Offshore berth proposed for Fall River LNG

The company hoping to build an LNG terminal near Fall River, Mass., is floating the idea of building an offshore berth instead that would allow tankers to unload the liquefied natural gas into a four-mile pipeline.

The plan, still in the earliest design stages, is designed to blunt criticism of the existing proposal by Weaver’s Cove Energy to build an LNG terminal in Fall River that would require tankers to make their way up the Taunton River.

Critics, including Fall River officials and members of the state’s congressional delegation, have worked to block the proposal, saying it poses an unacceptable risk to the heavily populated area. There also has been opposition in Rhode Island.

The president of Weaver’s Cove Energy, owned by Hess LNG, says the company is still forging ahead with the original plan, but wants to have an alternative plan on hand just in case. The new plan is also intended as a challenge to critics, Gordon Shearer said March 28.

Hess LNG is a joint venture between Amerada Hess Corp. and an affiliate of Poten & Partners.

—The Associated Press