Suez Energy North America has received a license to operate its Neptune offshore liquefied natural gas port from the U.S. Maritime Administration. The critical federal approval is one of the final steps needed before construction can begin.
The company, based in Houston, also intends to use space at the new Cruiseport Gloucester Marine Terminal at Rowe Square after the LNG port is complete and operational in 2009.
"We are eager to move forward with this project, and this license enables us to do so," Zin Smati, president and CEO of Suez Energy North America, said in a statement. "Meanwhile, we have delivered a letter of intent to occupy office, storage and dock space at the Gloucester Marine Terminal in Gloucester, Mass., in support of our Neptune activities." The new $6 million marine terminal and function hall is scheduled to open this spring.
Julie Vitek, a spokeswoman for Suez, said this license is the "most critical federal approval," and the facility now only requires a dredging permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, a permit for water usage during operation from the federal Environmental Protection Agency, and two approvals from the state on coastal zone management.
"We anticipate all the additional permits by the middle of 2007," Vitek said.
Once the port is operational and the vessels, which will be designed and operated by Suez, begin mooring at the offshore buoys, Vitek said 15 staff members will use the office, storage and dock space at the terminal as the land-based logistics and control site for the Neptune port.
"For many years, we've been an integral part of the port of Boston because of our Everett facility," she said. "And now we'd like to be an anchor in the port of Gloucester."
Suez will also have a 135-foot multipurpose offshore towing vessel, with between five and eight crew members, which will assist in security and bring supplies, such as groceries and spare parts, to the tankers.
Peter Van Ness, a spokesman for Cruiseport developer Frank Elliott, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Local fishing advocates said they are not surprised by the approval, coming on the heels of several state and federal approvals and certificates in recent months. "It seems like it's in formality mode right now," said Vito Giacalone, of the Northeast Seafood Coalition.
The company, based in Houston, also intends to use space at the new Cruiseport Gloucester Marine Terminal at Rowe Square after the LNG port is complete and operational in 2009.
"We are eager to move forward with this project, and this license enables us to do so," Zin Smati, president and CEO of Suez Energy North America, said in a statement. "Meanwhile, we have delivered a letter of intent to occupy office, storage and dock space at the Gloucester Marine Terminal in Gloucester, Mass., in support of our Neptune activities." The new $6 million marine terminal and function hall is scheduled to open this spring.
Julie Vitek, a spokeswoman for Suez, said this license is the "most critical federal approval," and the facility now only requires a dredging permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, a permit for water usage during operation from the federal Environmental Protection Agency, and two approvals from the state on coastal zone management.
"We anticipate all the additional permits by the middle of 2007," Vitek said.
Once the port is operational and the vessels, which will be designed and operated by Suez, begin mooring at the offshore buoys, Vitek said 15 staff members will use the office, storage and dock space at the terminal as the land-based logistics and control site for the Neptune port.
"For many years, we've been an integral part of the port of Boston because of our Everett facility," she said. "And now we'd like to be an anchor in the port of Gloucester."
Suez will also have a 135-foot multipurpose offshore towing vessel, with between five and eight crew members, which will assist in security and bring supplies, such as groceries and spare parts, to the tankers.
Peter Van Ness, a spokesman for Cruiseport developer Frank Elliott, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Local fishing advocates said they are not surprised by the approval, coming on the heels of several state and federal approvals and certificates in recent months. "It seems like it's in formality mode right now," said Vito Giacalone, of the Northeast Seafood Coalition.
Vito Calomo, executive director of the Massachusetts Fisheries Recovery Commission and an opponent of the location of the ports, said the silver lining to the approval is some gain for the city from the Neptune office and the support vessel.
"If it's going to happen, I think having something in Gloucester where it gives an economic boost to the city is beneficial," he said.
Vitek said most of the employees will be LNG technicians who will oversee the operation of the tankers while moored at the port.
"Those technicians require a certain skill set, but we'd like to hire locally if we can," she said.
The license gives Suez the right to own and operate the port, a buoy system proposed seven miles southeast of Gloucester, which will transport liquefied natural gas that has been vaporized to shore.
Excelerate Energy, based in The Woodlands, Texas, has proposed a similar terminal called the Northeast Gateway Energy Bridge 13 miles southeast off Gloucester. The Maritime Administration has declared its intent to issue an operating license.
Excelerate announced last week that it will locate its operations center in Salem. That site will have 17 employees who will oversee the LNG facility, supervise operations when tankers arrive at the deep water port, and run a vessel that will ferry people back and forth. The company is negotiating a lease for office space in Salem and dock space on Salem Harbor for a support vessel, an Excelerate spokesman said.
Excelerate has also applied for an EPA permit to discharge nearly two million gallons of treated seawater it will use during construction of the Algonquin pipeline it will have installed in the seabed to connect its port to the existing Hubline pipe. The EPA will host a public hearing at Beverly Public Library on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Earlier this month, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved Algonquin Gas Transmission LLC, a subsidiary of Spectra Energy, to construct the 16-mile, 24-inch pipeline to its Hubline pipe, which runs underwater from Salem to Quincy. Algonquin, a subsidiary of Spectra Energy, built the Hubline in 2004.
The two ports, which will host large tankers carrying liquefied natural gas and have the capacity to vaporize it, are within five miles of each other in a section of ocean called Block 125 east of Marblehead that is popular because of the abundance of fish and the proximity to shore.
Each terminal, and the tankers that will dock at them, will have an 800-yard security perimeter in which other boats cannot travel.
Because federal regulations limit the amount of time fishermen are allowed to spend at sea, local advocates of the fishing industry, as well as local elected officials, have said the security perimeters will force fishermen to travel farther and use more time at sea getting to their catch.
Environmentalists are concerned because of the possibility the increased ship traffic could kill endangered North Atlantic right whales.
Former Massachusetts Secretary of Environmental Affairs Robert Golledge Jr. issued environmental certificates for the two LNG ports on Dec. 1 and 12, and ordered a total of $47 million in mitigation funding from the two companies for affected communities and industries. Of that, $12.6 million will go to a nonprofit organization to be established in Gloucester to buy and lease fishing permits from fishermen who want to leave the industry.
Some of that mitigation package is earmarked for environmental studies and right whale detection for the tankers.
Former Gov. Mitt Romney gave his approval for both projects Dec. 19. Federal law gives the governor of the adjacent state the power to reject deep-water ports or to accept them with conditions.
Gov. Deval Patrick, sworn into office Jan. 4, two days after the last deadline for a Massachusetts governor to approve the LNG terminals, does not have the power to reverse Romney's decision, though he has not indicated whether he could use state permits still required to halt the proposals.
BOX:
Still needed
Suez Energy North America
* EPA permit for water usage during operation
* Dredging permit from the Army Corps of Engineers for installation of its pipeline
* Two state permits for coastal zone management
Suez plans to have its Neptune project operational by late 2009.
Excelerate Energy
* Operating license from the Maritime Administration (the agency announced last month it intends to issue a license)
* EPA permit for water usage during operation
* Dredging permit from the Army Corps of Engineers for installation of its pipeline
* Two state permits for coastal zone management
Excelerate hopes to have its Northeast Gateway Energy Bridge running by the end of this year.
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