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News, Reviews & Press Releases
For Immediate Release
The National Trial Lawyers Announces Tim Riley as One of Its Top 100 Trial Lawyers
The National Trial Lawyers is pleased to announce that Tim Riley of the Law Office of Tim Riley in Carlsbad has been selected for inclusion into its Top 100 Civil Plaintiff Trial Lawyers in Southern California, an honor given to only a select group of lawyers for their superior skills and qualifications in the field. Membership in this exclusive organization is by invitation only, and is limited to the top 100 attorneys in each state or region who have demonstrated excellence and have achieved outstanding results in their careers in either civil plaintiff or criminal defense law.
The National Trial Lawyers is a professional organization comprised of the premier trial lawyers from across the country who have demonstrated exceptional qualifications in their area of the law, specifically criminal defense or civil plaintiff law. The National Trial Lawyers provides accreditation to these distinguished attorneys, and also provides essential legal news, information, and continuing education to trial lawyers across the United States.
With the selection of Tim Riley by The National Trial Lawyers: Top 100, Mr. Riley has shown that he exemplifies superior qualifications, leadership skills, and trial results as a trial lawyer. The selection process for this elite honor is based on a multi-phase process which includes peer nominations combined with third party research. As The National Trial Lawyers: Top 100 is an essential source of networking and information for trial attorneys throughout the nation, the final result of the selection process is a credible and comprehensive list of the most outstanding trial lawyers chosen to represent their state or region.
Contact: Andrew Findley AFindley@TheNationalTrialLawyers.org 866-665-2852
To learn more about The National Trial Lawyers: http://thenationaltriallawyers.org
Daily Journal, Los Angeles
Lawyer Finds Satisfaction Fighting for the Underdog
The Los Angeles daily law journal published a Litigator Profile featuring Tim Riley after he won a multi-million dollar jury verdict, including punitive damages, against an insurance company who had treated his clients unfairly. Below are quotes from the Litigator Profile heading, 'What Other Lawyers and Judges Say About this Attorney'
“California Supreme Court Justice Markus M. Kaufman, retired, described Riley as a ‘sensational, conscientious and skilled attorney.’ ‘I can't say enough about him.’ Judge Kaufman reviewed an appeal by Riley: ‘He had insight into issues that interested the court and knew how to present them.’ ”
“David A. Van Riper of Campion, Rodolff & Van Riper, Santa Ana, a former student of Riley's at Pepperdine University School of Law, described Riley as a ‘powerful speaker. When he talks, people listen... he is a very credible man.’ Van Riper praised Riley as ‘an excellent professor’ who is able to ‘simplify difficult and complex concepts. This probably accounts for [Riley's] success as a trial attorney.’ ”
“Kenneth
A. Maranga of Garcia, Emmons, Maranga & Morgenstern has tried several cases against Riley. He described
Riley as being ‘tenacious.’ Riley ‘never lets up and is always a
challenge... When you go up against him you know he is not going to miss
anything.’ He also noted that
Riley has the ‘rare ability in our business to be able to lock horns with
someone and then have an amicable relationship afterwards.’ ”
“Alan
Gooding of Pearman & Wilson,
Glendale,
is a defense attorney who retained Riley to handle a personal matter. Riley ‘is
an excellent trial lawyer... highly principled, ethical, charming and
articulate.’ ‘He's a heck of
a guy and thinks fast on his feet.’ ”
FOX TV Military and Terrorism Analyst
Praises LNG Film The Risks and Danger
of LNG
"Let me start by congratulating you both on the outstanding DVD I just received entitled The Risks and Danger of LNG. This has to be an award winner. When I watched the film it gave me more insight into the dangers that communities face by the greed of large companies to site dangerous materials in populated areas. I feel that your work should set an example for others who wish to protect the public. The detail in your film of the dangers of LNG should leave no doubt in anyone's mind that we are facing a crisis when an LNG facility is sited in populated areas. It should be mandatory for every first responder to view this film."
