LNG tank insulation is highly flammable
The Boston Globe
By Beth Daley, Globe Staff | October 14, 2004

Federal agency reverses itself

Liquefied natural gas tankers use a highly flammable insulating material, the US Department of Homeland Security has acknowledged, reversing a statement the agency made in a May letter to a Massachusetts congressman.

US Representative Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts received a second letter from the agency last month correcting an earlier letter that said cargo insulation does not include the flammable foam polystyrene, the Mobile Register reported Tuesday.

Markey, who has serious concerns about LNG safety at a terminal in Everett, released the letter yesterday to highlight what he says is a lack of federal knowledge over the tankers' dangers.

''I'm concerned that neither the Coast Guard nor the Homeland Security Department have focused enough attention on the potential vulnerability of LNG vessels to terrorist attack," Markey said.

As US demand for natural gas grows, imports of the liquid gas -- so cold it pours -- is increasing. There are only four LNG terminals operating now in the United States, including the one in Everett, but at least 30 are proposed around the country.

In New England, a proposed LNG plant is the subject of a fierce battle in Fall River, and plans for other terminals have been floated in northern and southern Maine, Providence, and off Gloucester's coast.

Markey says the Homeland Security Department was unaware of the use of the flammable material until he informed them. In the letter released yesterday, Pamela Turner, assistant secretary for legislative affairs, wrote that the agency made a mistake, but she did not explain how that error occurred.

The Mobile Register has written a series of articles in recent months showing that polystyrene is the primary insulation on LNG ships.

Turner's letter said the Coast Guard and Sandia National Labs are working to ''determine the necessary and appropriate requirements for future maritime shipment of LNG in US waters."

Markey says the report is long overdue.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.