Southern Newfoundland LNG plant ready to roll: proponent

A company planning to build a $1.5-billion liquefied natural gas terminal in southern Newfoundland says it intends to start construction as soon as possible.

St. John's-based Newfoundland LNG Ltd. received federal government approval Monday for a terminal at Grassy Point, Placentia Bay.

"Its a very exciting moment for the company," president Mark Turner told CBC News.

"This is the final hurdle from both the provincial minister and the federal minister hopefully, we may be able to break ground in the fall or maybe next spring."

The LNG plant is just one large industrial project pitched for the already busy waters of Placentia Bay, which is already home to the North Atlantic oil refinery at Come By Chance and a transshipment terminal at Whiffen Head, which handles oil pumped from the Grand Banks.

Fishermen who rely on the waters for their trade have long complained the LNG and other proposals including a second oil refinery, Vale Inco's planned nickel processing facility at Long Harbour, and a proposed expansion at Come By Chance are squeezing themout.

"Its a bit like scooting across the 401 [highway] in your tricycle," said Earle McCurdy, president of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union, describing the growing shipping traffic in Placentia Bay.

"All these are putting a tremendous amount of additional traffic into a bay that already has a lot of fishing activity."

Turner said the company will need to hire 70 people to prepare the site which will include docking facilities and tanks and to build roads.

At peak, construction for the LNG plant will involve about 400 workers, and about 125 employees will be employed when the terminal is operational.

Although there have been concerns about a potential lack of skilled labour to handle coinciding industrial projects, which also include the pending Hebron offshore oil development, Turner said he is confident that the company will have enough workers.

He said he has spoken with trade unions whose workers are ready to come home from Alberta for the project.