Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith said county officials will provide vehement testimony against the proposed liquefied natural gas terminal at Sparrows Point at a federal meeting next week, a move residents who oppose the project say they hope will spark proactivism among other elected officials.
Smith announced his plans to LNG opposition leaders in their Dundalk headquarters Tuesday, delighting them with something other than the “lip service” they are getting from other elected officials, they said. Members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, who will ultimately approve or deny the project, will start a series of stakeholder meetings in Dundalk on Monday.
Smith and other officials ? including County Council members, the county?s Annapolis delegation and Gov. Robert Ehrlich ? already have spoken out against the project.
“But it?s all talk,” said Frances Martino, who opposed the project. “They say they are against it, but what have they done?”
Members of the self-titled LNG Opposition Team have questioned Ehrlich?s true position, citing recent reports that his personal attorney, David Hamilton, helped Sparrows Point owner Richard Barletta secure dredging permits for an apparently different project. Ehrlich spokesman Henry Fawell restated the governor?s position Tuesday.
“He?s been opposed to the LNG facility since day one,” Fawell said.
Fawell said the state will send representatives to the FERC meetings, but said he did not know in “what fashion they will be participating.”
AES? plans call for ultra-cold liquefied gas to arrive by ships and be converted into natural gas at the plant. The gas would be transported through an 87-mile pipeline through Harford County into Pennsylvania.
Opponents say they fear the environmental impacts of dredging, accidental explosions, terrorism and effects on property values. AES officials say the residents? fears are baseless, citing their plans to reinforce tanks with two steel walls and 30 inches of concrete.
