Supporters of the LNG project say risk of an attack is minimal.

HARPSWELL (AP) – Those in favor of a $350 million liquefied natural gas terminal here say the risk of a terrorist attack on an LNG transport ship or waterfront terminal is minimal.

Supporters of the Fairwinds project, slated to be located off Route 123 on former Navy fuel depot land, say the chances of such an attack are remote and should not be part of a public debate over the project’s merits.

“Harpswell is not a realistic target,” said Peter Micciche, spokesman for the Fairwinds project. “Terrorists are looking for the big kill. They’re not interested in two storage tanks and a small town population.”

Project opponents say the issue is relevant and needs to be discussed.

“We’re not making up the terrorist threat. It’s the U.S. government that is telling us to be concerned,” said Christopher Duval, spokesman for Fair Play for Harpswell, a citizen opposition group.

A town-wide vote whether to lease about 70 acres at the site to Fairwinds is scheduled for Jan. 20. The town would receive annual lease fee payments of more than $8 million for up to 50 years.

Fair Play for Harpswell brought up the terrorism threat this month after its consultant, Dr. James Fay, a professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, published a report: “Public safety issues at the proposed Harpswell LNG Terminal.” Fay claims that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency that will approve or reject the Fairwinds project, does not consider public safety risks if there is an LNG spill.

Micciche says the public should disregard Fay’s conclusions. He says Fay’s findings are not based on practical experience working with LNG.

“He is an institutional instructor with no energy experience,” Micciche said. “If LNG were as dangerous as he claims, why didn’t the U.S. government make a weapon out of it years ago?”

The group says they are also concerned about a newspaper article saying a terrorist attack on an LNG tanker in Boston Harbor would devastate neighborhoods there.

AP-ES-11-17-03 0216EST