Outer Brewster Island LNG site faces Park Service opposition

The National Park Service is objecting to the proposed development of a liquefied natural gas terminal on Outer Brewster Island, and is telling Governor Mitt Romney that the plan would violate the agreements that allowed the state to acquire the island.

In a strongly worded letter, the Park Service's Northeast regional director, Mary A. Bomar,suggested that the development would be an inappropriate use of a National Park area. ''The proposed LNG terminal would not only have an adverse impact on Outer Brewster Island, the habitat it provides, and visitors to the national recreation area, but would also have a potential negative impact on other islands within the park," Bomar wrote.

''Recreational boaters, fishermen and divers, due to security and safety concerns, might be restricted from using the area they have enjoyed for years," she said.

''An LNG facility would also set a dangerous precedent and send a message that units of the National Park System are available for exploitation," Bomar asserted.

But James A. Aloisi Jr., a Boston lawyer now working on the project for the developer, AES Corp., said that such a use would hardly be unprecedented. In a letter directed to the governor and dated April 27, Aloisi challenged the notion that the development of the harbor island would represent an unfair taking of park area, noting that others have been used privately.

''Rather it would allow the use of the island for non-park uses, such as currently occurs on Deer Island [a wastewater treatment plant], Moon Island [a fire training and a shooting practice range], Thompson Island [a private school], and Long Island [City of Boston homeless and healthcare services]," he wrote.

Two months ago, the proposal by AES to build a liquefied natural gas terminal on the island seemed dormant when a legislative committee that had held hearings on the measure tabled it.

But last week, the state House voted to move the bill out of study and directed it to a different committee, which is headed by the bill's chief sponsor, Representative Brian Dempsey, a Haverhill Democrat, where it would presumably face an easier vote.

Dempsey did not return a telephone call yesterday.

Moving the bill to Dempsey's committee requires a concurrence vote in the Senate, which supporters and opponents of the bill say should take place today.

The bill, as written, gave the Virginia company a right to develop the island for a liquefied natural gas terminal -- a move its supporters said would offer the advantage of bringing LNG shipments safely offshore. Since Sept. 11, 2001, officials have become concerned that a terrorist attack on an LNG tanker delivering to a terminal in Everett could devastate Boston neighborhoods.