The atmosphere is electric.
Last week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers made its final decision to grant a permit for the 22.7 million gallon liquefied propane storage tank proposed by ConocoPhillips Corp. for construction at Mack Point in Searsport.
Just last month, a referendum to delay approval of the project pending further findings of fact was defeated by Searsport residents, but resistance remains strong.
The pro-tankers characterize the anti-tankers as well-to-do out-of-staters who object to the visual effect of the huge tank, but the issue is a lot more complicated than that, involving questions of safety and economic loss.
Last Saturday, I attended a meeting of the anti-tank ThanksButNoTank.org group in Searsport, and was interested to note that there were some native Mainers in the group.
This group is focused on a local Searsport effort to stop the tank project, and they are determined to keep the dialog civil and rational — stressing such issues as safety, traffic congestion, road surface deterioration, suppression of tourism, loss of business revenue, loss of property values and, yes, visual impact. The pro-tankers are stressing jobs and tax revenues for the town.
Another more vocal, less well-organized, and less local group of anti-tankers — many of whose members are from surrounding towns — is less concerned with civil discourse and more with hard-hitting exposes of the proposed tank’s many potential negative externalities, comprising everything in the foregoing list, but with more alarm and urgency than is employed by the Thanks But No Tank group.
Referring to the ConocoPhillips project as the “Death Tank,” they stress the wholesale devastation that would result from a boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion of the tank and the multiplicity of things — terrorists, earthquakes, lightning strikes, power outages (the propane must be kept refrigerated at minus 44 degrees F), human error, etc. — that could cause such an explosion.
They stress that the energy content of the full tank exceeds half a megaton, equivalent to at least 33 Hiroshima-sized atom bombs, and claim that destruction by the burn front could reach past Bucksport, Camden and Blue Hill, with wildfires continuing as far as Bangor, Ellsworth and Rockland. The energy content figure, at least, has been confirmed by the head of the chemistry department at the University of Maine in Orono.
This grass-roots group also brings into focus the one significant concern that the Thanks But No Tank group has not yet addressed: the potential effects on surrounding municipalities that could ensue from Searsport’s unilateral decision to allow ConocoPhillips to locate the tank in their jurisdiction.
If the laundry list of potential negative effects were limited to Searsport, that would not be an issue, but clearly, the list is not so limited. Traffic congestion and road deterioration would affect all towns along the Route 1 corridor, and Route 1 itself would be subject to road surface deterioration along its whole length. Who pays?
Likewise, tourist-dependent businesses all along Route 1 would be affected by frequent tanker-truck traffic. Who compensates them?
Properties in neighboring towns with the tank in their viewscape would lose value. Who compensates for the loss?
ConocoPhillips has not been forthcoming with answers to these questions, but a barrage of emails to companyquestions@conocophillips.com might help.
There has been talk of class action lawsuits against both ConocoPhillips and the town of Searsport to compensate for losses attributable to the construction and operation of the tank.
Pro-tankers, if they worry about such negative consequences, suppress their worries in the greater interest of solidarity with what they see as their native Mainer peer group, which traditionally views job-creating industry and commercial development as desirable and beyond reproach.
ConocoPhillips has said there will be many short-term construction jobs and perhaps 14 permanent blue-collar jobs. Who gets them? Not specified.
Who pays for the unemployment benefits for the short-term workers when the work is done? Three guesses, and the first two don’t count.
To this writer, it seems clear that there is a whole lot more in play for the entire Midcoast from this project than the vague promise of a handful of jobs and tax revenue for Searsport. And most of the people who stand to lose from it haven’t even been allowed to weigh in on it. Isn’t our democracy supposed to protect us against this sort of thing?
David Laing is a resident of Stockton Springs.
They make these numbers up as thay go along. What is it about cargo port and industrial zone they don’t understand. Where they are putting it is been called a tank farm for at least 50 years.I’t used to be full of jet fuel.
I understand it. Go look at where this tank is going. It is almost on Rt. 1 and it
is about 5 times bigger than any other single tank at Mack point.
No other tanks are near Rt. 1.
I am not sure if you recall that we are at least somewhat concerned with
security since 9/11.
This is more of a risk and is much much more exposed than the whole rest of the tanks at Mack Point.
The tank is a wonderful source of much-needed employment and will make an attractive and novel addition to the mid-coast. I do think Mr. Laing could mention ConocoPhillips a bit more in his commentary as it isn’t really clear that he’s emphasizing the Big Oil/corporatist oppression of the unsuspecting folks of Searsport.
No, no it’s not.
You ignore it’s impact on existing distributors, you ignore the fact that the number of jobs is trivial, and that they are mostly temporary jobs, you ignore the hazard of having such a huge tank in the area.
The jobs lost because of this take could easily outnumber the temporary jobs you claim are gained.
But this is the problem with Maine, penny-wise, pound stupid; always looking to the quick buck, and to heck with the long term consequences, and too bad for the existing local businesses and employees, in favor of a big out of state corporation.
Not buying it. Not for a second.
Dude, I ignore nothing and I’m selling less. Suspicion of corporations is grassy knoll, the Red scare, and Billy Jack films all rolled into one. The tank rocks, man, and will bring desperately needed jobs to our Searsport brothers and sisters.
Novel in what way?
Making Searsport the armpit of Maine?
If this was 200 jobs, it might be worth thinking about.
This tank is being built to monopolize the propane industry in Maine, killing all the existing distribution. How many jobs are going to be lost for the 8-12 that they claim.
If this is such a great project, move it away from Rt. 1, inland a mile or two, where it is not a blight and it can be properly secured.
I do not agree with the fear mongering, but I am certainly against the compromising the most expensive properties in the state for this boondoggle.
Perhaps the tank could be placed right in town. It would be a real attention getter and could become another reason to pass through Searsport.
What are you on, it almost seems as if you are just jerking people’s chains with your insidious, mindless comments, “grassy knoll”, “red scare”. You call this tank “attractive”, suggest putting it right in town. This is what will happen to the still unique and beautiful relatively untouched State of Maine. This huge dangerous tank, the east/west highway for truckers (read tarsands oil and chemicals, TransCanada), using an old pipeline near Sebago Lake for the more acidic, more corrosive tarsands oil. Gradually, Maine will go the way of Pennsylvania as an example, where one town, Dimmock, PA has to have the EPA truck in usable, drinkable water because hydraulic fracturing all over the state is leaking methane into ground water. It’s happening all over the country, farm animals and others are being found dead, family pets. There’s more smog in Wyoming now than in Los Angeles.
Look, the tank is inevitable so we may as well make the best of it. Maybe it could be built so that traffic could drive “through” it as has been done with giant redwood trees.
BTW, nobody with a trace of sentience buys the Dimmock myth and frack scare-mongering.