FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) – City and state officials are mounting another legal effort to stop a proposed liquefied natural gas site in Fall River.

The officials plan to gather at the proposed site at Weaver’s Cove on Friday to announce the filing of a petition with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to force the U.S. Department of Transportation to adopt standards that would dictate where liquefied natural gas terminals can be located.

The newest legal maneuver is a joint effort of Fall River Mayor Ed Lambert, Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly and Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch.

Mike Healey, a spokesman for Lynch, said they’re calling on the court to compel federal transportation authorities to prescribe minimum safety standards in determining the location of a new facility. He said the two attorneys general and the mayor believe the transportation department had failed to adopt safety standards set forth by the Pipeline Safety Act of 1979, a federal law.

Fall River officials recently announced that they would appeal a ruling that allows the permitting process to move forward.

Lambert says Hess LNG provided incorrect information about the potential impacts of the project, a proposed $250 million LNG terminal on the banks of the Taunton River.

An aide to Reilly declined to comment on the petition Thursday.

Gov. Mitt Romney opposes the Fall River LNG plan, but has voiced support for a plan to create an offshore terminal on Outer Brewster Island at the edge of Boston Harbor.

Critics fear the Fall River LNG plant could endanger residents.

According to one government study, if a tanker were breached during an accident or a terror attack, its flammable contents could start a fire capable of inflicting second-degree burns on those within a mile of the terminal.

Almost 64,000 people in Rhode Island and Massachusetts live along a tanker route proposed by Weaver’s Cove Energy and Hess LNG, project critics said.

AP-ES-09-07-06 1854EDT