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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Blumenthal hoping New York shares opposition to Broadwater

Blumenthal

HARTFORD, Conn. - Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is trying to enlist help from the State of New York in his fight against Broadwater Energy, which is seeking a permit for a liquefied gas facility.

Broadwater asked the New York Office of General Services for permission to occupy land and anchor its facility in the middle of Long Island Sound in New York waters, close to the Connecticut line.

Blumenthal is urging the department to deny the permit, claiming the facility poses a threat to human health and safety and, according to a press release, "critical ecosystem resources of national importance in the Long Island Sound."

In January, Blumenthal dove into the Sound during an event called "Brrrrroadwater Polar Plunge" that was designed the protest the company, which was created by Shell Oil and TransCanada Corp.

Broadwater's proposed facility would be the size of four football fields and float 11 miles off the coast of Connecticut.

Blumenthal called Long Island Sound a "national treasure."

"Our two states have a huge common stake in this shared threat," he added. "My hope is that New York will join Connecticut in vehemently and vigorously opposing a project imperiling the scenic visual quality of the public trust lands and waters of the Sound.

"Its sheer scale will blight the visual quality of miles of coastline of the Sound. It will be visible from both shores as the largest manmade object in the Sound, permanently scarring the horizon."

Technically speaking, Blumenthal said the proposal is inconsistent with New York's Long Island Coastal Management Plan because the security zones will ban recreational and commercial designated water dependent uses. Also, he said it will disrupt or destroy important marine resources while violating New York's Quality Review Act.

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