AP
Centerpiece -
Tim Riley, a lawyer and consumer advocate based in Oxnard Shores, Calif., said not enough is known about the potential hazards of an LNG spill for the government to be able to continue licensing terminals safely. "The sheer volume is what makes it eminently dangerous," said Riley, co-producer of a film called "The Risks and Danger of LNG."
California dreaming draws flak for BHP
"With billions of export dollars at stake, Macfarlane, Woodside and BHP have suddenly discovered the dangers of underestimating the power of California's environmental lobby."
"Tim Riley, a lawyer who lives by the beach in Oxnard Shores and works in Malibu, has helped lead a movement in actively opposing the project. While some citizens have organised rallies, Riley has used his multimedia talents to spur opposition. With his wife, Hayden, Riley made an anti-LNG film and set up a website, www.LngDanger.com, to warn others against the perceived hazards of LNG."
The Rileys wrote, directed and financed the documentary film "The Risks and Danger of LNG," which was named an Official Selection of the Malibu Film Festival and had its premiere last September.
The couple spent a year researching the project. They say coastal communities throughout North America are being targeted by the energy industry for building dozens of large, vulnerable and dangerous LNG facilities.
They made the film to alert the public to what they describe as the imminent perils of LNG by demonstrating its vulnerability to accidental disaster, terrorism, and how massive its destruction can be to coastal communities.
'We are trying to prevent a catastrophe, so it was fitting that our film would find its world premiere in Malibu because that coastal haven is currently being threatened by two LNG facility proposals.'
The filmmakers say the energy industry uses its tremendous economic resources to promote its LNG agenda through endless press releases, newswires and commercials, which routinely minimise the hazards.
'We felt we had to make the film to offset the energy industry's relentless spin and to vividly demonstrate to the public the actual perils of LNG by exposing its true volatility and danger to our American communities.'
The early buyers of the film were the supermajors but that has since expanded to include public relations companies, safety specialists, community groups where LNG plants have been proposed, and physicians.
Customers include people from virtually every state in the US as well as Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Japan."
DOW JONES NEWSWIRE
As LNG Imports Soar, Safety Concerns Are Hotly Debated
NEW YORK (Dow Jones) -- Surging U.S. imports of liquefied natural gas are facing a public backlash over the safety of the huge tankers used to transport the fuel.
"It's such a tremendous source of destruction that they don't need a bomb," said Tim Riley, a lawyer in Oxnard Shores, Calif., who has been a vocal critic of plans to build an LNG receiving terminal near his community.
Los Angeles Times
Residents Decry Plan for Gas Platform
Government officials are urged to reject a proposed facility off the Ventura County coast.
Tim Riley, an Oxnard attorney who has rallied LNG opponents through a website devoted to the issue, sounded the same theme. He pointed to the January blast at an Algerian LNG plant that killed 27, and to the 1944 LNG explosion that decimated downtown Cleveland and caused 128 deaths.
"LNG does not harmlessly evaporate into the sky, as I hear ad nauseam in press releases," he said. "It can become an inferno and incinerate communities."
"We're being presented with a guinea-pig project," he said. "What's going to happen 10 years from now? Will they say, 'Oops! We made a mistake!' ?"
Riley also objected to the Coast Guard being given the responsibility for determining the project's safety — especially from terrorism.
"You're between a rock and a hard place," he told Joe Angelo, the Coast Guard's director of standards. "No American military person will ever admit they can't protect America."
Lines drawn on gas plant
"We've tested a nuclear bomb," said Tim Riley, a California attorney who with his wife produced a film, The Risks and Danger of LNG, based in part on a study that offers the direst predictions. Riley, whose film has been viewed by elected officials and more than a dozen community groups in the Baltimore area, argues that no more LNG projects should be approved until the facilities can be proved safe. "Until a large-spill test of LNG is done," he says, "we're just shooting in the dark."
Others who are also interested in obtaining usage rights to the film for public screenings must contact the Law Office of Tim Riley at 805-984-2350 for terms and authorization.
