demonfish

The area is also heavily lobstered or was until they died off after the mosquito spraying. Between NY and Conn. we have spent 100's of millions of dollars cleaning up the sound, the last thing we want is more industry. The gas will go to a pipeline that feeds mostly New England. We do have an oil terminal in Riverhead that receives super tankers. The difference is that the eastern sound will be shut down when one of these gas tankers comes thru the area known as the race. The sound is an estuary that we want to preserve and not turn into the great lakes. When we fished up there two years ago I came home with over 100 lbs of salmon fillets. I had to thow all of it out, it was the nastiest tasteing fish I have ever eaten and I love smoked salmon. As for needing the gas most of our electric is still oil produced and we have a major gas pipeline that can currently handle our needs. Our summer peak electric is handled from two cables, one from Jersey and the other from New England. So for now I will continue to fight the good fight to keep our waters clean and free of industry that will bring no real jobs to our area.

Scup

Demonfish,
Just curious as to why things will be shut down should a tanker be passing through the Race. I know these tankers have to pass strict CG requirements because they are a potential floating bomb. I still remember seeing several empty monster tankers tied up at what was the old Navy piers just north of the Newport bridge. These new looking monster ships were tied up there for years because they could not pass the required inspections. Do not know what eventually happened to them as they gradually vanished one by one. I think we need every source of energy possible. Assuming we are careful about not having one go bang, the benefits just might outweigh the risks. It seems to me that a conventional oil tanker or barge is far more of a threat to our environment than a ship filled with liquid gas. Look at what happened when a barge went aground off Moonstone Beach in RI. It could also be very likely that I do not know what I am talking about since I have never read up on this subject. One concern I would have is the possibility of intentional man made risks in todays world of 9/11. The more I think about this, I hope our government leaders are not driven by $$$ alone and do their homework before placing any of us at risk. Somehow, I have lost confidence in our government's ability to act prudently in these matters.

demonfish

I went to alot of the meetings on this. It was a coast guard requirement. Plus once in place itwas going to be a no approach zone for over a mile in each direction. Then they proposed hiring Rudy Guliani crooked security firm to guard it. It comes down to the potentil for alot of harm for very little return. I'd like my kids to have clean sound to fish and play in.