Proposed Calypso LNG Deepwater Port Hosts Open House to Educate Broward Community about Liquefied Natural Gas

Fort Lauderdale, FL - On May 28, 2008 an informational public Open House was held at the International Game Fish Association Headquarters (IGFA) for Broward County, Florida residents and interested parties to learn more about the proposed Calypso Liquefied Natural Gas Deepwater Port (DWP) (http://www.calypsodwp.com). This safe and environmentally-friendly Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project is being designed to be located approximately 8 to 10 miles offshore of Broward County, Florida northeast of Port Everglades, and will provide South Florida with a much-needed new supply of natural gas.

Local Florida residents, public officials and media attended the forum to hear remarks from SUEZ Energy North America and the U.S. Coast Guard and participate in a question and answer session. The meeting, led by an outside moderator, focused on putting to rest any questions about the safety and security of the project.

Dan McGinnis, Vice President and project manager of the Calypso DWP, gave a comprehensive overview of the project and addressed many of the concerns that have very recently come to the project team’s attention. He opened the meeting with a bold statement of commitment, “I want to say something to you that I, and those who have decades of experience in this business know – this project is safe. I, my company and the capable people in the U.S. Coast Guard would not allow this project to be built if it couldn’t be operated safely. Period.”

Representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard spoke about the issued Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Independent Risk Assessment, both of which affirmed the Calypso DWP is safe and poses minimal risk to the environment. Their reports state that even in a worst case credible scenario, coastal communities would not be harmed in any way. Additionally, there is no evidence to prove or even suggest that Calypso DWP would be a more attractive terrorist target than any other energy facility, tall building or public meeting area in Broward County, Florida.

“A few people may conjure up a variety of unrealistic cataclysmic scenarios to support their unwarranted fears,” said Barry Heimlich, president of the Florida Energy Imperative, a non-profit organization that advocates energy conservation, clean energy alternatives, and greenhouse gas emission reduction. “But the truth is that natural gas has been safely used to produce electricity for decades, and it emits 40 to 50 percent less greenhouse gases than oil or coal. The Calypso Deepwater Port will provide a second reliable source of natural gas to meet Florida's growing demand while energy conservation methods and solar, wind and other non-emitting power technologies are developed and deployed. And, it will be over eight miles offshore – far from sight.”

The Calypso DWP team has worked to carefully complete all aspects of the permitting process, taking many steps to abide by the environmental and safety requirements of the numerous regulatory agencies involved over the last five years. McGinnis noted that the meeting last night followed five years of community outreach, including public hearings.

“We have had an open dialogue with more than 40 local environmental organizations and community groups for years, working hard to ensure the Calypso design reflects a harmony of their needs,” said McGinnis. “Rising energy prices affect everyone, and the Calypso Deepwater Port is a safe, environmentally-friendly solution to Florida’s ever-growing need for clean energy.”


The Calypso Deepwater Port is an anchor and buoy system that will deliver natural gas to an undersea pipeline. The facility will be designed to moor specially built tankers that store and transport Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). The Liquefied Natural Gas will be returned back into natural gas on board the ship before being transferred to an undersea pipeline. It will have the capacity to deliver over 1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas, the equivalent of approximately 25 percent of Florida’s peak demand for natural gas on a hot summer day, to an onshore interconnect in Florida.

The safety record of LNG ships exceeds any other sector of the shipping industry. In its 45-plus year shipping history, encompassing 40,000 voyages and 100 million miles worldwide, there has never been a breach of a cargo tank on an LNG ship. Currently there are more than 150 Liquefied Natural Gas tankers safely transporting more than 110 million metric tons of LNG annually to ports around the world. SUEZ is a highly experienced importer of LNG and has successfully operated Liquefied Natural Gas facilities in the U.S. and Europe for decades. For more information on the facts about LNG and Calypso Deepwater Port, please visit www.calypsodwp.com and sign up for an RSS feed.

SUEZ Energy North America
Julie Vitek 713 636 1962 (Office) julie.vitek@suezenergyna.com

About SUEZ Energy North America

Based in Houston, SUEZ Energy North America, Inc. is the business unit of SUEZ Energy International responsible for managing SUEZ’s positions within the energy value chain in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, including electricity generation and cogeneration, natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG), asset-based trading and origination, and retail energy sales and related services to commercial and industrial customers.

SUEZ Energy North America owns and/or operates a total of 46 power, cogeneration, steam, and chilled-water facilities, including those in construction, representing a capacity of more than 5,660 MW of electricity generation, 6.0 million pounds per hour of steam, and 41,973 tons per hour of chilled water. SUEZ Energy North America’s wholly owned subsidiary, Distrigas of Massachusetts, owns and operates a liquefied natural gas receiving terminal in Everett, Mass., which began operations in 1971 and currently serves most of the gas utilities in New England and key power producers, meeting approximately 20 percent of New England’s annual gas demand. In addition, SUEZ Energy North America has two LNG deepwater port projects under development off the coasts of Massachusetts and Florida. SUEZ Energy International is a business line of SUEZ, which is an international industrial and services Group that employs 149,000 people worldwide. For more information about these companies and their activities, please visit the following Web sites:

SUEZ: www.suez.com
SUEZ Energy International: www.suezenergyint.com
SUEZ Energy North America: www.suezenergyna.com

This release was published on openPR.