The Bangor Daily News encourages comments about stories, but you must follow our terms of service.

In brief:

1. Keep it civil and stay on topic
2. No vulgarity, racial slurs, name-calling or personal attacks.
3. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked.

The primary rule here is pretty simple: Treat others with the same respect you'd want for yourself. Here are some guidelines (see more):

It should be noted this is not a comprehensive list.

• Don't insult one another or the subjects of BDN stories. You may be ticked off at what someone did or said, but you can explain that without resorting to name-calling or obscenity. Remember that young people are on this site too.
• That nasty line that makes your buddies go "haw, haw"? You're better than that.
• Comments should be your own work, not copied and pasted from elsewhere, though brief quoted passages to make your point are fine. And please don't use all capital letters. There's no need to shout.
• Stay focused on the issue in the article. Off-topic posts will be deleted.
• This isn't a forum to chat about your personal life.
• Some ideas — the fate of the earth, abortion, gun control, the nature of God — aren't going to be resolved in a reader forum, so no need to get frustrated if others don't see your point of view. State your position once and leave it at that.
• If you mouse over each comment you will see a "Flag" button. Please use it if you feel comments on the site are out of line. Quite often, we won't see a comment until it's reported.
• Questions about why a comment was — or wasn't — deleted? E-mail us at web@bangordailynews.com and let us know your username and where you posted or saw the comment.

• Anonymous

  If they build this thing, Searsport can forget about ever being a place where a tourist would stop.  90% of this State is wilderness and they have to drop this thing on a scenic coast in the middle of town?

• Guest

  Tank or No Tank

  Part of me can see what this would mean for the rest of the state
  Part of me understands that it would detract from the landscape
  While it would be a fantastic job creator, economic builder and asset to everyone, the fact is that things do go boom. Can this company put up a bond or insurance policy if something happens?

  At the end of the day, much like Quimby’s Nightmare National Park proposal, it’s up to the voters of that town to decide!

  Not investors, not the treehuggers, but the town of Searsport

• Anonymous

  I believe most of these people are probably trust funders who do not have to work for a living, or they are people who believe their businesses will be affected by this development. I live near by to, but I believe that construction workers need to eat too, So I support this project. The last I knew the unemployment rate for commercial construction workers was still around 25%. How does that grab ya?

• Anonymous

  Not many tourists stop anymore anyway, because there isn’t any.

• Anonymous

  So why not go with two smaller tanks so they aren’t as tall, and thus less noticeable?  Perhaps a beauty strip of evergreens is in order as well?

• Anonymous

  If they build this thing, Searsport can forget about ever being a place where a tourist would stop. 90% of this State is wilderness and they have to drop this thing on a scenic coast in the middle of town?     
  *****************************************************
  How do you think WE feel in Frankfort, possibly having 6 industial wind turbines that are more than 3 times the height of the 138 ft. tall propane tank in Searsport?

• Anonymous

  Do you know of any local contractors with experience in building propane tanks?  DCP has made no promise to hire local people, not in the building phase, nor in the permanent running of the operation.  (In their own words, it will require 12-14 people, essentially filling attendants.)  Meanwhile, Angler’s Restaurant will be forced to close due to its proximity to the site, and its 45 employees will join the ranks of the unemployed.
  You don’t have to lose sleep over DCP though–they posted a profit of 2.6 billion last quarter, and I’m sure the Searsport project will increase their coffers substantially.

• Anonymous

  Why have it here at all?  It will not benefit the community at all.  Fewer than 6% of Mainers heat their homes with liquid propane gas.  DCP isn’t just an out-of-state company, it’s a multi-national corporation.  The gas will come from Qatar, even though there is an abundant supply right here in this company.
  The oil sheiks  of the middle East and their bedfellows in this country will get richer and Searsport, and surrounding towns, will take it in the shorts.

• Anonymous

  “A fantastic job creator, economic builder and asset to everyone…”
  Please explain.  I live in Searsport and would love to know what you mean by this.
  By the way, DCP is an LLC.  That means, in layman’s terms, it ain’t their fault and they ain’t paying.

• Anonymous

  why would anglers close?

• Anonymous

  It is not natural gas it is lp gas, please get your facts straight.

• Anonymous

  The tank will be directly behind the restaurant. It is going to be noisy, smelly, and will vibrate. There will be trucks going in and out of there at the rate of up to one every 10 minutes. I’m guessing those are the reasons. The owner has stated emphatically that he will close. Who wants to eat dinner with that going on next door?

• Anonymous

  Sounds like B.S. to me, the construction workers will probably stay in his motel no tell, and eat at his restaurant. Last I knew rt 1 is not a very peaceful or serene place anyway.

• Anonymous

  you should be thankful for the property tax relief.

• Guest

  DenverConocoPhillips is bringing in welders from out of state to build this thing.  When it’s done, they go back home and take their salary with them.  How does that grab ya?

  Meanwhile we’re left with a tank that nobody needs… except for DenverConocoPhillips.  When was the last time you couldn’t get your propane tank filled?  Thought so.

  If by some uninformed chance you still think those 14 gas pumper/tank wiper jobs are a good enough reason to shut down a popular restaurant with 45 LOCAL employees on staff, you should check out DCP’s PR rep who is already saying some of those 14 jobs will be filled by their own people, moved here from out of state.

  Please do some basic fact-checking before talking smack on other people with nothing more than your own “beliefs” to fall back on.

• Anonymous

  Got it, thanks.
  Buddy Hall is in Florida at the moment, but you could stop by at the restaurant and talk to his daughter.

