Sound Energy ignores neighbors' concerns

Sound Energy Solutions, the consortium planning to build an LNG terminal near population centers in Long Beach, California, brush off criticism from their neighbors in an article in Inside FERC:

Local opposition to a proposed liquefied natural gas import terminal in Long Beach, Calif., continues to crop up as the regulatory approval process moves forward. But an executive with the project's sponsor, Mitsubishi subsidiary Sound Energy Solutions, said the company is unfazed by all the hoopla.

Long Beach resident Geoffrey Millar has launched a new Web site, www.nolnginlb.com, which he terms a "good neighbor awareness board" to communicate what he sees as the potential hazards of the terminal planned for the Port of Long Beach. Millar's graphics-heavy site speaks of an LNG "ring of fire" 20 miles wide that could "vaporize" the city if there were a major accident at the site.

"Long Beach is just wrong for it. It's too close to people," Millar said in an interview last week. "We're the third-largest port in the world. We're already a terrorist target." Millar said Long Beach is also undergoing a "renaissance" and that an LNG terminal would deflate property values and hurt businesses such as hotels, cruise ships and a new convention center. "I'm not an anti-LNG guy. I'm just saying 'not here,' " Millar added. "We're grassroots. We want to put up the facts and let the people know about it."