Congressional intervention on LNG sought

Jun 9, 2004 - Providence Journal Bulletin

* Green Futures has asked U.S. senators and representatives to assure that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will revise a safety report.

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FALL RIVER - In an appeal to Fall River's congressional delegation, a local environmental organization is requesting new regulations to guide the federal government's analysis on liquefied natural gas spills.

The existing regulations followed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission do not address LNG spills, according to Alfred J. Lima, of Green Futures.

Green Futures gave a list of initiatives to U.S. Senators John Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy, and U.S. Representatives Barney Frank and James McGovern.

The organization asked the congressmen to assure that the regulatory commission revises a recent report on the methods it prefers for gauging the consequences of LNG spills.

The report by ABSG Consultants, a division of ABS, specifies modeling techniques and demonstrates the use of those techniques in two scenarios.

The scenarios involve incidents where gas spills through holes in the sides of tanker ships and then catches fire.

Green Futures asks the congressmen to assure that the regulatory commission:

* Revises the report to include comments from scientists James Fay and Jerry Havens.

* Publishes draft regulations that incorporate the information in the report.

* Develops "risk assessments that assume that LNG tankers can be ruptured and that LNG is explosive ..."

 


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