As envisioned by Governor Baldacci and the LNG industry.

What is now peaceful and bucolic Sears Island will become the site of a $500 million storage facility for liquefied natural gas, one of fewer than a dozen such facilities in the United States. The facility, which will consist of a number of storage tanks, each 200 feet wide and 150 feet tall, will change the skyline and the overall character of northern Penobscot Bay. After the 2 to 3 year construction period, the facility will be operated by a staff of 50, most of whom will come "from away" due to the specialized training required.

• LNG tankers, huge mega-ships wholly unlike anything heretofore seen in our bay will arrive every 4 to 9 days. More than 3 football fields long and as tall as 12 story buildings, these ships will each carry up to 33 million gallons of fuel.
• Due to security risks involved and the threat of terrorism, the arrival and departure of each tanker will be punctuated by armed coast guard patrol boats, helicopters circling overhead, and a "rolling security zone" occupying more than 2 square miles of our bay.
• Once in port, due to security reasons the ships will keep their huge diesel engines idling, creating noise and air pollution.
• At night, tanker and facility lights will be a major source of light pollution.
• Heated and highly salinized sea water used for cooling the liquefied natural gas will be returned to Penobscot Bay.
• After being moved to the storage tanks, the fuel will be moved via pipeline to Winterport and then on to Massachusetts where it will be used for used for various industrial and commercial purposes.
• Much (most? all?) of Sears Island will be closed to recreational uses, especially when tankers are in port.
  
  See "What the LNG Industry Will Tell You and Me" for a list of possible benefits of an LNG facility to Searsport and the Midcoast.

An LNG tanker, as viewed from the southern tip of Sears Island --
in the year 2007, should plans of the governor and the LNG
industry come to pass. (Missing are the helicopters and coast guard
patrol boats. And, of course, due to security zone, this photo
would never be taken.)

Visions of an alternative future coming soon!