Port Canaveral commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to not sell land to a company that wants to build a liquefied natural gas plant that could help supply both the cruise and space industry on the Space Coast.
A 50-acre barge canal property on Merritt Island, part of the port authority’s property, was the target of an unsolicited offer by Berkshire Hathaway and Chesapeake Utilities, which wanted to purchase the land for an LNG liquefaction plant.
A public hearing held Tuesday night allowed concerned residents to voice their concerns over having the LNG plant less than a mile from hundreds of homes. The port does not currently use the land.
Several of the cruise lines that call Port Canaveral home use LNG, but they get refueled in ship-to-ship transfers. Most of the rockets that currently launch from Cape Canaveral don’t use LNG, but that is changing with Blue Origin’s New Glenn, SpaceX’s Starship and other new rockets switching to propellants that use an LNG and methane mix.
Commissioner Micah Loyd, who thanked the public for coming out, made a motion at the monthly port authority meeting the following day declaring the area as “a strategic port property and should not be sold.”
Several members of the public sporting yellow T-shirts with the words “Save Merritt Island, No LNG Plant” took turns thanking the commission for the decision.
“I want to thank you for making the right decision,” said Phil Stasik, a 32-year resident of north Merritt Island. “In this case, the choice of placing a rocket fuel factory within 350 feet of a community is insane. It should never have been proposed. It should have never been brought to you. You didn’t ask for it, but it was put in your lap. You did your due diligence.”
Before the vote, vice chairman Fritz VanVolkenburgh detailed some of the reasons he would be voting no. He noted he had worked in the electric and natural gas industry for four years, and had visited a similar LNG facility in Jacksonville.
“I do believe that Chesapeake and Berkshire Hathaway are solid outfits, based on my experience,” he said. “You know, these are professionals. So I know, although there was some frustration, I recognize, definitely among the residents, particularly that some of the responses to inquiries were for lack of a better word, opaque.”
His decision to vote no, however, was more about the land’s future potential value.
“The bottom line is that given the considerable size and location of the property, I’m not ready to sell it,” he said. “I’ll agree with the motion, not this year for in any way, whether it’s LNG or any other purpose.”
In this instance, it would have taken the property off the port’s hands for at least 50 years.
“You have to look through that kind of a lens,” he said.
The port is already packed with six cruise terminals at near full capacity, as well as cargo and space industry concerns and commercial interests.
“Port Canaveral has quickly become very crowded,” VanVolkenburgh said. “Steps to relieve these conditions through, for example, a space wharf to accommodate space-related vessels cannot be achieved for many years.”
He noted President Trump recently issued an executive order directing the development of a marine action plan that calls on ports to help rebuild the nation’s maritime industrial base, which could mean sizable federal grants to Florida ports.
With a new governor coming in next year with new priorities, he said the port would be smart to get feedback from them before deciding on any future sales such as this property.
“Some might argue that to reject the sale of the property, the port would be foregoing over $11 million of revenue, potentially,” he said. “However, the monetary value of the port property will actually increase over time were we to ever sell it.”
He did note that the public’s concerns could also affect property values.
“I took into account the fact that the property being so close to residents, there would be stressors that could impact the local community, whether these stressors were psychological, health-related or environmental,” he said.
Commissioner Jerry Allender appreciated the public’s input.
“I want to thank all of you that have shown up today and in the past to express your opinion, your thoughts, your ideas,” he said. “That is important to us in making decisions.”