This week the Maine Board of Environmental Protection agreed to take jurisdiction over yet another liquified natural gas terminal being proposed for Washington County. The proposed Calais LNG, led by a former state representative, would consist of a terminal along the St. Croix River that would feed natural gas to the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline about 21 miles away.

Based on a number of requests from organizations including the National Park Service and the Conservation Law Foundation, the Maine BEP says it was appropriate to take jurisdiction over the Calais LNG project.

"The board found that the project met the standard for board jurisdiction, namely that it is a project of substantial public interest," says Cynthia Bertocci, the executive analyst for the Board of Environmental Protection, or BEP, which is made up of ten volunteer citizens appointed by the Governor.

The BEP will give the initial review and decision on the Calais LNG application. "The next step is to identify the entities that want to formally participate in the hearing process," Bertocci says. "These can include municipalities and organizations who want to officially participate and bring witnesses."

After that, a local hearing will be set. The BEP has not yet formed an opinion on the project, and Bertocci says it will conduct an object review.

David Van Slyke, the attorney for Calais LNG, says the decision to give the BEP jurisdiction was expected. "This project will bring exceptional value to Washington County as well as to the entire state in a number of different respects," he says. "Number one is it will provide a source of natural gas to industry. It will also be a source of natural gas for electric generation utilities, they'll be assuring lower electricity prices for Maine residents."

But not everyone agrees. Sean Mahoney of the Conservation Law Foundation says he also welcomes the BEP's involvement. His organization is opposed to the construction of Calais LNG.

"The environmental impacts associated with the project are adverse," Mahoney says. "The impacts are even more inappropriate given the lack of any need for the project from the perspective of our energy picture, or the inconsistency with Maine's energy goals - to move away from liquid hydrocarbons like gas and oil and more to renewable resources."

Mahoney says his group understands that there is substantial local interest for the project from an economic development perspective. But he says that in the long run, LNG investors and developers don't have Maine's best interests in mind.

"The project proponents have stated that they have spent three years and $25 million in getting this project together and the project is being funded by Goldman Sachs, which as been in the news quite a bit lately, you know their interests are for Goldman Sachs. They don't have much concern about the residents of Washington County or the environment of Maine," Mahoney says.

The Calais LNG terminal is estimated to cost between $800 million and $1 billion dollars. It wuld be sited on a 337-acre parcel also known as Red Beach, located between Route 1 and the St. Croix River. The site takes up about 2,800 feet of shoreline along the deep-water banks of the St. Croix River and Passamaquoddy Bay. Construction is proposed to be completed in 2014, and the facility would be linked to the Maritimes & Northeast pipeline nearly 21 miles away.

"Calais LNG is undergoing environmental review as well," says Tamara Young-Allen, a spokeswoman for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Washington D.C., which also reviews proposed LNG facilities. "They've filed their formal application December 18th. We issued a notice to the public in January seeking comment on the overall application."

Both the BEP and FERC must approve the project in order for it to be constructed. "Our staff is using the comments that were submitted by January 27th and beyond to craft their draft environmental impact statement," Young-Allen says.

Calais LNG is not the only LNG project proposed for Washington County. Proposals date back at least five years. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission dismissed an application from an Oklahoma-based developer for Quoddy Bay LNG in 2008 due to lack of information.

But last year FERC released a favorable draft environmental impact statement on a project proposed for Mill Cove in Robbinston, known as Downeast LNG. A final environmental impact statement on that project is expected soon.