SOUTH SHORE

U.S. releases draft Port Ambrose impact report

Groups demand more time for review and L.I. meetings

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Groups opposed to Port Ambrose, a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal in the Atlantic Ocean southeast of Jones Beach, are fuming at the U.S. Maritime Administration and Coast Guard’s decisions to release a 1,800-page environmental impact report shortly before the December holidays and schedule public meetings in early January.

The report, a draft environmental impact statement required by the National Environmental Policy Act, is available in 25 parts at www.regulations.gov. The Herald will report on its contents online next week.

The DEIS was published in the Federal Register on Dec. 16, and the government scheduled public meetings on Jan. 7 in Jamaica, Queens, and Jan. 8 in Eatontown, N.J. Tetra Tech, Inc., a contractor for Liberty Natural Gas, LLC, the company seeking approval to build Port Ambrose, prepared the DEIS.

Groups that have raised environmental, security and economic concerns about the proposed LNG terminal, including Clean Ocean Action, Food & Water Watch, the Sierra Club, Green Party, League of Women Voters and Coalition of Nassau Civic Associations, are angered about the release’s timing and the location and number of scheduled meetings.

“The government’s Scrooge move of releasing this over the holiday clearly shows what they think of the public’s opinion,” wrote Cindy Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action, in an email. “… It will not allow for meaningful public review.”

Claudia Borecky, chairwoman of the Coalition of Nassau Civic Association’s Anti-LNG Committee, said in an email that South Shore communities “need time to understand how the Port Ambrose facility will impact our environment, the safety of our communities and our energy needs.”

“To hold just one hearing in New Jersey and one in New York City stifles the voice of the Long Island communities,” Borecky wrote.

Zipf, Borecky and representatives of 29 other organizations sent a joint letter to the Maritime Administration and Coast Guard requesting a 90-day comment period and at least six public meetings — three in New York and three in New Jersey.

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