Plans to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on a 60-acre man-made island off the Rockaway shore have run aground, with published reports saying that New Jersey Governor-elect Chris Christie will veto the project.
Safe Harbor Energy, the planned deepwater port island, was proposed to be about 13 miles south of Long Beach, and 19 miles east of Highlands, NJ. Geographically, it would appear to be directly off the Rockaway shore.
The planned island would have a harbor for two LNG tankers, each more than 1,000 feet long, storage tanks to hold more than 19 million cubic feet of gas and pump it to shore through two 36-inch diameter pipelines.
Christie, who defeated incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine in the November elections, has been on record as being against the project, viewing it as a threat to New Jersey’s coastal commercial and sporting economy, according to spokesperson Maria Comella. “The governor-elect’s position on LNGs has not changed,” she said.
The company proposing the facility, Atlantic Sea Island Group, initially tried to eliminate New Jersey from the process, but was overruled by Federal Maritime Administrator Sean Connaughton. New York Governor David Paterson has not revealed his views on the project.
Situated in 60 to 70 feet of water, the proposed island would sit roughly in the middle of the Cholera Bank, a high point in an underwater area that is highly-productive for both commercial and recreational fishing. The area got its name over a century ago, when ships loaded with immigrants were forced to anchor there under quarantine if cholera was found among their passengers.
It would be built up out of the dredgings cleared from ship channels leading to the Port of New York, and be surrounded by rock and concrete barriers. It would cover roughly 110 acres of sea floor at its base, according to reports.
New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) had already determined that the proposed port and sub-sea pipeline may result in significant adverse environmental impacts and that compliance with state law requires preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement.
Activists opposed to the project are hopeful that Christie will follow his words with deeds – and sink the project.
“Chris Christie has the chance to be the good guy here,” said Daniel Mundy of the Jamaica Bay Eco-Watchers, vocal opponents of the plan.