• Anonymous

  Sounds like Mr. Hall is not very concerned.

• Anonymous

  Double standard right there, people will be all against this thing cause it’s an eye sore, but if it was a wind turbine somewhere else where they don’t have to see it, it’s ok put em up in droves.

• Guest

  I am not advocating this, or opposing it in any way, but merely pointing out the fact that it would create many well paying jobs, stimulate businesses that need it and increases revenue within the town.
  The drawback is not so much in the manmade monolith it would create, but more so the hazard it would pose. Many proponents will preach its safety, but history is dotted with projects that were guaranteed to be safe. The town should require a bond or insurance policy of some kind.

  The only thing I really wanted to point out is that ultimately it is up to you the town to decide if it wants it, and not up to the project developers or treehuggers.

• Guest

  I can understand your objection to the smell, the eyesore it creates, but the market is much greater than you think, it does provide many well paying jobs, the much needed revenue it provides to your town, alternative fuels to many area businesses, and the economic ripple effect to area businesses.

  But if you want a real hard core objection, its in safety. These are dangerous and its your right and responsibility to force your town officials to demand a bond, and or insurance policy of some form.

• Anonymous

  As someone who went to school in Searsport and was forced to move south due to the fact that there are no jobs in the aera I must say you all need to get a clue!!! So many of your children have been forced to move away. Why would you not welcome jobs to the town?? Construction jobs building it, other jobs once its up and running, and as far as truck traffic, just look at the old Irving gas station. Remember when there was enough truck traffic to support a 24 hour resturant??? Well guess what, not anymore!! And when those trucks were on the road it didn’t seem to bother the tourist who just blow through on the way to bar harbor!!! Come on Waldo County. The leaders of tomorrow are depnding on the leaders of today to do the right thing! 

• Anonymous

  you should be thankful for the property tax relief.     
  ********************************************
  What property tax relief?  You’re joking, right?  My dear, property taxes never go DOWN.  This pittance that we may gain in property tax paid by Eolian will just be a prize in the x-mas stockings of the selectmen.  By law, it cannot be used for the school or to lower property taxes.  So, at town meeting, everybody and their brother (in town and out of town) will be holding their hands out for us to fund their pet projects.  oh, and btw, our mill rate is very reasonable…we tend not to spend what we don’t have. 

• Anonymous

  Not many tourists stop anymore anyway, because there isn’t any.     
  *******************************************************
  Tourist season is winding down—the leaves have changed and dropped.  It picks back up again in April.  (btw, tourists is plural…your modifier should be “aren’t”, not “isn’t”)

• Anonymous

  I am not advocating this, or opposing it in any way, but merely pointing out the fact that it would create many well paying jobs, stimulate businesses that need it and increases revenue within the town.******************************************************
  ok, merely SAYING that it “creates jobs…etc” does not mean it actually DOES.  Please explain how many well-paying jobs will be created, what type of jobs they are, how long they will last, what businesses will be ‘stimulated’ and how, and how much revenue will the town realize(property tax?) with the knowledge that DPC will most likely ask for or apply for a TIF, thus reducing their overall property tax liability.  I think this is what mrstobb was asking. 

• Anonymous

  I think you are so full of B.S. that your trust funder breath stinks, they could and will hire local labor, it is cheaper than paying per diem for out of state workers, I have 20 plus years of construction experience, and have seen this time after time.     
  **********************************************************
  Did you work on the gas pipeline back in 1999?

• Anonymous

  Sounds like B.S. to me, the construction workers will probably stay in his motel no tell, and eat at his restaurant.
  ******************************************************
  Why would the workers need to stay at his motel if they’re all locals?

  uh oh…could it be that they’re NOT locals?……

• Guest

  Ok-
  The jobs it will require to build it
  The ongoing operations to keep it going
  The economic ripple effect to area business
  Revenue from the taxes it will pay the town of Sears Port
  The jobs that will be derived by this coming into the Sears port area
  The jobs it will provide in many areas that this used throughout Maine

  And maybe it might stimulate enough revenue so that the less fortunate can go back to school to learn about the mechanics of economic development, so they wouldnt have to ask such questions!

  Like I said, I am not in favor of this one way or another, but if you want to keep them out, it is the safety issue you should be focused on.

   

• PaulNotBunyan

  It’s one thing to tell me what the odds are of that thing exploding. It’s entirely another thing to tell me what it would be like if it ever happens. The size of it and the proximity to populated areas are important factors. Where else can they put it?

• Anonymous

  I live in Searsport and am a working person.  I  am very concerned about this project.  With regard to jobs, it is only projected to bring 10 or 15 jobs.  More than that would be lost if the businesses already here, like the Angler restaurant, leave.   Property values are projected to drop forty percent.   I’ll be encountering more big trucks on the road as I go to and from work on route one.  The safety issues haven’t been addressed, especially for those of us who live less than a mile away.  Seems like a big loss for Searsport.  

• Anonymous

  The jobs that are needed to build it will be filled by their own contractors/builders, not local contractors—not even Cianbro.  The jobs will be temporary and they will take their pay back home with them when they are done.

  As mrstobb said, there will be 12-14 permanent jobs, mostly filling attendants.  I’m not complaining about that—it’s steady work, it’s a job.  However, if this tank is detrimental to OTHER jobs in the area (like when Wal-Mart moves in and prices Mom-and-Pop stores out of business) the existance of these 12-14 new jobs doesn’t matter.