UK Parliament Official Record
UK Parliament, House of Commons
“International
evidence on LNG explosions is legion. Tim Riley’s documentary film, 'The Risks
and Dangers of LNG', and the 2003 Californian study predicting up to 70,000
casualties from an LNG accident or terrorist attack, graphically set out the
implications.”
UK Parliament, House of Commons
“For the sceptical,
there is ample evidence of major LNG fire incidents—for instance, in the USA. As
a result of their experience, no such plant is allowed in America within miles
of residential homes. An American documentary film, 'The Risks and Dangers of
LNG' by Tim Riley, covers many aspects of the dangers of LNG, including the
history of accidents, the environmental impact, spills and vapour clouds, and
the terrorist implications in relation to LNG tanks, tankers and pipelines.”
Ventura County Star, Washington DC Bureau
U.S. could take over LNG siting
Opponents criticize bill's wording on liquefied natural gas facilities
WASHINGTON -- It's three paragraphs in a 1,600-page document, but critics warn that it could have far-reaching consequences for state and local governments fighting liquefied natural gas facilities like those proposed off the coast of Oxnard.
Language buried deep in a massive federal spending bill that Congress approved last week says the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission can pre-empt states on the permitting and siting of LNG facilities.
Tim Riley, an Oxnard Shores attorney who produced the documentary "The Risks and Danger of LNG," called the language a "midnight attempt to federally fast-track LNG siting" and "a blatant effort to usurp state and local control."
"Inclusion of this language is another reason I am glad I voted against this omnibus spending bill," said Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara. "This provision shows total disregard for state and local control over the siting of LNG terminals in our communities and their potential effect on ratepayers."
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., also voted against the bill and "is exploring all of her options to overturn this heavy-handed federal government power grab," said her spokesman, David Sandretti.
LNG
expansion plans approved
Anti-LNG
film coming next month. The Coastal Group of the Georgia Chapter of the Sierra
Club plans to screen
LNG opponents to show documentary on fuel dangers
"Opponents of a proposal to put a liquefied natural gas offloading facility in the middle of Mount Hope Bay are trying to raise concerns about the project with a showing of the video "The Risks & Dangers of LNG". The 45-minute video is being billed by the Kickemuit River Council and Warren Councilman Joseph DePasquale as "the film Weaver's Cove and Hess [Corporation] don't want you to see," a reference to the two developers of the project. Produced by two consumer protection advocates from Oxnard Shores, California, the video was made to demonstrate LNG's vulnerability to accidental disaster and terrorism. It also tries to show that a tanker breach could produce massive destruction to our coastal communities."
Trinidad & Tobago, LatinPetoleum.com
The anti-LNG lobby in the north By The Trinidad Express
The anti LNG lobby has been building up the pressure against establishment of new terminals, particularly in densely populated coastal communities.
One of the most vocal opponents of LNG is attorney Tim Riley, (timrileylaw.com). Riley and his wife have produced an anti-LNG film which they claim the industry does not want people to see. The film purports to expose the "danger that is LNG".
California import hub sunk by public opposition by DANN RODGERS
California power producer Calpine last week withdrew plans to build an LNG import terminal in Eureka City near San Francisco due to "insufficient community support" in a move that further energized growing opposition to the projects on the US Atlantic and Pacific coasts, observers said,
It was the second cancellation attributed to the 'Nimby' (Not in my back yard) factor in a week, following the rejection of a proposal from ConocoPhillips and TransCanada by the residents of Harpswell, Maine. It also marks the sixth cancellation of an LNG import terminal project in the US over the past 18 months.
“Harpswell on the East Coast and Eureka on the West Coast are obvious cases in point proving that anti-LNG sentiment is not localized to any particular region," said public safety advocate Tim Riley who hosts a national anti-LNG website at TimRileyLaw.com.
"Hits on my website are worldwide and constantly increasing and the more people visit to learn about the risks of LNG, the more they are against it.
"The opposition just keeps growing and we expect the announcement of a California-wide, formidable anti-LNG coalition by the end of the month to oppose the three remaining projects," said Riley.
