This Tuesday, civic leaders from around Long Island, as well as concerned residents, will meet at the Allegria Hotel for a public hearing on the proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) port off the coast of Jones Beach.

Liberty Natural Gas is pitching the idea for the gas port, which will be named Port Ambrose, and will be located 19 miles south of Jones Beach.  Its pipelines will extend 2.5 miles from Long Beach and Atlantic Beach. Though no construction has begun on the proposed port, it is already drawing the ire of environmental groups across the island.

This past Monday, 135 environmental and advocacy groups penned a letter to the U.S. Maritime Administration asking them to extend the 22-day public comment period for the Port Ambrose project so that there is more time to educate residents about what the construction of a LNG port means to the.

“The general public has no idea about this project – what it is, what it isn’t, the pros and cons,” said Nassau County Legislator Dave Denenberg in a press conference. “A 22-day public comment period is insufficient and unacceptable. It should be extended to 120 days or four months.”

The LNG supplies will be shipped in from Trinidad, and each delivery will bring “an average of 400 million cubic feet of natural gas a day – enough gas to meet the energy needs of 1.5 million homes – and priced at a discount to competing long-haul pipeline supplies,” according to the Port Ambrose website.

“We are proud to have the support of both business and labor leaders as well as others in Long Island for the Port Ambrose project,” said Roger Whelen, CEO of Liberty Natural Gas, in a statement. “These leaders realize that this project will provide 600 good paying jobs, invest over $90 million into the local economy and will help reduce and stabilize energy prices for New York consumers during the peak winter and summer months while utilizing state of the art environmental technologies.”

The first public hearing will take place at the Allegria in Long Beach from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday evening.

[Source: Long Beach Patch, PortAmbrose.com]