The firm trying to build a liquefied natural gas plant at Sparrows Point Shipyard wants to remove an outspoken opponent of the project as chair of a state-appointed task force studying the proposal.
Attorneys for AES Corp. filed a complaint with the Maryland Ethics Commission saying Sharon Beazley?s dual roles as coordinator of the LNG Opposition Team and co-chair of the neutral task force organized to study the proposal is a conflict of interest.
“[Beazley] is not able to co-chair the LNG task force in an objective and unbiased manner,” the company said in a statement.
The state group decided Beazley and Joel Baker of the University of Maryland Chesapeake Biology Lab would serve as co-chairs during its first meeting in September ? though only after a brief debate when one member said Beazley?s leadership might tarnish “public perspective” of their mission.
Half of the task force?s members have publicly denounced the proposed $400 million facility, which would reheat liquefied gas and send it through an 87-mile pipeline passing through Harford County into southern Pennsylvania.
The LNG Opposition Team said the plant is too close to homes and worry dredging will stir toxic sediment at the bottom of the Bay.
Attorney Bart Fisher called the 41-page complaint an “insult” from “billionaire bullies.”
“I think it?s outrageous and an attempt to intimidate the task force,” Fisher said.
“I believe it?s an unfortunate effort on their part to disparage the work of the task force by implying they could be influenced by someone with a point of view.”
The General Assembly passed legislation calling for the 14-member task force this year, tasking appointees to compile facts on the siting and safety of LNG facilities.
The complaint comesless than a month after AES sued Baltimore County for a zoning law that bans LNG terminals within five miles of homes.
The company is arguing the federal government?s exclusive authority to determine LNG sites supersedes local zoning laws.
