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News & Articles
Gas storage facility safe, proponents say
By Jason Schultz
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 25, 2007
INDIANTOWN - Most of the residents who viewed plans for a 185-foot-tall steel and concrete tank full of liquefied natural gas west of Indiantown said they liked what they saw Wednesday night.
"It's good for Indiantown and it's good for Florida," Indiantown Marina owner Scott Watson said.
But a force that could prove more volatile than a large tank full of natural gas - at least politically- also could be seen in the crowd as activists from outside the town showed up to criticize the proposal.
"This is not safe. If this was safe, it would be in somebody else's neighborhood," said Peter Shultz of Hobe Sound, who was arrested in 2005 for occupying and refusing to leave the offices of the Palm Beach County Business Development Board.
Proposed by a Houston company called Floridian Natural Gas Storage, the tank would store liquefied gas for power companies, allowing them to buy gas when demand and prices are low and store it in South Florida until demand is high.
The gas would be converted to liquid form for storage and then reconverted to gas when needed.
"It's a warehouse for energy," said Brad Williams, one of the company's owners. "It gives the utilities a chance to reduce costs."
Resident Main Forman, Indiantown Chamber of Commerce President Allon Fish and Indiantown Marina owner Scott Watson liked the idea and the more than 350 proposed jobs it would bring.
"I think this will be a plus for the community," Forman said.
Members of the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition, which is known for high-profile protests in Palm Beach County, said it has serious concerns about the tank.
"We're just monitoring it right now," said the group's co-chair, Panagioti Tsolkas, who was arrested in 2004 for erecting a bamboo platform in the middle of Dixie Highway as part of a protest.
Tsolkas said the group opposes construction of the $225 million plant because they think it will be used to supply a power plant proposed by Florida Power & Light Co. in western Palm Beach County, which the group has been fighting.
"We think this is the wrong direction to be going on fossil fuel dependency," said Tsolkas, who ran for mayor of Lake Worth in 2005 as a self-decribed anarchist.
Tsolkas said he spoke to residents of the low-income neighborhood known as Booker Park next to the tank site this past week and many of them were concerned for their safety.
Booker Park resident Thelma Waters said the thought of a tank full of liquefied natural gas next to her neighborhood worried her.
"My problem is it's right in my back yard," Waters said. "I look between here and Okeechobee and I see plenty of cows and woods where they could put it."
Former State Rep. Joe Negron, an attorney whose firm is representing the company, said the 145-acre site is perfect for gas storage because it used to be the Gerdau Ameristeel factory, a polluted "Superfund" site. That company spent millions of dollars to clean up the area, but its polluted history limits the uses allowed there, Fish said.
Williams said the site is close to existing natural gas pipelines and two steel hulls, a concrete shell and a berm should prevent any gas leaks.
The western Palm Beach County FPL plant the activists oppose would probably not use the storage tank because FPL has a sufficient gas supply, he said.
Residents Forman and Watson said they were not afraid of the tanks after seeing all the safety features.
"There's nothing to be scared of once you learn about it," Watson said.
Martin County Fire Marshal John Pasqualone said he also thought the proposal is safe and poses little risk of an explosion or leak.
The county and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission must approve the tank before it can be built. Joanne Wachholder, a biologist with the regulatory commission who attended the public hearing Wednesday, said the federal government will have the final say as early as next year on whether the gas storage will be built.
Copyright 2007, the Palm Beach Post. Reprinted by permission.
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