  I am sorry I donot see the “ripple effect” that these 12-14 new positions will have on the nearby businesses, especially if those businesses close.  I seriously doubt these employees are going to eat lunch at the surrounding restaurants every day—I think they may only be able to afford to pack a lunch—maybe go to Subway or Dunkin’ Donuts.  Well, ok, they’ll probably buy gas at  Mobil or Maritime Farms, and get coffee there—I’ll give you that ;-)  But the propane drivers who fill there are already working—it’s not like Webber or Maine Energy is going to hire MORE drivers just because this million gallon tank gets built.  In fact, Irving and Maine Energy hire seasonal propane (and oil) drivers—they don’t have year-round work.  You don’t heat your home in the summer….

  The taxes paid to Searsport—I don’t know the estimated amount—maybe mrstobb knows?  But is that potential tax income worth the potential bad consequenses it brings?

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NXPTPFL746OV2VGR5WBOEUF6W4 Roger

  Hey they can build it on my land if they want!!

  What is with people? We got people camping in parks whining the people with money are not nice and they want to be able to take there money. Then when someone decides to actually build something in Maine to create jobs and benefit  us we now got a bunch of folks whining about the view and this is not the right place for this. It might even make prepare a bit cheaper but I aint holding me breath!

  People wonder why business do not want to come here. Then when one does they get all this flack because of the way it looks and there will be a few more trucks moving goods!

• Guest

  You win.

• PaulNotBunyan

  You should be fine at that distance. It’s just a few million gallons of an explosive substance under a wee bit of pressure. Nothing to worry about.

• Anonymous

  These people hate the poor and all who are struggling to stay warm and somehow get by.
  Their actions prove it.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NXPTPFL746OV2VGR5WBOEUF6W4 Roger

   Why do so many people have such little understanding of basic economics. They want to build one big one because it is far cheaper then two smaller ones that would contain the same amount.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NXPTPFL746OV2VGR5WBOEUF6W4 Roger

   10 or 15 jobs is much better then 10 or 15 folks on welfare.

  Why would business close? A restaurant that is likely to sell a few more lunches a week?

  Property values drop? Whats the downside to that? That means you pay lass in taxes. Why do you think they will drop anyway?

  Then the last point the one that erks me. Big trucks scare you cause there dangerous? Really? FYI trucks have far less accidents then cars do. A very large percentage of truck accidents are caused by CARS. Also those who drive hazmat trucks ( those trucks requiring placards transporting explosives, or other hazardous items ) are the best drivers out there as a group hazmat drivers have the best safety record of any professional drivers. You have to very diligent to drive hazmat there are rules they follow that would make most people go nuts. Hazmat drivers also tend to be very high millage drivers who stay at the same job and company for most of there miles.  If cars where held to the same safety standards trucks and professional drivers are then “accidents would drop by 80 plus percent.

• Anonymous

  Roger, imagine taking out a loan for $100.000 on a property valued at $100,000. Then, the value of that property drops to $80,000, but you still have to pay the $100,000 loan. You just lost $20,000. That’s just one downside to property values dropping.

• Anonymous

  Why cant this monstrosity be built in Scenic New Jersey?

• Anonymous

  That’s mil not mill.

• Anonymous

  Just because you overpaid doesn’t mean you get to decide what other people do on their private property…sorry

• Anonymous

  LP Gas is sold in bulk. Has the company discussed the retail pricing impact? LP Prices should go down.  Restaurants use propane. Should prices go down it will help their bottom line and yours, propane user or not. This is to be built at Mack Point not on Sears Island. Would Sears Island prove a better spot? 

• Anonymous

  Yes, 10 or 15 jobs at the terminal site. But there will also be jobs created as more and more people convert to propane vs oil for heating. Maine has alot of Merchant Marines that could get jobs delivering the propane,  techs installing and maintaining boilers, local delivery drivers bringing it to your door, lower costs for all that use propane. This is already a working port. This one tank is not going to make Mack Point any more or any less an industrial site. Hell, paint a big lobster on it and Searsport will have more than antique shops and flee markets to hail as their tourist anchor.

• Anonymous

  You think we got it bad, check out the top ten in the country for value drops. for example. Ft Lauderdale area housing values have dropped 40 to 50 % since their high in 2008. This is from a bad nationwide econonomy. You shouldn’t just assume that values will drop from building a propane tank in an already functioning industrial area.

• Anonymous

  I am a local resident and rely on propane for fuel. Until I don’t, I am in support of greater supply (unless, like natural gas, it isn’t available for general use.) There is a tank farm already there and it is an industrial port.

  However, I’d like to know the impact of the giant tank on local (I’m talking Waldo County here) propane costs. Where are these trucks heading? If they’re going to Bangor for distribution, why not put the tank  up in Hampden at their nasty tank farm, or maybe along that (boring/nasty) stretch of riverfront that Bangor’s so proud of behind Hollywood slots.

  A lot of Searsport/Stockton waterfront residents are retired out of state folks. I worry about their reaction more than the foks at Angler’s Restaurant.

• Anonymous

  Not easy to anchor a ship in Sandy Bay Twp. or Misery Gore.

• Anonymous

   Probably Maine workers that have to go to other states to find a decent job leave all the money they make in the state they were working. I don’t think so.

• Anonymous

  No, they are dropping it at an oil terminal. Seems like the logical place to me.

• Anonymous

  Ok, say if they don’t build this propane tank, Is Anglers or anyone else going to move a tourist business right next to the terminal? I don’t think so.

