tried to force this upon us. We will not be
alienated from our homelands and our ancestral waters — Passamaquoddy
Bay.”

“This legal action is not just about us and our neighboring
communities. It’s implications are much broader. We vow to be silent no
more. We will speak now with the voice of the law, and we will use all
legal avenues open to us to save this bay which is the source of our
very existence. We will protect and defend Passamaquoddy Bay,” Francis
concluded.






In speaking about Nulankeyutmonen Nkihaqmikon’s Federal Law Suit, Linda
Godfrey, Coordinator of Save Passamaquoddy Bay said:

“Save Passamaquoddy Bay is a 3-Nation Alliance — U.S., Passamaquoddy,
and Canadian. Today, we stand together with our Save Passamaquoddy Bay
- Pleasant Point members, who named their efforts Nulankeyutmonen
Nkitahkomikon (We Protect Our Homeland), in their decision to bring
forward this act of justice in response to two years of intrusion,
interruption and injustice that has surrounded the issue of proposed
LNG operations on their tribal homeland. The filing of this legal
action was an option from the first days that tribal members were
excluded from the process. From the onset of the LNG proposal, our
colleagues at Pleasant Point have made it clear that they were prepared
to defend that which has sustained their people for generations — their
entitlement to Passamaquoddy Bay and Passamaquoddy land.

“Tribal members are defending their right to informed consent to any
proposal which affects their land and resources, their lives and
livelihoods. They are defending their right to control and manage their
own resources. They are standing up against any proposal that
negatively impacts their human and ecological health rights. They are
asserting their civil rights to their fullest extent. They are
maintaining that self-determination must be the basis for all
development in their homeland.

“Nulankeyutmonen Nkitahkomikon is in a loud voice, calling out to
Maine, to the nation and to the world to say that the failures of
tribal leadership, the neglect of Maine state government, and the
strong-arm tactics of LNG developer Quoddy Bay LLC have denied them
their civil rights, due process of law, and basic justice. They have
reached to the federal level, where they accuse the Bureau of Indian
Affairs and the U.S. Department of the Interior of the ultimate
injustice. Their legal action demands a remedy. Their action also puts
on notice all LNG developers, all state and federal permitting
agencies, and all levels of government that their actions are being
monitored and all legal safeguards will be utilized to protect
Passamaquoddy Bay from LNG industrialization.

“Save Passamaquoddy Bay as an organization is pledged to protect the
Quoddy Region. We will continue to be diligent in our efforts related
to all LNG proposals which have surfaced in this area. Today, we
strongly stand with our Nulankeyutmonen Nkitahkomikon partners in this
particular legal action.”

Persons may access our website at www.savepassamaquoddybay.org for
additional information.

-End-