Broadwater Energy LLC, and Broadwater Pipeline LLC proposed constructing the terminal to which tankers would deliver LNG. At the terminal, LNG would be regasified and then transported to shore by way of a new 21.7 mile subsea natural gas pipeline that would tie into the regional network.
New York objected to the Project under the Coastal Zone Management Act, asserting that the proposal was inconsistent with the Long Island Sound Coastal Management Program. Broadwater appealed the State’s objection to the Department of Commerce on June 6, 2008.
The Department of Commerce concluded that the Project’s adverse coastal impacts outweighed its national interest, in part because its location in an undeveloped region of the Sound would significantly impair its unique scenic and aesthetic character and would undermine decades of federal, state, and local efforts to protect the region. The decision was based on the appeal record, which includes information developed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), additional briefs and documents offered by the parties, the views of interested federal agencies, as well as a “friend of the court•bCrLf brief filed by the Attorney General of Connecticut.
Today’s ruling prevents the issuance of any federal permits necessary for the construction and operation of the Project. It does not, however, prevent Broadwater from developing alternate proposals for federal and state review.
