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News Release RI Department of Environmental Management 235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908 (401) 222-2771 TDD/(401) 222-4462
DEM DENIES WEAVER'S COVE ENERGY LLC'S REQUEST FOR PERMIT TO DREDGE NAVIGATION CHANNEL IN MOUNT HOPE BAY PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management has denied a request from Weaver's Cove Energy LLC of Fall River, MA for a dredge permit and water quality certificate to dredge approximately 230,000 cubic yards of sediment from the state's portion of the existing federal navigation channel in Mount Hope Bay.The waters of Mount Hope Bay in Rhode Island and Massachusetts bear the states' highest water quality classifications – SA and SB waters – that provide high quality fish habitat and a resource for fishing. The waters are designated for shellfish harvesting for direct human consumption, primary and secondary contact recreational activities, and fish and wildlife habitat. Mount Hope Bay and Lower Taunton River is a valuable natural resource, supporting important habitat for quahogs, oysters, and finfish such as winter flounder. Incomplete and Invalid Application DEM issued the denial based on Weaver's Cove Energy LLC's failure to provide a valid application with a definitive project proposal, and its failure to demonstrate that the proposed activities would not violate surface water quality and anti-degradation standards pursuant to RI water quality regulations. DEM concluded that Weaver's Cove application was incomplete and insufficient. Weaver's Cove failed to provide information requested and essential to adequately quantify elevated turbidity levels during dredging operations in Rhode Island. It also failed to provide a proposed mixing zone in Rhode Island waters and a dredging water quality monitoring plan for dredging in Rhode Island waters, including procedures to follow in the event water quality impacts are observed. Further, Weaver's Cove project proposals are unclear. DEM conducted an extensive public review process on Weaver's Cove LLC's application for a dredge permit and water quality certificate. Two public hearings were held last November in Bristol and Tiverton, along with a public comment period that ended on December 8, 2006. Months after the public comment period closed – on March 28, May 3, June 12, and July 18, 2007 – Weaver's Cove LLC continued to submit additional information to DEM, which included notification of a change in the scope of the project through the use of smaller LNG tankers. This change would have more than doubled the number of LNG vessel transits through Narragansett Bay and Mount Hope Bay. The applicant initially proposed the use of LNG ships with cargo capacities of up to 145,000 cubic meters, resulting in approximately 52 to 73 deliveries of LNG per year. In the applicant's subsequent submissions, it was reported that the size of the proposed LNG ship would be reduced to have a capacity of 55,000 cubic meters, resulting in approximately 240 to 260 roundtrips per year. The US Coast Guard issued a letter to Weaver's Cove LLC on May 9, 2007 advising Weaver's Cove that the waterway may not be suitable for the type and frequency of LNG marine traffic contained in its smaller tanker proposal. Despite Weaver's Cove continued submission of information to DEM, on June 27, 2007 Weaver's Cove filed a Petition for Review of Inaction of Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, asserting that DEM had failed to review and either approve or deny, within one (1) year their application. In addition to denying Weaver's Cove application, on the basis that it was incomplete and insufficient, DEM concluded that the scope of the Weaver's Cove project had substantially changed and that Weaver's Cove had failed to provide adequate information to enable the Department to determine the exact nature of its project or how the project is viable in light of the United State's Coast Guard's May 9, 2007 letter effectively denying the project. Therefore, its application was invalid. -30- |
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