Anti-LNG rally draws hundreds
Daniel Fowler, Herald News Staff Reporter,
9/3/2004
If the fight to prevent
Hess LNG from constructing a liquefied natural gas import terminal
in the city were a boxing match, then Fall River had its heavyweights
throwing punches Thursday when the region's two congressmen spoke
out against the project and encouraged area residents to continue
their battle against the facility.
Democratic U.S. Reps. James McGovern and Barney Frank made their
remarks first at a rally at Bicentennial Park and then at an
informational session at St. Michael Parish on Essex Street.
"We are going to fight this until we win and this LNG facility
moves far, far away from Fall River," McGovern told the
crowd at Bicentennial Park. "For far too long, this city
has been a dumping ground, but that ends tonight."
A joking Frank suggested to the roughly 300 people at the park
that maybe it wouldn't be so bad if the new Brightman Street
Bridge continued to move forward at a snail's pace, because the
bridge has to be built for Hess LNG to proceed with its project.
"I never thought I'd be ambivalent about opening the Brightman
Street Bridge that I've been working on for 20 years," Frank
said.
Like McGovern, Frank vowed to win the fight against Hess LNG.
Frank warned Hess LNG that it should back out of the project
now "or press forward and lose ... a few years from now,
millions of dollars down the road."
Mayor Edward M. Lambert Jr.,
Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, state Rep. David
B. Sullivan, City Councilor Joseph Camara and a variety of other
politicians from both Massachusetts and Rhode Island spoke at
either one or both of the functions, which were held just days
before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's public hearings
on Hess LNG's proposal.
The FERC is ultimately responsible for deciding whether to approve
Hess LNG's plan to construct an LNG facility off North Main Street
at the former Shell Oil site.
McGovern said getting so many
politicians to appear together was important."There is power
in numbers," McGovern said. "If we are going to fight
and win we have to stand together."
Lynch scolded Hess LNG and Keyspan, the company that wants to
build an LNG facility in Providence, for thinking about profit
over people. "What we have is a rush to line pockets while
jeopardizing communities," Lynch said at the rally. "We
need to stand together and send the message that it's not just
about profit."
Many at the rally held up anti-LNG
signs with slogans ranging from the simple, "No LNG,"
to the more creative, "Leave Now Gordon," a reference
to Weaver's Cove Energy CEO Gordon Shearer.
Throughout the rally, many of the politicians harped on the same
concept that the project is "not a done deal." "We
are going to defeat this," Sullivan said at Bicentennial
Park. "When people say this is a done deal, I say no way."
Sullivan also called on Republican Gov. Mitt Romney to take a
stance on the project. "Where are you, Romney?" he
asked.
At one point during his address at the rally, Lambert, who organized the event and served as the master of ceremonies, got the crowd to chant, "Hell no, Hess must go." "We should not believe this is a done deal," Lambert said. "We should stand up and fight."
Some people, including McGovern and Frank, made the milelong walk from the park to the church to protest Hess LNG's proposal. As the protesters marched, a single drummer continuously beat his drum and police blocked off the roadways to allow them to pass safely. At the church, Al Lima, a member of the Coalition for the Responsible Siting of LNG Facilities, gave a PowerPoint presentation to about 300 people on the dangers of LNG and many of the politicians once again spoke.
Debra Fastino, a city resident
who attended both of the events, said she was pleased with the
politicians' participation. "They are supposed to represent
the people and they did a good job of that today," Fastino
said. "People think they can push the people of Fall River
around, but I believe today's rally and other rallies have shown
otherwise."