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Downeast Lng News

10 Oct 2007

Canada Firm on LNG Tanker Stance

A federal study has concluded that LNG tankers could navigate Head Harbour Passage off the Bay of Fundy with little risk of accident, but the Canadian government continued to insist that it will bar U.S. tankers from the disputed waters. Proponents of the competing LNG plants proposed for northern Maine have seized on the study to argue that the Canadian government has exaggerated the safety concerns in order to favour domestic producers. The federal government has refused to co-operate with U.S. regulators who are reviewing three separate plans for terminals that will regasify imported liquefied natural gas and pipe it to markets in the U.S. Northeast. Earlier this year, Canada's Ambassador in Washington, Michael Wilson, wrote to U.S.

08 Oct 2007

Supertankers Pose No Danger to Bay of Fundy

Proponents of a controversial liquefied natural gas plant in Maine say a study ordered by the Canadian government has found there is no reason to ban supertankers from the Bay of Fundy, as Ottawa has threatened to do if the U.S. approves the project. Downeast LNG said the environmental study found there were no immediate risks of having LNG supertankers go through the Bay of Fundy, part of which is split by the New Brunswick-Maine border, to the proposed plant. Dean Girdis, the Washing-ton-based president of Downeast LNG, said the long-awaited review, done by Ottawa-based Senes Consultants Ltd., found there was no immediate danger of having the 283-metre long ships go through a narrow passage in Canadian waters called Head Harbour if precautions were taken.

10 Sep 2007

Ottawa to Mulls Banning U.S.-bound Tankers from N.B. Waterway

The Canadian Press reported that federal politicians say Canada is considering regulations to ban liquefied natural gas supertankers from a sensitive waterway in the Bay of Fundy, risking renewed territorial tensions with the United States. Maxime Bernier, Canada's new minister of foreign affairs, assured a citizens' group on Sunday that Canada is opposed to the prospect of LNG supertankers navigating the treacherous waters that lead into Passamaquoddy Bay between Maine and New Brunswick. Passamaquoddy Bay lies between Maine and New Brunswick and any supertanker traffic would have to cross through Head Harbour Passage, a narrow waterway that Canada considers internal waters. While the U.S.