• Anonymous

  You are missing the point, if part of the problem is the scenic aspect.  If that is the major hurdle to pass then other options should be explored, either moving the site which isn’t likely, or finding some way to minimize it’s view.

• Anonymous

  Too many trucks already…

• Anonymous

  …”The tank would have tree buffers and wouldn’t stand out much more than the tanks already at the site…”
  Are they going to plant 140 foot tall trees to obscure the tank???   Trees make great places for lightning to strike. Kaboom! Tank gone, Mack Point gone.

• Anonymous

  Somehow I cannot believe that to add a new LPG storage tank, to an already existing tank farm, is too much to worry about.  But that doesn’t seem to dampen the wild hysteria over this proposal.

  Mr Parr, pictured above, had a wild rant in the letters  section of the BDN ealier this week. He said that a huge fire could ensue that the volunteer fire depts could not put out, that this could spread large forest fires that could doom other area towns, and on and on. I guess his theory is to make the accusations as wild as possible. as that is just what they are.

  LPG stands for Liquid Propane Gas, a product that is used every single day, in every single town all across the USA and has been for years. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of trucks, from the 3000 gal home delivery truck to the 10,000 gal tanker, that safely carry this product already, even in Searsport, ME. If you have a barbecue grill in you back yard chance are high it runs on this fuel.  It is already with us folks and in everyday use by millions, all over the land.  This is NOT some space age project.

  Every fire dept in the country is already familiar with the techniques for fighting propane fires, this is not new stuff!

  To me, putting this in an already developed industrial area with an existing large tank farm, makes perfect sense. Those who complain about the view, are already seeing the tank farm that is there as it has been in place for a long time.

  Get a life, protestors.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_HOUSLFGTSDB4ZOKMUK5ZPEX47A Antonio Giarratano

  I would love to see everyone’s Economics Degrees, heck, even a Business Degree, because there is a lot of fact tossing about jobs, taxes, etc. Where is your proof? I don’t live in Searsport so I couldn’t give a darn if they built it on town hall, but I love reading all you people, both sides, arguing over petty bull^%%&! Try giving facts, and not Wikipedia, or Fox News facts, but true, hard-earned facts. If you you people do not know how to act like adults, then stop wasting yours and everyone’s time. Stop berating people, stop maliciously correcting peoples grammar because you don’t like their post. GROW UP.

  Paint a huge Red Lobster on it and the towns name and it will be a Tourist Attraction and all you can stop complaining. Heck, it is said that propane is better for the environment and cheaper then Fuel Oil anyway, so what are you complaining about? How many places I have been that have huge water towers, fuel tanks, etc, and what do you see on them, murals, Town names, pictures, etc.

• Anonymous

  You just wouldn’t happen to have a particular ax of your own to grind, would you, tugboats? 

• Anonymous

  This is great! People who could care less about someone else’s private property rights “demanding” that there wishes be followed! The rights of their own piece of paradise must  supersede the rights of others? GO BACK TO NEW YORK IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT.

• Anonymous

  Jmill, I appreciate the apology. Let me try to explain. The property was initially bought at market value. Nobody overpaid or underpaid for their property. Through no fault of their own, the values drop and they are left holding a property that is worth less than it was when it was first purchased. That’s the downside of property values dropping.

• Anonymous

  You got that right, tugboats:     flee markets

• Anonymous

  That is absolutely the best post ive read Roger!!!!!

• Anonymous

  So it would have to bring 50 or 60 jobs for you to find it acceptable??

• Anonymous

  No ax to grind, but I am a marine engineer. I work out of new york city,live in Maine. I’m just pro jobs

• Anonymous

  Soon to be Rt 1 home and business owner in the Searsport area and I am all for this project, Rt 1  is already riddled with belly up closed shops and bussiness, how can a project that brings jobs and clean energy going to hurt the area any more than it is right now. I think maybe the concerned out of staters should buy the local residents their home heating oil that way the demand for cheaper and cleaner propane would lessen and the need for this storage tank would be null and void and the visiting tourist would have a unobstructed view of Anglers.

• Anonymous

  Of course they are protesting an industrial proposal there. When the State “compromised” with the  giving econazis  more than half of Sears Island and reserved some of it for possible future use.

  When this was done my thinking was why compromise, give it all to them, when a use for the deep water port was suggested they would raise hell and stop any use that would bring jobs and help improve the state’s economy.

• Anonymous

  I have eaten at Dysart’s in Herman many times, there are trucks entering and leaving every minute or so, noise ,vibrations and diesel fumes but the resturant is thriving, go figure

• Anonymous

  Would you really want to be following a tractor trailer full of liquid propane in traffic?  Because that is how it would be delivered here and is being delivered here now.  Currently at a higher cost than is necessary.  The proposed location is safe, reasonable and can be easily secured.  The same cannot be said about trucks located on the public highway.

• Guest

  While I will admit that it would be an eyesore, and I would probably join an opposition group if I lived there, but I still can see that the economic benefits are there.

  Alternately, it might of no small benefit to all involved to offer a suitable nearby location.

  Like I said, this needs to be left to the town’s people of Sears Port

• http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/LGVK2XCOMQ2YDA3ULFDYJCZYKM TheSmartestOne

  Unless maybe the market severely overvalued the home to start out with.  Which in turn would mean that the home is not WORTH less, it is just that the market has corrected itself to show the true value of the home.  I am not an expert in this, so please feel free to show me the error of my thinking.

• Anonymous

  In 2010, ME LIHEAP provided roughly 70,000 households with
  LIHEAP financial assistance (There are 155,000 eligible households in the state).

