The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has prepared a final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Downeast LNG project.
The project would provide about 500 million cubic feet per day of imported natural gas to the New England region. The proposed facilities would be located in Washington County, Maine, and include:
The U.S. Coast Guard; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; U.S. Department of Transportation; and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection served as cooperating agencies in the preparation of the EIS.
The FERC staff concludes that approval of the proposed project, with the mitigation measures recommended in the EIS, would ensure that most impacts in the project area would be avoided or reduced to less than significant levels. Construction and operation of the project would primarily result in temporary and short-term environmental impacts; however, some long-term and permanent environmental impacts would occur. These conclusions are supported by the following: