100 Protest 137' Tall LPG Gas Tank
at Searsport
by Fishermen’s Voice Staff
About 100 protesters gathered in opposition to a large liquid petroleum gas tank facility at Mack Point in Searsport, Maine. Estimates of the number of trucks vary. One gas company document cited up to 144 truck trips daily. These round trips mean up to 288 times a day a truck could enter or leave the facility on Route 1. Lynn Pussic photo
A group off about 100 people gathered here November 19 to protest the construction of a liquid petroleum gas facility at Mack Point in Searsport.
One protester was 70-year-old Judy Kaiser of Waldo, said she was there to protest because she was appalled that such an industrial development would be built in midcoast Maine, an area so dependent on tourism.
Several storage tanks are located around Mack Point already: one is a 3 million gallon, 47’ high tank. Ships currently bring gas to that tank. The proposed tank will have a 23 million gallon capacity, and rise 137’ above grade. Grade there is about 50’ above sea level, giving the tank a height of 187’ height above sea level.
The project passed on a town vote by a narrow margin earlier this year. The energy companies building the tank said there would be jobs created by the project. One proponent referred to the current gas tank facility at Mack point as the “economic engine of the town”.
However, tank project opponent Peter Taber of Searsport said “the new facility will likely produce no more than seven low-level, low-paid, long-term jobs.” He scoffed at the economic engine reference saying that in fact the Mack Point facility is only 14 percent of the tax base, while home owners are 60 percent and small businesses such as restaurants are 22 percent.
Earlier this fall, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection gave approval for DCP Midstream’s plans for Mack Point. The company proposing the tank, DCP Midstream, responded to protesters’ concerns about truck traffic, safety and the large size of the tank in a full-page advertisement in the Bangor Daily News on Saturday.
Citing the ownership of the facility—Irving of Canada, Sprague of Sweden and Clay-Slurry of France—Taber said, “It’s all foreign owned. It means the money goes out of the community, the state and the country.”
The negative impact on the natural beauty of the area was a common complaint among protesters. Some thought tourists would avoid Searsport and travel to Mount Desert Island by going through Bangor.
Area business owners were concerned that the truck traffic would deter tourists from passing through Searsport. Astrig Tanguay, 45, of Searsport, said a planned petition will ask that the town declare a moratorium on building tanks until an impact study can be conducted.
Tanguay, a local business owner, fears a dramatic increase in tanker truck traffic from the facility will make coastal Route 1 less desirable for tourists to drive on. If traffic is rerouted around Searsport businesses will lose tourist business.
“Project company documents”, said Taber, “indicate there could be up to 144 trucks per day entering the facility. However, these are round trips, which means up to 144 times a day a truck will enter Route 1 from the facility and 144 times a day a truck will leave Route 1 to enter the facility. Therefore, 288 times a day a 100,000 lb. truck will pass through the intersection.”
Others said the tank would be visible far down the bay, including from Acadia National Park. They said it would have all-night facility lighting and flashing aircraft warning lights.
The gas must be kept in liquid form, which is done with refrigeration. Whatever liquid that turns to gas is vented through a stack where it is burned off into the atmosphere above the tank. These “emergency flares” are required to relieve pressure on the tank. The company has scheduled 500 hours of these emergency flares per year.
At a vote last spring on a height restriction for the project, the 137’ height was approved. But since then, interest in the project has grown. Facts and fears about the facility have become more common since spring. The explosive power of liquid petroleum gas compared to liquid natural gas was a concern said Taber. The backup generators that run the refrigeration in a power outage have also come into question.
The most common concern was over the large number of tanker trucks winding there way through the small towns along and near the coast.
On December 13 a petition signed by 225 people seeking a moratorium on tank projects in lieu of an impact statement was submitted to the Searsport selectmen. It will be put on a town warrant and voted on in March 2012.