Saturday, September 4, 2004 6:15 pm

Gouldsboro residents debate effect of proposed LNG terminal

Associated Press

GOULDSBORO, Maine - Residents and officials of this coastal town say they´re not sure the economic boon of a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal would make up for the impact it could have on their way of life.

An LNG terminal likely would interrupt a 200-year tradition of lobstering, the livelihood of the town´s 125 resident fishermen, said Gouldsboro First Selectman Dana Rice, a lobster dealer.

He said that even though the local economy has suffered since 2002, when the Navy departed Goldsboro and Winter Harbor, residents want to preserve their lifestyles, even if it means turning down a hefty increase in local tax revenue and jobs at an LNG terminal.

"This is Birch Harbor, not Bayonne, New Jersey," Rice said. "I tend to think that´s a pretty valuable commodity."

Lobsterman Mark Young, 51, worked for 26 years as a chief engineer for Mobil Oil, operating tugboats that escorted oil tankers in and out of New York Harbor. That experience shaped his opinion of Pittsfield-based Cianbro Corp.´s proposal to build an LNG terminal at a former Navy facility off Route 195 in Corea.

"I just don´t think Prospect Harbor is the place for it," Young said. "One accident and you´ve destroyed the entire community."

The 1,000-foot-long tankers that would carry the liquefied gas to the proposed terminal could damage fishing gear off western Washington County and Mount Desert Island, as well as near Gouldsboro, Young said.

"I think it´s nuts," he said. "This entire area is dependent on the fishing industry. As far as I´m concerned, there´s too much that can go wrong with it."

Advocacy group Friends of Acadia is researching the impact an LNG terminal would have on the nearby Schoodic portion of the park but has not taken a position on the proposal, president Ken Olson said.

Cianbro plans to share as much information as possible with local fishermen and residents, company officials said.

"We´re going to be sensitive to their needs and their thoughts and opinions," company president Peter Vigue said. "The last thing we want to do is interrupt their lives and what they´ve got going there."

Cianbro representatives are scheduled to present a preliminary design for the proposed terminal at public meetings scheduled for Sept. 7 and Sept 9.