Opponents of LNG Facility Expansion Join Around New Group

As opposition for the proposed expansion project at  the LNG storage facility on Peckham Road in Acushnet continues to rise, a new group has formed to address concerns from residents. 

South Coast Neighbors United held its first public meeting Thursday evening at Saint John Neuman Hall at Cathedral Camp in East Freetown with the intent of educating residents from Acushnet, Freetown and New Bedford.

Local attorney and Acushnet resident Dana Sargent is the president of the group and said he expects more people to get involved as discussion increases.

"I think it's a matter of educating. I think the more people who learn about the magnitude, how big this project is going to be, the more people will be concerned just as I was," Sargent said.

Over 60 people filled the hall and listened to information about the project and what can be done to slow down the process.

The main effort of opposition will be persistence. Letters to legislators and placing as many obstacles as possible in front of Eversource and Spectra energy, the two entities behind the project.

Joe Carvalho has experience in these types of tactics. As president of the Coalition for the Responsible Siting of LNG Facilities, Carvalho successfully blocked the construction of an import facility in the Fall River area.

"It's all about delaying them long enough to figure out that 'Hey guess what, this might not be the place for this particular project to succeed'," Carvalho said.

Residents were encouraged not to allow Spectra Energy surveyors onto their property so as to delay the company's impact report that will be need to be filed as part of the permitting process.

The LNG project, which consists of building two additional tanks that will hold a combined 6.8 billion cubic feet of LNG on the 250 acres owned by Eversource, is part of a larger project called Access Northeast, which will expand the existing Algonquin pipeline system.