Rules stand in way of LNG station
Island proposal faces hurdles, official says
A proposed liquefied natural gas terminal on a Boston Harbor island would have to overcome significant hurdles to be approved, the state's top environmental official said yesterday, the first indication that the Romney administration may come out against the controversial plan.
Stephen Pritchard, secretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, said that Outer Brewster Island, part of the national park system, is protected by multiple regulations designed to keep it operating as a park in perpetuity.
''There are multiple issues here," Pritchard said in a telephone interview. He said the land can't be converted to another use except under ''exceptional circumstances," and it would require the approval of federal and state authorities.
Earlier this month, the state's top development chief recused himself from involvement in the project because a portion of his individual retirement account was invested with AES. Then, two state representatives sponsored legislation to allow the island to be leased for an LNG terminal, but language in the bill excluded every company interested in building a terminal in Massachusetts except AES. The legislation is pending and would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature.
AES officials could not be reached for comment last night.
This fall, state officials have kept largely quiet on the proposal, one of four LNG projects pending in the state. One other plant is proposed for Fall River, and two are proposed offshore, near Gloucester.
One LNG facility exists in the state, a Suez-Distrigas terminal in Everett.
Few people disagree that Massachusetts needs more gas as energy demand and oil prices skyrocket. But the tankers that deliver the supercooled gas from overseas are seen as prime targets for terrorists and vulnerable to accidents, and residents near the sites of proposed terminals have opposed them. If the Outer Brewster Island facility is built, it would not reduce the number of tankers going to Everett.
Outer Brewster Island is on the National Register of Historic Places and contains World War II coastal defense structures. While it is part of the national park system, the property is owned by the state.
Pritchard stopped short of saying he opposed placing an LNG terminal in a national park. But his office released a letter that he wrote to the superintendent of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area responding to concerns that the federal official raised about the proposal.
The superintendent, Bruce Jacobson, could not be reached last night.
Pritchard's letter outlined the hurdles the project faces. The biggest obstacle is the state's acquisition of Outer Brewster in 1973 with special federal funds. The purchase agreement includes strong language to protect the island as a public recreation and natural resource area, and it requires explicit approval from the National Park Service and Pritchard's office to convert it to other uses.
In addition, the state can give up parkland only in rare instances, Pritchard wrote, and all efforts to avoid doing so must have been exhausted.
Last, Pritchard criticized the filed legislation, saying it would upend current regulations and be unsound public policy because it calls for pieces of an environmental review of the project only after the lease is signed.
''We should really think, and then act, as opposed to the other way around," Pritchard said in the telephone interview.
Representatives of environmental groups said yesterday that Pritchard's letter was encouraging.
''We're delighted that those who are charged with stewardship of this park are taking their responsibility seriously," said Bruce Berman, a spokesman for Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, an advocacy group that has led opposition to the terminal. ''It's a fantastic resource and we're counting on their help to protect it."
Beth Daley can be reached by email at bdaley@globe.com 