  It’s time to to do this………………………………………………………………………………

• Anonymous

  The housing crash was both obvious and inevitable, I am sorry that you were hurtfinancially by it. You and millions of others were hurt when the crash occurred.

  If you can hold onto the property, the value will come back up. There is still very little land being made.

  Depending on financial exspurts is akin to taking advise on marital problems from Miss. Cleo and as much chance of being right. Remember, these are the people that said Fannie and Freddie were sound, that are surprised every month by the growth or decline of unemployment, the GDP and so fourth. Unless your property is between
  Rt 1 and the island I see no reason to believe that your property will value decline in value due to the terminal.

  The estimate that there will only be 15 or so jobs seems low, I expect that there will be 15 or so security positions (4 or 5 shifts of 2 or 3 guards a
  supervisor for each shift and an administrator and secretary), there will have to be people to operate the terminal (skilled labor, maintenance and  administration). There will be transient drivers for transportation that will patronize eating establishments.

  Tourism won’t be effected much, most of the tourists are going to Bar Harbor or Down East with stops at Searsport for lunch or dinner and Fort Knox to let the kids out. How many tourists come to Sears Island as a destination? Hardly any, the people that go out there are predomintaly local.

  Please note, I am not a financial advisor of any kind, just someone that has opinions and the things I have said are just my opinions.

• Anonymous

  My home is heated with propane and my hot water is heated with propane, so to answer your question the last time my propane tank was filled happened to be about 3 weeks ago.  Thought so. Your comment is ignorant, just because you don’t have the common sense to take advantage of how affordable and efficient propane is doesn’t mean everyone is as misinformed as you.  I would love to see this tank be built at Mack Point, for what it’s worth I wish they would build 10 of them. 

  This whole thing being debated is ridiculous, there are already several huge tanks down there anyways, what is the difference between 12-15 pretty big tanks and 1 really big tank? The whole problem is people who come from out of state and want Maine to be this idealized place they have create in their minds.  Wake up people, we need all of the business and jobs we can get in this state but all of the b.s. moratoriums and regulations make it damn near impossible for any business to make it in Maine.

• Anonymous

  I predict there will be 25 to 40 jobs created. My estimate is above.

• Anonymous

  Tourists don’t stop at Searsport any way, why would they. They will stop for lunch at Moose Point or at Anglers or one of the small stores for sandwiches to consume at Fort Knox and continue on to Ellsworth and either Down East or Bar Harbor. If they are older the flea markets may stop them for an hour or two and then they will be on their way too.

• Anonymous

  You would expect any company to set up shop, train locals for two or more years to get them to OSHA, EPA, DOE … standards and for what should be a one or two year assignment?

  You have incontrovertible proof such a project will hurt Searsport? Or are you basing your opinion information from the econazis?

  I’m sorry but it is you that needs to fact check, and to quit with the nonsense.

• Anonymous

  And the world would die. The sky is falling.

• Anonymous

  Because the fuel will be used in Maine, at least some of it.

• Anonymous

  The propane is mostly NOT for us here on the mid coast (ask yourself – do we need 23 million gallons?), but for other parts of the northeast and the Maritimes.  It will be the BIGGEST tank of its kind on the east coast.  The Florida tank,which is smaller, has a 2 mile BUFFER zone around it that is UNPOPOULATED.  Searsport’s residents and children are in harms way with this tank positioned so close to their homes and schools.  DO THEY CARE? 
  Search Youtube for LPG Explosions and see for yourself.  If a truck overturns during delivery in our coastal towns on our narrow roads on the way to parts beyond us, the Fire Department’s training and new equipment will mean NOTHING. They will be helpless in the face of the disaster that will occur – and they DO occur.Search “BLEVE” online and SEE FOR YOURSELF.The “aesthetic” issue is not the point, nor is the economic impact, which will be “real”.  These issues pale in comparison to the safety issues that this tank will mean for Searsport especially, and the surrounding communities.  Searsport Parents – WAKE UP NOW!  Educate yourselves NOW.

  The was a Federal study which highly recommended that LPG and LNG facilities be placed in ISOLATED regions far from the population.  Measure the distance from your  local schools to the site of the tank. What is the evacuation route, and how quickly, if AT ALL, could the schools be evacuated? Can you just imagine the panic and chaos . . . 

• Anonymous

  The propane is mostly NOT for us here on the mid coast (ask yourself – do we need 23 million gallons?), but for other parts of the northeast and the Maritimes.  It will be the BIGGEST tank of its kind on the east coast.  The Florida tank,which is smaller, has a 2 mile BUFFER zone around it that is UNPOPOULATED.  Searsport’s residents and children are in harms way with this tank positioned so close to their homes and schools.  DO THEY CARE? 
  Search Youtube for LPG Explosions and see for yourself.  If a truck overturns during delivery in our coastal towns on our narrow roads on the way to parts beyond us, the Fire Department’s training and new equipment will mean NOTHING. They will be helpless in the face of the disaster that will occur – and they DO occur.Search “BLEVE” online and SEE FOR YOURSELF.The “aesthetic” issue is not the point, nor is the economic impact, which will be “real”.  These issues pale in comparison to the safety issues that this tank will mean for Searsport especially, and the surrounding communities.  Searsport Parents – WAKE UP NOW!  Educate yourselves NOW.

  The was a Federal study which highly recommended that LPG and LNG facilities be placed in ISOLATED regions far from the population.  Measure the distance from your  local schools to the site of the tank. What is the evacuation route, and how quickly, if AT ALL, could the schools be evacuated? Can you just imagine the panic and chaos . . . 

