Port Ambrose slammed at Long Beach hearing

Cuomo could veto project as early as Friday

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Hundreds of people crowded a hearing at the Long Beach Hotel on Monday night to voice their opinions on a controversial plan to build a liquefied natural gas import facility roughly 16 nautical miles off Jones Beach.

Port Ambrose, the facility proposed by Liberty Natural Gas LLC, would consist of a series of underwater pipelines and buoys that would facilitate the processing and pumping of tens of millions of gallons of natural gas through the Transco natural gas pipeline, which runs from South Texas to New York.

The company would need federal and state approval to build the terminal in federal waters, and Govs. Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie are both expected to weigh in on the project. Either one of them could bring the planning to an end with a veto.

The governors will have their first opportunity to rule on the proposal on Friday, and the window will close on Dec. 21, though the project’s opponents have expressed the hope that Cuomo will reach a decision soon. If neither governor acts, the project will move forward.

Additional public hearings were scheduled throughout the week, including another in Long Beach on Tuesday and two in New Jersey on Wednesday and Thursday.

Hundreds of residents, environmental groups and local officials presented near-unanimous opposition to the project throughout four hours of testimony on Monday. State Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky, Nassau County Legislator Denise Ford and all five members of the Long Beach City Council spoke out against it. County Legislator Laura Curran, who was unable to attend, sent a representative to speak on her behalf in opposition as well.

“Our natural resources in this community — our oceans, our beaches, our waters — are so precious to us,” Kaminsky said. “It defines who we are and what this community is. And to think that someone would propose something that presents a danger to that is simply reprehensible, and something that we’re not going to take.”

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