Blumenthal
HARTFORD, Conn. - Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal made his final push Monday to the State of New York, urging it to reject an energy company's construction of a liquefied gas facility in Long Island Sound.
With a decision expected by Friday, Blumenthal wrote new New York Gov. David Paterson.
"We're sending a shout across the Sound to New York: Join our fight to sink Broadwater and seek sane, safer alternatives," Blumenthal said. "My most recent letter to Gov. Paterson says our court battle will bar Broadwater while better projects are built."
Broadwater Energy asked the State of New York 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."
Last 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 promised a long court fight if Broadwater's plan is approved.
"We will straitjacket Broadwater for years, even decades, as we fight in every court and agency, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court," Blumenthal said. "As a matter of public interest, this result is appropriate, as virtually every alternative is strongly preferable to Broadwater in terms of public safety, envioronmental protection, navigation and quality of life."
He called the project "a catastrophe waiting to happen."
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.