Off-shore LNG terminals get poor marks from ocean advocacy group

TRENTON — An ocean advocacy group released a report Wednesday that lambasts liquified natural gas and three different proposals to build liquefied natural gas terminals off New Jersey’s shore.

The report, which characterizes liquified natural gas, or LNG, as expensive, dirty and a threat to the nation’s energy independence, is meant to jumpstart Clean Ocean Action’s effort this fall to lobby state lawmakers and Gov. Jon S. Corzine to stop the LNG terminal projects off the coast of Monmouth and Ocean counties from moving forward. Corzine’s final Energy Master Plan is expected this fall, and the group’s leaders said they’re working to ensure LNG doesn’t make it into the report.

Liquified natural gas is natural gas that’s cooled to the point where it becomes a liquid. In liquid form, it is put on tanker ships and transported to special terminals around the world, where it’s unloaded, regasified and distributed via pipeline to consumers.

The 60-page report researched and prepared by Clean Ocean Action’s water policy attorney and a staff scientist asserts the United States’ domestic natural gas supply is more than enough to meet the nation’s growing demand for at least the next 60 years. It also states LNG is a foreign fuel that shifts the U.S. away from the national call for energy independence.

Other findings include: LNG pollutes more than domestic natural gas because it requires considerable energy to cool and regasify the fuel; destroys marine habitat in the already fragile Jersey shore waters; presents a security risk and potential terrorist target; and comes from unsafe parts of the world such as the Middle East and Russia.

Daily Record