Members were concerned that the port could: create air and water pollution; harm marine life; be an attractive terrorist target; disrupt shipping to and from the Port of New York; exclude fishermen from fishing grounds; conflict with a wind turbine project proposed for the same area; and lead to increased fracking upstate. These hazards and more were identified by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie when he vetoed this project in 2011 and reaffirmed his veto in 2012.
Surfrider members also were active online, submitting 813 comments to Governors Christie and Cuomo. Those comments were part of more than 18,000 submitted against the project. You can still submit a comment to Cuomo here and Christie here—eithergovernor can veto this project but as yet have not.
Further south, the Dominion Cove Point LNG facility, built to import LNG and located in Lusby, Maryland on Chesapeake Bay, wants to switch to exporting. On September 11, 2013 the company received one of the approvals they need from the Energy Department. They still require a permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
If built, the refurbished Cove Point would be the first liquefied natural gas export facility on the East Coast. The project would cost upwards of $3.8 billion dollars and require the construction of a new power plant on site to provide power to cool and liquefy the gas. The facility would enable the export of .77 billion cubic feet of carbon-emitting, fracked natural gas per day.