MSNBC.com
Environmentalists plot battle to block liquefied natural gas plans
Among those attending were representatives of the Sierra Club, the Environment Defense Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Oxnard attorney Tim Riley, a leading opponent of the local proposals and a critic of the LNG industry nationwide, was at the meeting Monday.
Riley agreed that it is essential for opponents to educate the public about the nature of the proposed operations and the potential for accidents.
"The more people learn about it, the more the groundswell of opposition grows and grows," he said. "I have to trust in the intelligence of the people. So far, they're only hearing about this issue from the energy industry's side."
Consumer advocates Tim and Hayden Riley of Oxnard Shores in southern California say they initially came to challenge proposals for new LNG import facilities throughout North America because they did not want their slice of paradise compromised. That effort eventually grew to include the US West Coast, then North America and then the entire western hemisphere.
"There was minimal non-corporate information about LNG available so I decided I had to dig it up and counter the claims of the energy industry who present it as a saviour of the North American energy crisis."
To that end, he has suspended his lucrative and celebrated legal career for the past two years and spent the majority of almost every day leading the campaign against bringing LNG to the US."
"We see it as a David versus Goliath battle but that is the nature of being a lawyer who represents people in their battles with large insurance companies who try to cheat their customers from collecting claims after they have paid premiums for years and years." He says he came to sympathise with the underdog at a young age because his father was injured in a car accident that left one side of his body paralysed.
"My dad was mocked and taken advantage of, so I do not like bullies because I have seen the mistreatment they can inflict."
"That experience drew me to tort law and to help vulnerable people regain part of their lives. Some 95% of our practice is representing the underdog and now we are focusing on warning people about the perils of an LNG disaster before it happens."
Oxnard lawyer challenges big industry on dangers
Tim Riley is a marked man. Operators of a liquefied natural gas plant in Everett, Mass., not only know of the Oxnard lawyer leading the charge against LNG but have watched his video that shows a plane flying into a tanker in a manipulated image of terrorism. Industry representatives in Louisiana, Texas, California and anywhere else there's LNG know he argues that a vapor fire could extend at least 30 miles and, in areas like Ventura County, could kill 70,000 people. Riley's supporters, including former Oxnard Mayor Manny Lopez, credit him with challenging big industry by hammering home the contention that no one knows what could happen if a tanker or terminal spilled millions of gallons of cryogenic liquefied gas.
Ventura County Star
Oxnard City Council unanimously voted to oppose the two proposed LNG projects last evening.
The Mayor asked the standing-room-only crowd if some individuals would give-up their 3 min. speaking time to afford the Council the opportunity to view the film The Risks and Danger of LNG, presented by Tim Riley and Hayden Riley. Enough people allocated their time, and the film was shown in its entirety.
Malibu Surfside News
Offshore LNG Facility North of Malibu Is 'Strongly' Opposed
Council Acts After Critics Challenge Its Silence
The Malibu City Council unanimously went on the record this week “strongly opposing,” the proposed Liquefied Natural Gas deep water ports proposed off the coast of Malibu.
Oxnard resident Tim Riley, who has been an outspoken critic of LNG facilities, said the port planned 14 miles off Malibu’s coastline would be three football fields long, 12 stories high and could hold up to 33 million gallons of LNG which is equal to 20 billion gallons of natural gas. “The energy is the equivalent of 55 Hiroshima bombs,” he said.
Upon prompting from Conley Ulich, Riley noted the liability of the energy companies in the event of a disaster is limited by federal law to a $350 million ceiling.
Councilmember Jeff Jennings asked about the future of LNG if the necessary facilities were turned down. Riley countered that LNG is a fossil fuel and that most of it comes from other countries.
“We will be further manipulated by foreign entities,” he added, insisting the nation should not be spending billions of dollars on LNG facilities, but rather concentrate on using scarce dollars to develop renewable energy sources.
Upstream, UpstreamOnline.com
Liability law 'stacked in favour of owners'
Opponents of two proposed import terminals off the coast of California claim existing US maritime laws protect the owners of LNG carriers and the deep-water ports at the expense of local residents in the event of a disaster.
