Subject: FERC DEIS Meetings In Florida (Gulfstream - Buccaneer Projects)
From: [email-masked]
To: [email-masked]
Cc: [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2000 02:05:00 -0700 (PDT)

Jim,

Just wanted to pass along some information that I have received within the 
last week.  It is my understanding, from two separate reliable sources in the 
environmental community in Florida that the round of FERC held meetings 
related to gathering comments on the "Draft Environmental Impact Statements" 
(DEIS) were widely different between the Gulfstream Project and the Buccaneer 
Project.   Their comments are summarized as follows:

Gulfstream Project
 - Meetings held at four separate locations
 - No more than a total of 25 people attended any one meeting.  Groups was 
cordial and quiet.
 - Only 4 or 5 people spoke and had no negatives about Gulfstream.  Main 
comments related to pipeline     safety and the Carlsbad incident.

Buccaneer Project
 - Meetings held at four separate locations
 - In Pasco County Meeting - 300 people attended with some picket lines 
formed outside the meeting place.     150 speakers signed up to speak and 
were all protesting the siting of the pipeline in Pasco County.  Many of    
the landowners said that they would never sign an agreement with Buccaneer 
and they would fight the line.
 - Remainder of meetings were relatively benign with minor protests (about 6 
to 10 speakers at each).

The Third Party Environmental Contractor working for the FERC on the EIS 
commented to me last week that he thought the Final EIS would be out by the 
end of the year on both projects.  He said that both (he thought) would be 
approved with more environmental and landowner conditions in the Buccaneer 
order than for Gulfstream.  

Again, this is shared as an "FYI".  I hope it helps.  John Shafer