PORTLAND (AP) – Maine’s largest construction company is proposing to build a $300 million liquefied natural gas terminal in the Hancock County town of Gouldsboro.

Cianbro Corp. will go before the town next Thursday to present its plans for a terminal on 450 acres that were formerly part of a Navy surveillance base near Cranberry Point in Corea, a harbor on the town’s eastern shore. Town voters would have to approve the plan for the project to move ahead.

Pete Vigue, Cianbro’s president and chief executive officer, said an LNG terminal would be an economic benefit to the state. An increased gas supply could help reduce energy costs, he said.

Vigue acknowledged the controversy around LNG terminals in Maine, but maintained that Cianbro can build a terminal that won’t pose an undue threat to the environment.

“We believe there’s an opportunity to create a model facility that can coexist with a community,” he told the Portland Press Herald.

Cianbro’s proposal is the latest bid to bring in gas from overseas to help satisfy New England’s growing energy demand.

Maine’s Passamaquoddy Indians last month voted to negotiate with an Oklahoma-based energy development partnership to build an LNG terminal on a 42-acre site on Passamaquoddy Bay near Eastport. In March, voters in Harpswell rejected a proposal to build $350 million LNG proposal in town.

In Gouldsboro, Town Manager Brad Vassey said he expects residents at next Thursday’s meeting will have questions about the potential impact on fishing and the coastal environment. He expects opposition from the town’s growing number of retirees who have moved to town for its coastal scenery and beauty.

But he also believes Cianbro’s reputation as a respected Maine company will give Vigue some standing.

“I think the initial reaction will be negative,” Vassey said. “But if anyone can bring this off, I think it would be Pete Vigue.”

LNG is natural gas supercooled to liquid form for transport by sea in special tankers. Once at a terminal, it is converted back to vapor and pumped into pipelines. The Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline carries natural gas from Sable Island off Nova Scotia to markets in Maine and the Northeast.

Vigue said roughly 600 workers would be needed to build the terminal, and 100 to operate it. It could handle up to 1 million cubic feet of gas per day. The project would take at least three years to build, not including the time to obtain state and federal permits.

Cianbro, which is based in Pittsfield and has 2,000 employees, has worked on dozens of large industrial projects and has been involved with building two of the state’s gas-fired power plants. It recently finished two large oil rigs in Portland Harbor and has been trying to use its experience to expand into marine projects.

Vigue said he believes the Corea site is the best location in Maine for an LNG terminal because of its deep water and easy ocean access. The company also has identified two routes from the site to the Maritimes & Northeast pipeline; one is 40 miles, the other is 25 miles.

The site Cianbro has targeted was formerly used by the Navy for military surveillance operations. It was associated with the Navy base in nearby Winter Harbor, which closed in 2002.

Jack Cashman, the state’s economic development director, said the state supports development of an LNG terminal, but that it’s up to local communities to decide if they want to host a project.

Some environmental groups have suggested the state should conduct a comprehensive review of the best sites for an LNG terminal, but Cashman said that could take years and cost millions of dollars, and there would be no assurance that any town identified would support the project.

Many of the questions that would be raised can only be answered the federal and state permitting process, he said, which is why it makes more sense for towns such as Gouldsboro to weigh in first.

“We’re here to be helpful,” he said, “but it’s up to the local communities to signal their interest.”