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Memorializing Council's opposition to the proposed project to expand PGW's Port Richmond liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility into an import terminal facility, and expressing Council's intention not to enact any legislation needed to implement that project, and further expressing Council's unqualified opposition to any project that would create an LNG shipping terminal within the City of Philadelphia or that would cause loaded LNG tankers to regularly traverse the Delaware River alongside the City of Philadelphia.
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WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) has issued Requests for Proposals for a project that would expand PGW's Port Richmond liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility into an import terminal facility that would receive regular shipments of LNG from tankers that would traverse the Delaware River all along its Philadelphia frontage; and
WHEREAS, The potential risk created by terrorists targeting LNG shipments has been well documented. The Sandia National Laboratories, in a report entitled "Guidance on Risk Analysis and Safety Implications of a Large Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Spill Over Water," concluded that a terrorist attack on a LNG tanker, in the worst case scenario, could cause second-degree burns to people more than a mile away from the tanker. Further, are port issued in May 2005 by national security analyst Richard Clarke, at the request of Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch, concluded that such a terrorist attack was consistent with the demonstrated intent and capability of known terrorist organizations; that there "is also a basis to judge that likely enhanced security measures would not significantly reduce the risk," and that there are "significant grounds to conclude that a high risk exists of catastrophic damage from the types of attacks terrorists are capable of mounting"; and
WHEREAS, It is difficult to imagine a worse location for an LNG shipping terminal than Port Richmond. The proposed terminal would requir...
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