Following more than two hours of discussion last week the South Portland City Council said it needs more time to decide whether to impose a six-month moratorium on a proposed new liquid propane facility at the Rigby Rail Yard.
To that end, the council said it would take up the topic again at a workshop scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 9.
Many neighbors to the rail yard, as well as others in the city, including Councilor Brad Fox, have expressed serious concerns about the new liquid propane operation being proposed by NGL Supply Co.
The concerns range from public safety to protecting the environment. In addition, many opposed to the project also question whether it actually complies with a city ordinance that limits how much flammable product can be stored at any one time.
Arguing in favor of the moratorium during the Oct. 14 workshop, Councilor Tom Blake said city leaders have a responsibility to listen and to take the appropriate time to handle such controversial issues correctly.
“The most important thing is to get the right answer,” he said. “I don’t take moratoriums lightly, but state law allows communities to impose moratoriums to slow things down and to do things properly.”
Councilor Patti Smith agreed and said that she’s always on the side of “going slow and being informed” in order to make the best decision possible.
She also argued that moratoriums are useful because “they allow us to understand complex things and I want to take a step back here.”
Councilor Melissa Linscott said she might be able to support a moratorium, but if the council moves forward with one, she said we “need a specific game plan.”
But Councilor Claude Morgan argued that city staff has already spent a considerable amount of time on the NGL proposal to move from the Portland waterfront to the rail yard in South Portland.
“I don’t want to belittle this topic,” he said, but added that the city has a lot of work to do and there are other priorities that require attention.
In late September NGL Supply Co. submitted a scaled back development proposal to the planning office, which calls for one, above-ground 24,000-gallon storage tank instead of the two, 60,000-gallon tanks the company originally requested this past spring.
The larger project was ultimately rejected as not complying with city codes and also led to the planning office implementing a “more deliberative” and “transparent” approval process, according to Planning Director Tex Haeuser.
This week Haeuser said his office has not yet completed its internal review of the latest site plan application from NGL and said the moratorium under consideration by the City Council could put the brakes on the liquid propane facility, depending on how the document is drafted.
In a press release issued after last week’s workshop, Kevin Fitzgerald, the regional operations manager for NGL Energy Partners, said, “We attended (the) workshop to listen carefully to our potential neighbors and community members because we value their input and look forward to answering their questions at an upcoming Planning Board meeting.”
Originally the planning office thought it might be able to refer the liquid propane project to the Planning Board at its Nov. 10 meeting, but with a possible moratorium on the table that may not happen.
Fitzgerald told the Current this week that NGL wants to move to the Rigby Yard because “propane arrives in this region via rail, requiring NGL and other distributors to (have) direct access (to) rail facilities.”
He also argued that concerns regarding the safety of the proposed facility are groundless because “for over 60 years, the Rigby Yard has served as a safe, efficient hub for local propane distribution.”
And, Fitzgerald said, “Engineering and operational analyses indicate (Rigby Yard) is the safest, most secure location to operate a new, smaller and more efficient (propane) facility.”
He also refused to speculate about the impact of a possible moratorium on NGL’s proposed new facility.
Overall, Fitzgerald said, it’s “our hope is to work cooperatively with residents and officials in South Portland to progress through an open and transparent review process and to eventually operate a best-in-class facility that complies with all existing city ordinances and fire safety codes.”
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