• Anonymous

  The propane is mostly NOT for us here on the mid coast (ask yourself – do we need 23 million gallons?), but for other parts of the northeast and the Maritimes.  It will be the BIGGEST tank of its kind on the east coast.  The Florida tank,which is smaller, has a 2 mile BUFFER zone around it that is UNPOPOULATED.  Searsport’s residents and children are in harms way with this tank positioned so close to their homes and schools.  DO THEY CARE? 
  Search Youtube for LPG Explosions and see for yourself.  If a truck overturns during delivery in our coastal towns on our narrow roads on the way to parts beyond us, the Fire Department’s training and new equipment will mean NOTHING. They will be helpless in the face of the disaster that will occur – and they DO occur.Search “BLEVE” online and SEE FOR YOURSELF.The “aesthetic” issue is not the point, nor is the economic impact, which will be “real”.  These issues pale in comparison to the safety issues that this tank will mean for Searsport especially, and the surrounding communities.  Searsport Parents – WAKE UP NOW!  Educate yourselves NOW.

  The was a Federal study which highly recommended that LPG and LNG facilities be placed in ISOLATED regions far from the population.  Measure the distance from your  local schools to the site of the tank. What is the evacuation route, and how quickly, if AT ALL, could the schools be evacuated? Can you just imagine the panic and chaos . . . 

• Anonymous

  That’s mil not mill.     
  ********************
  Thanks!  I knew it didn’t look right…brain cramp—couldn’t figure out what it was!

• Anonymous

  When trucks collide with cars, the folks in the car are the ones who die.  Search on YOUTUBE for LPG Explosions and see just how many disasters, caused by human error, occur – all the time.

  And LPG is not Liquid Propane Gas, it is Liquefied Petroleum Gas – highly explosive and this case, situated just behind the village of Searsport in a 23 million gallon tank.  Firefighters, no matter their training or new equipment, will NOT be able to contain it.

  Google “BLEVE” and see what can result.

  Searsport parents – educate yourselves NOW.  Read up.  Jobs or not, there is a very serious safety issue – Where is the study for a disaster evacuation plan.  Will Conoco-Phillips care?  NO>  They are a Low Liability multinational corporation.  You burn, they walk away.  They want this tank in Searsport because of its small population and desire to have jobs.

  They are using us.

• Anonymous

  Tourists don’t stop at Searsport any way, why would they. They will stop for lunch at Moose Point or at Anglers or one of the small stores for sandwiches to consume at Fort Knox and continue on to Ellsworth and either Down East or Bar Harbor. If they are older the flea markets may stop them for an hour or two and then they will be on their way too.     
  *********************************************************
  That’s funny, because when my family comes up to visit, they stay at the Homeport Inn (that was years ago) and lately at the Carriage House Inn and the one across the street.  They wanted to go visit the Marine Museum and the Grasshopper Shop and Silkweeds.  When my NYC sister and
  b-i-l come up they always go to the Rhumb Line and Marriner’s.  I took them to Belfast, Rockland and Owls Head.  Bar Harbor didn’t interest them, but when my Dad came up ten years ago before he stopped driving, we went to ANP and Bar Harbor and N.E. Harbor.  Thing is—he stayed in Belfast and toured the Belfast/Searsport/Bucksport area most.  We just went to MDI for the day.  Of course we all went to our very own Swan Lake State Park and certainly enjoyed Moose Point S.P.  along with my personal favorite Fort Point S.P.

• Anonymous

  Like I said, this needs to be left to the town’s people of Sears Port
  ***********************************
  Ultimately it IS up to the residents of Searsport as only Searsport residents can vote on the ordinance. 

• Anonymous

  And the world would die. The sky is falling.     
  ******************************************
  The Rhumb Line (a high end restaurant) is right across the street from Angler’s and the Rhumb Line owners LIVE in the renovated barn attached to the restaurant (which is an historic sea captain’s home.)  That’s their HOME, where they raise their children—you think they might just be a little concerned?

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NXPTPFL746OV2VGR5WBOEUF6W4 Roger

  That’s life!  Imagine you have lived in a home that has been in your family for hundreds of years in a majestic Maine coastal town a modest home and allot of woodland. Then a bunch of people from away buy land around your and build multi million dollar homes on it your taxes go up form 600 a year to 3000. Happens all the time. If you payed to much for your home that was your choice.

  The scenario you offer is only a issue IF your going to be selling our home. If you keep your home you loose nothing. Also I would be willing to be that the drop if any would be infinitesimal at best. The only reason the vales will drop is if the residents start to sell off there homes. Even then it would only effect those who got out last. Then again that would be self induced by choice and not really the fault of the tank would it…

• Anonymous

  It is NOT propane, it is LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GAS, VERY explosive.  It is a FINITE fossil fuel that WILL run out.  Then you can paint all the lobsters you want on the tank as use it as a decorative element.

  Where are the lobster men and folks who making there living from fishing?  When the tankers come in they will need to wait for hight tide, and even so be dredging up the ocean bottom, interfering to say the least, with traps and more.  But they will need a one mile buffer zone in front and a half mile behind.  Life as we know it, working and recreational, will come to halt when they come, and when they depart.

  And what if their should be a terrorist scare.  Well, things could stop indefinitely  - won’t that be great!

  Conoco-Phillips says there’ll only be 6 tankers a year.  Doubt it – 23 million gallons will need a wee bit more tanker deliveries to keep that 137′, 14 story tank filled.  And again, most of this Liquefied Peteroleum Gas is NOT for US – it us for destinations elsewhere in the northeast and Martimes.

