LNG Task Forces Files Petition for Intervener Status with FERC

State Senator Len Fasano (R-North Haven) and State Senator Andrea Stillman (D-Waterford), chairmen of the Long Island Sound LNG Task Force, have sent a letter petitioning the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to grant the Task Force intervener status in Broadwater Energy’s application to FERC. Governor M. Jodi Rell, who established the Task Force though Executive Order Number Nine, has requested that Connecticut’s Department of Environmental Protection also file for intervener status.

“The Task Force has spent months listening to testimony and analyzing hundreds of documents pertaining to the proposed LNG facility in order to ensure that Connecticut’s interests are being met. There is no question that this Broadwater project will have an impact on Connecticut and its citizens and we feel that the best way for Connecticut’s interests to be met is for the Task Force to be granted this status,” said Senator Fasano. “Furthermore, Senator Stillman and I believe that the more parties intervening on behalf of Connecticut, the better it is for the state.”

“Connecticut residents stand to be the aggrieved party in this case should the Broadwater proposal receive the go-ahead so it stands to reason our Task Force, after hearing from so many residents about their concerns, should be granted intervener status in an effort to head it off,” said Senator Stillman. “We legitimately represent those whose interest in the aesthetic, environmental, and economic impact of this proposal is piqued and we intend to bring their details of their discomfort to the attention of federal regulators.”

The intervener status would allow the Task Force access to documents related to Broadwater’s application to FERC as well as materials filed by other interested parties. The Task Force would also be able to file briefs, appear at hearings, question witnesses, and present evidence at a trial if it chooses to appeal FERC’s final decision on the application.

Senator Fasano is in his second term representing the 34th district communities of North Haven, East Haven, and Wallingford. He is the Ranking Senator on the Planning and Development Committee and the Select Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. He also serves on the budget-writing Appropriations Committee and the General Law Committee.

Senator Stillman is serving her first term in the state Senate following six terms in the state House of Representatives. She is the Senate chair of the legislature’s Public Safety and Security Committee, and is a member of the Finance, Revenue, and Bonding, Public Health, and Regulations Review Committees.