On 16th St. Mall in Denver on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013, environmental advocates dressed as giant lobsters rallied in front of DCP Midstream's 25th floor headquarters located in the Republic Plaza skyscraper.
DCP Midstream is a liquid petroleum gas (LPG, also known as propane) distributor who is seeking to get approval to industrialize Searsport, Maine's bay. This has become a controversial topic because Searsport is in the heart of Maine's lobster ecosystem.
The Bangor Daily News reported that "former White House counterterrorism adviser Richard A. Clarke recommends that the town of Searsport not proceed with a $40 million, 23 million gallon liquid propane gas terminal and storage tank project." Some reasons the report included were, "There are no dedicated marine firefighters in the immediate area, or teams trained to respond to an incident involving a fire aboard an LPG carrier" and "The waterway in Penobscot Bay needs to be dredged before building the project."
Although some members of the community feel the LPG would be good news for Searsport, an online poll shows that 75% of people are not in favor of DCP Midstream opening an LPG gas tank terminal. Community members have voiced concerns over toxic vapor clouds that would be emitted from the LPG tanks as well.
The lobsters who marched and shouted "We're steamed," on 16th St. Mall defended their position by releasing the following statement:
"They [people of Searsport] need to know that people in the greater nation, and especially here, in DCP's home turf, agree with tank opponents of their community, their town that has been telling them for two years that DCP Midstream's 22.3 million gallon megatank scheme is a financial fraud. This would be a literal 'tank to nowhere' boondoggle: DCP would lose more than $20 million dollars per tankerload, bringing high prices foreign gas to a nation smothering in cheaper domestic frack spew. DCP's plan stinks as bad as the tanks gas-off fumes sulfur- stenching upper Penobscot Bay's airshed."
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