  We’re going to be used because we’re expendable.  We need and want jobs and we have  a small population.  We blow up – no biggy to Conoco-Phillips and their cover, DCP Midstream.  Well Happy Thanksgiving to you too.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NXPTPFL746OV2VGR5WBOEUF6W4 Roger

  I did not miss the point.  I directly responded as to why they want one big tank and not two smaller ones. They bought the land it is theirs to do with as they wish. Your view will be effected? Well whine about it. If you did not want anything built there YOU shoudl have bought the land and not built anything. Instead of doing that you wait till someone does buy the land gets permits and so on then you wanna whine about your view being blocked? that’s life.  If you really feel that strongly then get up enough money to buy it form the current owners. They will sell it to you IF the offer is good enough. Bu tuntil you own

• Anonymous

  I’m still wondering if junker207 worked on the gas pipeline in 1999…since all the workers were brought in from Texas….

• Anonymous

  Some of the wagons were owned by KVG Kesselwagen, a division of GATX and leased to ExxonMobil and ERG (the owners of the oil refinery where the train left),[8] were reported to have been carrying Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).[9] Two of these exploded and caught fire.[7] Seven people were reported to have been killed when a house collapsed.[7] An eighth person who was killed was reported to have been riding a scooter on a road adjoining the railway.[9] A child was found carbonised in a car in front of the house where he lived with his parents. It is speculated that his parents put him in the car to save him and then returned to the house to save other two children.[10]External links – Viareggio train derailment – Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaen.wikipedia.org

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viareggio_train_derailment#External_links

• Anonymous

  larryincamden, why don’t we just drop the whole mess right there in Camden Harbor?

• Anonymous

  Angler’s isn’t a truck stop….nor is the Rhumb Line (across the street), nor is The Capt. A.V. Nickels Inn or Marriner’s a little way up the road.

• Guest

  I agree

• Anonymous

  Unless maybe the market severely overvalued the home to start out with. Which in turn would mean that the home is not WORTH less, it is just that the market has corrected itself to show the true value of the home. I am not an expert in this, so please feel free to show me the error of my thinking.     
  ********************************************
  Please read again the statements from Searsport residents who said “property values are expected to drop 40% is this tank is built.”  So, even if you just bought a house this year at it’s lowest value—$100,000. when in ’07 it could have sold for $150.000; if this tank goes in, the value will drop to $60,000.  In this case, the market already corrected itself, and now a multi-national corporation is causing a devaluation.

• Anonymous

  Yes, 10 or 15 jobs at the terminal site. But there will also be jobs created as more and more people convert to propane vs oil for heating.
  ********************************
  ….um, isn’t propane a by-product of the refining of …OIL?  So, all these new guys delivering propane will be former OIL delivery drivers….?

• Anonymous

  Dysart’s resturant customer base is mostly passenger car customers not just truckers, the point being that if you have good food with large portions people will come regardless of whats nearby. How many of the employees at Anglers have health benefits ? how many work full time ? are they high paying jobs ? is that the best Searsport has to offer for employment ?

• Anonymous

  Dysart’s resturant customer base is mostly passenger car customers not just truckers, the point being that if you have good food with large portions people will come regardless of whats nearby. How many of the employees at Anglers have health benefits ? how many work full time ? are they high paying jobs ? is that the best Searsport has to offer for employment ?     
  ****************************************************************
  …and “the point being” that EVERYONE KNOWS Dysart’s is a truck stop, so they EXPECT trucks to be there.  Angler’s is a quiant little place, but I prefer the fancy restaurant across the street, The Rhumb Line.  Large portions aren’t the “be all and end all” in the restaurant industry.  My husband and I actually don’t LIKE these “large portions” you are touting.  As humans age, we eat less, or we eat smaller portions—you’ll find this out after you hit 40…along with needing reading glasses ;-)  We enjoy the Rhumb Line because the food is excellent, it is portioned right, the ambiance is exquisite, the service is outstanding…and….it’s not a truck stop.
    I am not sure why you are so hung up on Angler’s…it’s just ONE of the local businesses that would be affected by this tank.  I gave you four restaurants located within spitting distance of this huge tank—I didn’t even scratch the surface of all the other businesses in the general area…I guess you overlooked that in my post…

• Anonymous

  It’s astonishing how, before expressing their uninformed opinion, so many people would rather buy into a couple of silly fantasies rather than take the trouble to learn some indisputable FACTS about the very real menace Big Tank poses to the safety, security, economic well being and way of life of ALL the people of upper Penobscot Bay. 

  One fantasy is that large corporations such as ConocoPhilips and Sentra Energy, operating through a limited liability front called DCP Midstream, are just some friendly folks whose primary interest is being pals with local residents, providing lots of high quality high-paying jobs and always putting our safety and economic well being ahead of other considerations. If you believe that fantasy, then you’re a pushover for the artfully contrived words of the CEO of DCP Midstream who spent over $6,000 this past weekend on a full-page advertisement in the BDN specifically addressed in folksy fashion to all 2,600 men, women, children and babes in arms who reside in the town of Searsport. 

  The other big fantasy of the ill-informed is that the only people opposed to this project come from away with a fat nest egg and a selfish interest only in maintaining a picture-postcard-perfect view from the deck of their million-dollar waterfront second homes. The fact is most of us have to watch our pocketbooks carefully. The proposed project isn’t helping any. The fact is, for some Big Tank promises economic devastation.

