Fire Officials in Rhode Island Say Liquefied Natural Gas Company Should Meet Current Safety Rules

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- The Providence Fire Department told federal regulators a company that has proposed expanding a liquefied natural gas terminal in the capital city should have to comply with all current safety standards.

The fire department's opinion came in a letter sent to federal regulators on Monday, The Providence Journal reported.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is in the final stages of considering whether KeySpan LNG can expand its Fields Point facility so it can take deliveries by tanker ship instead of by truck.

KeySpan told federal regulators last month that the company is not legally required to meet current safety standards in order to expand.

KeySpan has said it is looking at some less expensive measures that it believes would adequately protect people from an LNG leak or a fire.

But the fire department reviewed KeySpan's proposed safety improvements and said they do not go far enough.

The department said the ''equivalency and effectiveness (of the safety measures) are questionable'' for reducing harm from a leak or fire.

The department also said it is concerned about the possibility that the mechanical fire suppression systems could fail or be tampered with by terrorists.

LNG is gas that has been cooled to minus-260 degrees Fahrenheit, the point at which it becomes a liquid. Although the liquid is not flammable, when it is exposed to air, the liquid evaporates and the air-gas mixture becomes highly volatile.

If a new LNG terminal was built today, current safety regulations would require a 21-acre buffer zone around the facility to protect existing facilities and people from the heat of a fire at the LNG terminal. But since KeySpan wants to expand an existing facility, it has said that the current regulations don't apply.

KeySpan ''respectfully disagrees'' with the fire department's position, according to spokeswoman Carmen Fields.

The company plans to file with the FERC a response once the company has had a chance to review the fire department's document.