FREDERICTON, New Brunswick (AP) – New Brunswick is toughening its stance against the prospect of liquefied natural gas tankers traversing the province’s coastal waters to get to terminals in Maine.

Finance Minister Victor Boudreau said Tuesday the province has asked the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to suspend its review of proposed LNG terminals on the Maine side of Passamaquoddy Bay, which lies between the state and the province.

Boudreau said that given Ottawa’s decision not to allow LNG tankers to pass through Canadian waters at the narrow passage into the bay, any further consideration seems useless.

“What we’re saying is because the federal government has taken such a strong position – which is not to let these LNG vessels through Canadian waters – we’re saying how can FERC even consider these terminals if the vessels can’t get to them,” Boudreau said.

The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is reviewing applications from Quoddy Bay LNG and Downeast LNG to build gas import terminals on the Maine side of the bay.

Under the proposals, LNG tankers feeding the terminals would have to navigate through Head Harbour Passage, a narrow channel off the southwest coast of New Brunswick.

Canada considers the area to be internal Canadian waters. Proponents of the Maine LNG project say it is a territorial sea where international ships have right of passage.

Opponents contend that sharp rocks, strong currents, and even the Old Sow – one of the world’s largest ocean whirlpools – are all hazards for shipping in the area.

Tamara Young-Allen, a spokeswoman for FERC in Washington, said the quasi-judicial agency has received New Brunswick’s request that it cease reviewing the LNG applications.

“Motions are open to a 15-day comment period and then there’s a time for answers to those comments,” she said. “The commission will respond at some later time. In the meantime, our staff continues processing the applications.”

FERC staff are currently working on a draft environmental impact statement concerning the LNG projects. Following that draft report, there will be public hearings.

Boudreau said New Brunswick’s position on the issue is “evolving.”

While always opposed to the LNG projects, just last week Premier Shawn Graham appeared willing to leave a final decision in the hands of U.S. regulators.

“FERC will have the final say,” Graham said following a meeting with Maine Gov. John Baldacci.

The Canadian government has formally notified FERC that it will not allow LNG tankers through Head Harbour Passage.

AP-ES-02-27-07 1911EST