Paterson
Blumenthal
HARTFORD, Conn. - All the prodding Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal gave to the State of New York has apparently paid off.
New York Gov. David Paterson on Wednesday rejected the proposed construction of a liquefied gas facility in Long Island Sound by Broadwater LNG, a company created by Shell Oil and TransCanada Corp.
Blumenthal had written Paterson to urge him to turn down the proposal, which would have been the size of four football fields and floated 11 miles off the coast of Connecticut.
"We did it! We did it! We did it!" Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell said in a statement. "Of course, we had a little help from our friends in New York.
"This is exactly the news we hoped to hear today: That New York's Department of State has recognized the peril that the Broadwater project represents. Peril to the reinvigorated Long Island Sound; peril to the underwater environment, to the shellfish beds and lobster population; peril to fish and other aquatic species; and peril to people from a gigantic industrial platform that is a menace to navigation and an enormous, potentially explosive magnet for terrorism."
Blumenthal had promised legal action if the plan was approved. He called the project "a catastrophe waiting to happen."
Broadwater senior vice president and regional project director John Hritcko told Newsday that his company hasn't "heard the fat lady sing."
"The regulatory process provides Broadwater a number of options going forward and we intend to fully review the decision and findings, then evaluate the project's next steps," he added.