Trade and Industry Minister Leslie Miller claims he has done “all in his power” to facilitate the three proposed Liquefied Gas Pipelines (LNG) to be run through the Bahamas to Florida and is “anxiously awaiting” government’s approval.
Finalised
Mr Miller said he thought that two of the three projects that have already been approved by the state of Florida would be finalised by government within two weeks.
“From my vantage point, it’s just a matter of the Bahamas government seeing it through.
The Bahamas Environmental Science and Technology Commission (BEST) has already done its work,” said Mr Miller.
The minister expressed a keen interest in the ventures, emphasising a particular interest in having new job openings provided for 350 Bahamians as a result of the LNG projects.
“I think it’s a good project. The developers are calling everyday wanting to know of any new developments. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has already given Tractebel and AES their approvals, but El Paso (the third company awaiting approval) has submitted papers to FERC and I think it takes about 18 months for their proposal to be processed,” said Mr Miller.
Last week, Florida Governor Jeb Bush decided that AES Corp and Tractebel Calypso Pipeline must wait for state approval before they construct LNG pipelines because he was concerned about South Florida being a landing point for natural gas coming from the Caribbean to points across the United States.
Transport
Virginia-based AES Corp was the first to submit its $4 million Environmental Impact Assessment to the BEST Commission. The company wants to build a 54.1-mile long, 24-inch wide pipeline to transport gas from the Bahamas to Dania Beach in Broward County.
The pipeline would connect to Florida’s existing pipeline infrastructure, making the gas available to any buyer, which would most likely be utility companies.
Tractebel wants to acquire the old Bahamas Cement Plant off Queen’s Highway,inGrand Bahama, where a 90-mile underwaterCalypso pipeline will be laid from the site to Florida.
Tractebel plans to spend $5 million to demolish and cleanuptheold facility, which has oil contamination of PCP’s from the old transformers
Danielle Stubbs, The Tribune