According to the Limitation of Vessel Owners Liability Act, the liability of the owner of an LNG carrier is limited to the value of the vessel and its cargo contents remaining after a serious incident occurs.
"Ironically, the more damage that occurs to the vessel and its cargo, the lower the liability for the vessel owner," said Tim Riley, a consumer protection advocate in California who hosts a Website for groups opposed to LNG projects.
The Deepwater Ports Act, which was originally created to deal with clean-up costs resulting from oil spills, limits liability of operators to $350 million.
"That limit is outdated and would be a mere pittance of the actual damages that could result from a potential LNG disaster caused by either accident, natural occurrence or act of terrorism," said Riley.
"The cost of massive wrongful death claims, serious burn victim claims, medical costs, loss of earnings, destruction of expensive coastal homes, cars, stores full of inventory, along with ruined community infrastructure would run into billions of dollars," he said.
"These LNG proponents boast that it is a safe technology and not a likely terrorist target. They should put their money where their mouth is and waive the current limit on financial liability."
He is also advocating that a civil cause of action for any and all damages resulting from whatever cause, originating or emanating from an LNG deep-water port or vessel, should be one of strict liability.
The strict liability standard would make port and carrier operators or owners financially responsible regardless of fault.
Under such a system, a person injured would only need to show that the storage, processing or transport of LNG at sea was a causal factor in the injury, irrespective of who is to blame.
"Claimants need only prove causation of injury rather than proof of fault," said Riley. "It is time for America to look in the mirror and recognise that the current laws protect foreign interests and importers of LNG while at the same time exposing US citizens to devastation without adequate recourse for recovery."
Times-Review Newspapers, NY
How safe is LNG terminal?
Opponents of gas facilities sound an alert
RIVERHEAD— We are not alone.
The liquid natural gas facility proposed off the coast of Riverhead Town is one of about 40 LNG projects proposed nationally and one of at least 10 under consideration in the Northeast, although the local proposal is one of only about four projects that would be located offshore.
And with the recent onslaught of liquid natural gas (LNG) proposals have come critics.
"There are no offshore facilities anywhere," said Tim Riley, a California attorney who's been leading the charge against LNG plants in his state and nationally.
"Yours and ours are the guinea pigs," he said, referring to the Broadwater proposals and a proposal to put a floating LNG terminal 14 miles offshore in the Santa Barbara channel in California.
Mr. Riley has a website (www.timrileylaw.com) devoted to the fight against LNG plants and has even produced a documentary called "The Risks and Dangers of LNG."
Ventura County Star
Environmental report says danger from proposed natural gas port low
The chances of a major accident at a proposed liquefied natural gas port off Oxnard's coast are very low, according to an environmental report released this week by three state and federal agencies.
Oxnard lawyer Tim Riley, an outspoken critic of the proposals, said Thursday that the BHP project should be shelved.
The report "provides no surprises on its way to fast-track approval of the ultra-hazardous, guinea-pig LNG project," Riley said in a statement. "We all must impress upon Gov. Schwarzenegger to timely veto both the BHP and Crystal LNG projects, which he has the legal authority to do.
"He can protect us and our multibillion dollar tourism industry, or he can permit the industrialization of our precious coastline and beaches as billions of American dollars get exported to Australia. The governor must decide what he wants his legacy to be."
Tide Turns as LNG Protests Grow
Industry is forced into rethink as opposition grows... By Dann Rogers
‘The Alabama lawyers are also going to sue the Port Authority to stop the sale of the property on the grounds that it is being undersold,’ says California personal injury lawyer Tim Riley, whose website TimRileyLaw.com is an unofficial US chatroom for anti-LNG campaigners.
At public hearings, he talks of a catastrophic LNG future filled with mass destruction and death as the super-cooled natural gas is ignited by either accident, negligence or a terrorist act.
‘Only the construction of nuclear energy plants on our beaches could be worse for all the communities from Santa Barbara to Malibu,’ says Riley on his website.
‘We can get by without the new LNG terminals if there is better regulation and penalties for the manipulation of the energy trading markets to artificially raise prices as was done a few years ago. I think things will be a lot better off for everybody without them,’ he says.
