Save The Brewsters

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the scale of this facility?
Isn't having the tankers offload out in the harbor better than in Everett?
Isn't Outer Brewster desolate and unvisited?
Who is AES and what is their track record?
Our region suffered gas shortages last year, don't we need more?
If we don't put an LNG facility on Outer Brewster, then where?

Scale of average LNG tanker compared to Boston Light

LNG TANKERS
The average LNG tanker is 900 feet long, 120 feet tall, 150 feet wide

BOSTON LIGHT
Boston Light is 89 feet tall with a diameter of approximately 22 feet

Q. Wouldn’t having LNG tankers offload 8 miles from downtown Boston be safer than having them enter the inner-Harbor?

A: People have assumed that the proposed Outer Brewster LNG terminal would replace the existing Distrigas LNG terminal in Everett, Massachusetts. This is false. Competing companies would operate the two regasification plants and terminals, each striving for as much business as possible. LNG tankers currently enter the inner Harbor every six days to deliver LNG to Distrigas in Everett. The Outer Brewster facility is proposed as a second Boston Harbor facility, one that would receive deliveries twice a week throughout the year, bringing at least 100 additional LNG tankers into the Harbor annually.

Q.Isn’t Outer Brewster desolate and unvisited? I’ve heard that it’s of little value to anyone, and is littered with abandoned WWII buildings. Shouldn’t it be put to better use?

A: Located in a National Park, Outer Brewster is part of the archipelago of the Harbor’s outer-most islands. Together with its surrounding islands (Calf, Green, Middle Brewster, Great Brewster, and Little Brewster – home of Boston Light), Outer Brewster’s waters include pristine Calf Bay and Brewster Cove. Just as the island is home to myriad species of land and shore birds, its waters are home to abundant waterfowl, fish species, important lobster beds, and the only seal colony in Boston Harbor. Though rugged in appearance, the island is actually part of a fragile and unique ecosystem, which citizens invested $4.5 billion to clean up, and is the very reason the Harbor and Islands were declared a National Park not even ten years ago.

Hundreds of fishermen and lobstermen fish recreationally and comercially from the thriving waters off Outer Brewster Island. Annually, thousands of recreational boaters enjoy unfettered access to the waterways entering and leaving Boston Harbor, all passing adjacent to Outer Brewster. The region’s robust kayaking community, its rowers, scuba-divers, and other small boaters, are drawn to Outer Brewster for the cleanest undersea waters in the region, as well as its unspoiled wilderness, and unparalleled historic and natural vistas. The island’s abundant life reveals the healthy cycles of species’ renewal fostered in teeming waters and undisturbed landscapes, all of which directly and positively impact the health of the Park’s entire natural system.

While AES and Regan Communications seem to denigrate Outer Brewster, calling it “barren,” a “wasteland,” and even naming their project “Battery Rock,” Outer Brewster’s crucial importance to the natural life of the Harbor is well-documented. Construction of the proposed terminal would guarantee the irreversible destruction of vital fish and lobster nurseries, disruption of critical bird and butterfly migratory routes, would close historic and thriving fishing grounds and boating routes, and would ban visitors from the island — all this to land and waters promised to be “protected forever” for the public as part of a national park. 

Outer Brewster’s highest elevation is 60-feet. LNG storage tanks drilled deep into the island’s bedrock would still stand at least 30-feet above the island’s profile. The LNG tankers will tower an additional 100-feet above the island’s surface (nearly twice the height of neighboring Boston Light). These tankers and their terminal will not sit quietly, but will create substantial undersea and over-water noise, discharge large volumes of bilge and other wastewater, and continuously burn shrill lights that will obsure Boston Light and the night sky, while dominating the coastline. What is now a spectacular vista that quiets the mind and excites the imagination will become an industrial eyesore, forever.

Q: Who is AES Corporation and what is their track record?

A: AES, based in Arlington, VA, is an energy plant operator and distributor in 33 countries throughout the world. They employ 30,000 people, and reported 2004 earnings of $28.9 billion. Their interests include Biomass, Coal, Diesel, Hydro, Oil, and Wind in the following locations worldwide:

In their 2004 10-K and 2005 2Q-10q (mandatory documents for the SEC), AES reported ongoing, major litigation originating between 1999-2005, in 12 locations – in Argentina, Brazil, California, Dominican Republic, India, Indiana, New York, Panama, Texas, and Virginia. These claims, if proven, could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. They involve questions about  finances, the environment, anti-trust regulations, and agreements with shareholders and municipalities. Investigations and claims against AES are pending by FERC, municipal, state, and national governments, environmental and regulatory agencies, and other businesses, and involve several Class Action suits. (Source: www.aes.com.)

Q: Our region suffered gas shortages last winter, and the media reports the potential for frightening “rolling blackouts” throughout New England. Don’t we need another LNG facility in our region?

A:Until 2001, two facilities provided the nation’s entire LNG supply, in Everett, Massachusetts (the nation’s oldest, operating since 1971), and in Lake Charles, Louisiana. These, with four additonal sites in Maryland, Georgia, Alaska, and Puerto Rico, support the entire, current U.S. demand. FERC already has approved 12 additional LNG facilities, and over 40 others have been proposed or are being developed. Fourteen sites between Canada and Long Island Sound are now under consideration (see www.ferc.gov).

It is vital for informed consumers to distinguish between “shortage,” “need,” and “demand.” The supply issues our region suffered last winter resulted not from shortages, but from industry miscalculations of demand combined with out-dated, too-small delivery pipes. The regional needs now have been recalculated to reflect growth in population, and the pipe dimension has been adjusted to assure consistent delivery to every home and business.

While New England’s energy demands appear to be on the rise, our legislators and citizens require a comprehensive review of the actual and projected energy needs of the country and the region to make informed decisions regarding long-term energy solutions, particularly before selling finite natural resources to companies seeking spectacular, fast profits. Naturally, this will require comprehensive education about responsible conservation, and innovative, sustainable energy sources.

Q: If you don’t want an LNG terminal on Outer Brewster, where else would you put it?

A:Outer Brewster is owned by the Commonwealth’s Department of Conservation and Recreation, and is part of both State and Federal Park Systems. We strongly believe that selling conservation land for industrial use is utterly inappropriate. We do not ascribe to a “not in my back yard” philosophy, but given the high and irreversible stakes of this proposition, do believe that an unbiased and comprehensive study of regional supply and demand is needed to make sensible decisions regarding New England’s energy future.