Important facts about the Calais LNG Project 

An LNG terminal in Calais will not provide numerous local jobs because the construction stage requires a number of specially trained workers. To build the Saint John terminal, labor from Poland was brought in despite an established workforce already in existence. Once the terminal in Calais is complete, only a few low-paying, non-technical positions will be available because permanent jobs require education and training. Tourism and fishing will lose more jobs than would be created by LNG.

Property taxes will increase, causing hardship to local residents. Emergency services both sides of the border would be responsible for increased safety measures and those costs will have to be born by the community. While Calais LNG may subsidize and pay taxes to Calais, other communities would have to bear their own costs. Rent for local housing will also rise because imported workers would not only increase the demand but have more money to spend. In some communities, this has resulted in a lack of affordable housing.

Access to the Bay for fishermen, ferry service, aquaculture, whale watching, scientists and pleasure craft would be severely restricted because information on the movement of tankers would be withheld for security reasons and each LNG tanker requires a 2-mile exclusion zone in transit. LNG is internationally designated dangerous cargo so vessel owners are entitled to enforce the exclusion zone by employing private security firms like Blackwater. Do we want gunboats operated by mercenaries in our beautiful bay?

LNG Tanker Liability is limited by US law. The Limitation of Vessel Owner's Liability Act 1851 relieves owners of financial responsibility if it can be established that they have properly equipped vessels and trained their crews. So there may be no accountability for any damage outside the loss of ship or cargo. It is the local community who could end up footing the bill in the event of an incident. The city of Boston says it can't cope with the hazards of LNG. Can we?

Terrorism, natural disasters and human error pose a serious threat.  The ongoing, devastating and catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a clear example of a disaster that industrial experts said could never happen. The Passamaquoddy Bay area is a unique and magnificent part of the world. Once it's gone, it's gone forever, along with the livelihoods of people who depend on the Bay for a living.

LNG is a recognized target for terrorists.  Homeland Security and CIA experts have stated that terminals and tankers provide a desirable target for terrorists like Al-Qaeda. To quote Dr James Fay of MIT, "the fire that would ensue from an attack on either would be of unprecedented size and intensity."

Hazard Zones.  Strategic areas around terminal sites and along tanker routes have been designated by the US Government as zones where it is deemed all life could be under threat of asphyxiation, thermal radiation, fire or cryogenic destruction in the event of an LNG accident. Red Beach, Robbinston, Perry, Pleasant Point, Eastport, Devil's Head Conservation Area, Roosevelt International Park, Deer and Campobello Islands, St Andrews, Bayside, St Croix Island Visitor's Centre and Oak Bay would fall entirely or partly into these zones.

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Save Passamaquoddy Bay US

 Nulankeyutomonen Nkihtahkomikumon (We Take Care of our Land)

Our target is to raise $50,000 by September 1^st. If you wish to help keep LNG out please send a donation to:

Save Passamaquoddy Bay US

PO BOX 43   Eastport   Maine O463

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To survive an LNG gas leak, tsunami-like sirens and emergency shelters would be mandatory to save lives. Schools, hospitals, businesses and homes would all require regular practice in rapidly turning off air conditioning, applying duct tape to windows and exits, as well as removal of all personnel to the relative safety of an interior room. Are these the lessons we wish our children to learn? (American Red Cross "Shelter in Place Guide")

Compulsory measures to protect the terminal and supply route would involve police or Homeland Security helicopters, gun boat traffic, increased lighting and video surveillance of route as well as terminal site.  The presence of law enforcement before arrival of a tanker, as well as when a tanker is docked, are also compulsory in addition to increased local emergency services.

Neighboring communities along the Maine coastline have all voted against having an LNG terminal. But if this project goes ahead, they will still be threatened by tanker traffic heading for Calais.

Goldman Sachs, the promoter of Calais LNG, has not been open about any of the above and certainly not about the quality or quantity of jobs available once the terminal is complete.

 Important Information Inside

"An average LNG tanker carries the energy equivalent of roughly 55 Hiroshima atomic bombs"