Los Angeles Business Journal
Terrorist Worries Restrict Access to Liquid Gas Plans
Security regulations adopted by the federal government after 9/11 are restricting the public’s access to information about proposed liquefied natural gas terminals across the state and nation, including in Long Beach and off the Malibu coast.
But critics say the government’s regulations underscore the danger of the facilities. They also fear too much information will be restricted, a concern state and local officials share.
“If it’s so unsafe and dangerous that we can’t have access to the information, then it’s outrageous that they would consider putting them in our residential areas,” said Tim Riley, an Oxnard attorney and anti-LNG activist.
“I think they want to restrict anything that really lets us know how dangerous it is,” he said.
Opponents of LNG import projects in the US have wasted no time in pointing to last week's tragedy in Algeria as highlighting safety concerns about such facilities
"The Algerian explosion destroyed more than an LNG facility -- it destroyed the industry myth that LNG is safe," said consumer protection advocate Tim Riley, who hosts the website TimRileyLaw.com that documents what he sees as the dangers of the fuel.
"Quite simply, LNG is too damn dangerous and the energy industry has always known it. The American communities facing LNG proposals have listened to the LNG 'safety spin' but have now heard the explosive truth, galvanizing opposition.
"The blast was felt around the world and serves as a wake-up call to private investors, financial institutions and insurance carriers who would risk major losses from another inevitable LNG disaster," Riley declared.
The Tribune, The Bahamas
LNG explosion prompts new opposition to plant
Earlier this year, American environmentalists Tim and Hayden Riley came to Nassau to protest against an LNG facility being established in the Bahamas. They were due to speak at a town meeting that was postponed and never rescheduled.
In an interview with The Tribune yesterday, Tim Riley said: “The Bahamian people should no longer consider taking the risks of an LNG disaster for the benefit of Florida. The energy industry referring to the Nigerian disaster as a mere “supply hiccup” is a clear example of complete disregard for human life, safety and the environment. “The recent Nigerian LNG pipeline explosion and fire engulfing 27 square kilometers is another horrifying example of why the Bahamas should reject all LNG proposals,” Mr Riley said. “They see disaster and human suffering as a mere cost of doing business which gets in the way of making more profits,” he said.
Palm Beach Post
Florida pipeline plan considered
The problem with LNG is twofold, opponents say.
In the first place, using another fossil fuel only puts off developing alternative, renewable sources of energy. Increasing amounts of LNG will need to be imported, just like with oil.
"It's going to make us more vulnerable and manipulated," said Tim Riley, an outspoken consumer protection attorney in California and activist who has devoted much of his Web site, timrileylaw.com, to the hazards of natural gas lines.
"Countries are going to create their own LNG OPEC, and that would stop the research and development of American energy resources," he said.
Secondly, there's the increasingly familiar black cloud of terrorism. LNG terminals and lines could become targets for those wishing to launch a deadly assault on American soil.
"When you deal with LNG, they don't even have to bring in a bomb, they merely have to provide the trigger," Riley said.
Platts
Opposition mounts against offshore plants
“According to Tim Riley, an Oxnard-based attorney who has concerns regarding the dangers posed by LNG terminals, the bottom line is that “the danger is in the massive quantity of this dangerous gas in one place.”
Riley believes that offshore LNG terminals are potentially more dangerous than onshore terminals. “In terms of offshore, LNG is far more dangerous in water than on land,” he asserted.
Riley explained there is no way to confine an offshore spill and prevailing winds, which is typical in the vicinity of an ocean, will exacerbate the situation, he said. “As I read old [U.S.] Bureau of Mines reports and Coast Guard reports, they are mindful that vapor fumes will drift with the wind. The water source is going to act as a huge boiling space until it reaches an ignition source” that would most likely be on land, Riley noted.”
“Riley argued that Platform Grace would be a safety hazard as it was situated “in unprotected seas where there could be gale force winds and tremendous current.” He also pointed out that with a floating platform, both the platform and ship would be moving with the water as LNG is being unloaded, thus increasing the chances of a potential accident. “These offshore LNG terminal projects are untried and unproven. LNG is far too dangerous for trial and error,” Riley said. Renewable energy is the way to go, he added.”