  For a lot more facts, check out what your neighbors have to say about this thoroughly unnecessary and boneheaded proposal at thanksbutnotank.org. 

• Anonymous

  Holy Crap! Don’t open that can of worms again!

• Anonymous

  Post removed by poster

• Anonymous

  Fine with me, Camden needs some real jobs.

  Problem is that tankers would need to have a shallow draft. The Maximum depth is 30′ MLW and does not get beyond 100′ until far beyond the chanel markers.     

• Anonymous

  Outside of some knucklehead trying to fry a turkey in his home or garage, have you heard of a propane explosion?

• Anonymous

  What is your point? He/she never said that he had any involvement in petroleum products, besides being a consumer, furthermore there was no mention of being involved with any heavy construction at all.

• Anonymous

  You would expect that ANY company would set up shop, take two years to train local welders to be certified to work to Federal standards (EPA, OSHA, DOE, and probably DHS)?

  That would be nuts for a, probably, one year project.

  BTW I assume, probably incorectly, that you have some information that  the resturants in Searsport would automatically close with this project being done?

  I suggest that you take your own advice, “Please do some basic fact-checking before talking smack on other people with nothing more than your own “beliefs” to fall back on”.

  With such a tank I expect that DHS would demand that there to be more security than 14 attendants.

• Anonymous

  I suppose that the project will have specialists brought up from Texas, but people to put down paving, electricians, plumbers, cement workers, carpenters, trucks and drivers …

  DCP may be “greedy” but they are not stupid. Besides if they bring 100 or so people from Texas where are they going to stay, especially during the summer?

• Anonymous

  I am not sure of your local knowledge but, the eyesore is already there. Mack Point already has an oil tank farm; that way back, when we had a military presence here, was the place that jet fuel came for Loring, Brunswick NAS and I assume wayyyy back Dow AFB.

  The eyesore is visible from Sears Island, about 200 yards of Rt 1, and a few houses that face the right (wrong?) way and have enough elevation.

• Anonymous

  Since there is still a rail line there it would be much smarter to ship it by rail, outside of fairly local deliveries.

• Anonymous

  I am less impressed by an economics, or even business, degree.

  Economics Expurts are surprised almost every month by the loss or gain of economic statistics that are larger or smaller than “expected”.

  People with both economics and business degrees are the people that got our economy where it is today. I, with a HS diploma, predicted the economy would fail wayyyy back in the 70′s and never expected it to last another 30 years before the crash.

• Guest

  There are pros and cons on both sides, but at the end of the day its the decision of Sears Port residents to decide.

  Unfortunately your going to get plagued by those from other areas calling you shortsighted if you dont or evil if you do.

  Good Luck

• Anonymous

  How many times are you going to post this?

• Anonymous

  I somehow think that the emphatic statement is not much more than a
  hollow threat, unless he is already planning to shut down the restaurant and
  motel. I can not imagine that anyone with a profitable business would just
  abandon it. Sell it, sure, but abandon?

  Do you really think that the traffic will be that much worse? especially in the summer, there must be 200 vehicles passing in 10 minutes

• Anonymous

  Outside of the people on the shore of Sears Island that faces Mack Point,
  people that don’t blink along the stretch of Rt.1 that you can even see the present
  tanks from, and those few people with enough elevation to have any view of
  Mack Point, there will be no visual impairment.

• Anonymous

  And you want people to have facts.

• Anonymous

  Posting three times was an accident, but getting the facts is important. Should this tank be installed in Searsport, who knows what will be next, and what other communities will be effected.

• Anonymous

  Dear Tedjohn,
  The LPG is primarily for distribution to other parts of the North East and the Maritimes. Mack Point is planned as a distribution site – it’s not for us.  A critical point = other tanks throughout the US have unpopulated buffer zones of as much as 2 miles.  No one lives there to be incinerated.  And this tank @ 23mil gal will be the largest of its kind on the east coast.  It will change our lives, and I guarantee, not in a positive way.

• Anonymous

  To Peter Taber’s letter above, I couldn’t agree more –
  “For a lot more facts, check out what your neighbors have to say about this . . . . proposal at . . . thanksbutnotank.org.” I thank you for posting this link.

• Anonymous

  I agree, outside of the inevitable State initiative to stop the project, I have no final say, since I am not a Searsport citizen.

• Anonymous

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=NUHy3IgqlHc

  Safety issues – look for yourself.

• Anonymous

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=NUHy3IgqlHc

  Please watch this video on youtube, as the tank will be the biggest on the east coast – and as is the case here, in an area without a 2 mile buffer zone.  Accidents happen.  Take a look.

• Anonymous

  Conversely, if the tank is not installed who knows what will happen
  next, and how other communities will be effected. We can not be afraid of the
  what ifs in life, the best we can do is do it, what ever “it” is, and decide in
  the future either to be happy or if not fix the issues with the decision or abandon
  it.

• Anonymous

  The youtube link that you gave a “video incorrectly formatted” message, so I just
  put LP explosions into my browser.

  I agree that there have been some horrendous explosions with propane, there have
  been far more horrendous car, plane, truck, and train accidents. The accidents are predominantly in third world countries and I would hope that our safety standards are a little better, we certainly pay enough for the standards.

• Anonymous

  Dear Tedjohn,
  Conoco-Phillips settled on Searsport because they hoped that with a struggling economy we, the people would see this as an opportunity.  We could be exploited.  And, with a small population – kaboom – fewer people to settle with after the explosion, if any were even left.