Tugboats and a Coast Guard boat tended an LNG tanker in Everett in 2006. A Guard officer called the safety plan "very robust."
(DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF/FILE)
The Coast Guard captain in charge of the Port of Boston said yesterday that federal authorities are well equipped to provide security when liquefied natural gas is delivered in the region and to respond in case of a terrorist attack.
The local office's assurances were made a day after the US Government Accountability Office questioned the Coast Guard's readiness to protect some ports nationwide.
"Here in the Port of Boston, we have safe and secure transits," said Coast Guard Captain Gail Kulisch. "We can do that because we have a very robust safety and security plan with many partners contributing to that for each and every transit."
According to the GAO report, portions of which were released to the public Wednesday, the US Coast Guard does not have the staff or resources to meet its own standards for securing petroleum shipments into the nation's ports. With shipments of LNG and other hazardous materials expected to increase to meet growing demand, the conclusion has added significance. The portion of the report released publicly does not specify which Coast Guard bases are considered lacking in resources.
Kulisch said the Coast Guard provided security for 22 billion gallons of petroleum passing through the port of Boston in 2007, including highly hazardous LNG making its way to Everett. Kulisch said every LNG shipment into Boston has a Coast Guard escort.
"In the Port of Boston, we exceed safety and security requirements," she said during a press conference at the Coast Guard station in Boston.
US Representative Edward J. Markey, who requested the report from the government watchdog agency, said LNG and oil tankers are serious targets for terrorists. The Distrigas facility in Everett is the nation's only urban LNG importation terminal.
"The LNG facility in Everett is in an extremely vulnerable position," Markey said in a telephone interview yesterday. "However, the Coast Guard does have adequate resources to provide protection coming into Boston Harbor."
The report cites several risks facing tankers, including mortar or rocket-propelled grenades, armed assaults, and suicide bombings. While not citing any specific threats domestically, the report states that an attack on a tanker in a port could unleash a fire spreading over an area 1 1/2 miles away within 30 seconds.
Markey said the report buttresses arguments against locating a new land-based LNG importation facility in Fall River.
The Coast Guard opposes a proposal by Weaver's Cove Energy LLC to build a new LNG terminal in that city, saying the river approaching the site is unsafe for LNG tankers.
"It also makes a very strong case that no new land-based LNG facilities should be sited in the United States in the future," Markey said. "They should all be 10 miles offshore."
Julie Vitek, a spokeswoman for Everett LNG terminal owner Distrigas, said the company's expansion plans call for utilizing a new offshore terminal, dubbed the Neptune project, 13 nautical miles from Gloucester Harbor.
One of two offshore terminals planned outside Boston Harbor, the terminal is expected to begin operation in late 2009, she said.
"Everett is of critical importance today and in the future," she said. "But in terms of bringing in a substantial new number of LNG deliveries into Massachusetts and the rest of New England, Neptune is the means by which we plan to do that."
Mayor Thomas M. Menino suggested that the report validates his argument that all LNG shipments through Boston Harbor should be phased out, because of the danger posed by a terrorist strike.
"This speaks volumes for the concept of having this offloaded outside the harbor," Menino said in a telephone interview.
Mayor Carlo DeMaria Jr. of Everett said he has received assurances from local, state, and federal officials that the city is well protected.
"The Coast Guard might be stretched thin, but not here in Everett," he said yesterday.
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