The Malibu Times
Tim Riley, a consumer protection advocate and personal injury lawyer from Oxnard
, stated in an Aug. 24 column for the Ventura County Star, 'LNG facilities, tankers and pipelines are vulnerable to major industrial accidents, earthquakes and terrorism, and they would pose realistic danger to our community. Tankers are approximately 950 feet long ... they hold 20 billion gallons of natural gas. Release of that enormous volume of gas would provide devastating power for mass destruction.'"
Watchdog Agency Slams LNG Science and Says Experts Can’t Assess Disaster Potential
Oxnard anti-LNG film producer Tim Riley said, “The GAO study shows the federal scientists are finally admitting that they do not know what the effects of millions of gallons of cryogenically-chilled liquid on a ship’s decks will be. We’ve been saying all along it would make the ship’s skin peel like a banana, and now they say they agree that more study has to be done." Riley, an Oxnard Shores attorney, said the GAO study says the same thing that he was labeled an “extremist” for bringing up three years ago. “ And there are a lot of additional questions raised by the study, like who were the scientists who were interviewed?” he said. “A lot of those people may work for the LNG industry as safety consultants.” Riley said the GAO study shows “an ever-changing worst-case scenario” and said Malibu residents cannot rest assured that the permanently-anchored Cabrillo Port would stay put in an emergency. “BHP Billiton has a proven record of failure in that department, one of its natural gas terminals that was supposedly hurricane-proof came loose in a hurricane and traveled 200 kilometers (124 miles) upside down,” he said. “There is nothing to stop an LNG leak from snapping those anchors, and the wind from blowing that facility onto the shore."
Report tells risks of LNG attacks
In calling for further research on LNG safety, the government report points out that previous studies have been based on inconsistent computer models instead of factual data, said Oxnard Shores attorney Tim Riley. "We've been saying this for years," said Riley, who produced a documentary on the dangers of LNG. "Our detractors try to call us fearmongers. I think they are going to be hard-pressed to call the GAO fearmongers. We've just been asking for reasonable prudence and urging more testing. We are glad to see the (government) officials are finally in agreement." LNG facilities that are awaiting government approval should be put on hold until additional research is completed, Riley said.
Paperwork for First of Two Area LNG Projects Accepted by Feds
Neither project sits well with some environmentalists, like Oxnard attorney Tim Riley, who is gearing up to battle an LNG terminal 13 miles west of his Oxnard Shores home. "This is a guinea pig project that is going to be twice as close to Oxnard as the BHP Billiton one," he said. "It will have two LNG tankers at it so it will be at least twice as dangerous, so we all need to team together as with BHP Billiton and work twice as hard." said Riley.
The Nassau Guardian
Miller: PI would be hit first
Minister disagrees that LNG tanker would be terrorist target
Miller, who has been a staunch proponent of bringing a LNG regassification plant to The Bahamas, was speaking during a question and answer period of a meeting between a government delegation, Cat Cay and Bimini residents, local media, environmentalists and anti-LNG lobbyists. Prime Minister Perry Christie had requested that a Miller - led delegation attend the meeting in order to acquaint residents with Government's position on the viability of AES energy corporation's construction of an LNG plant at nearby Ocean Cay.
Tim Riley, a California-based attorney and anti-LNG lobbyist had asked the Minister to explain how Government planned to protect the massive tankers from terrorist threats and accidents once a LNG plant was approved and the tankers began coming regularly to Ocean Cay. He explained that American cities spent as much as $80,000 to setup floating exclusionary zones around the tankers each time they came to port.
The zones around Boston, he pointed out, included one mile in the front of the tanker, two miles to the stern, and a 1/2 mile on either side. He added that other boats would be shot if they- either by accident or intentionally- penetrated one of these "exclusionary bubbles."
He continued: "My question is to you is: how big is your exclusionary bubble going to be, how are you going to pay for it and how is it going to affect your economy... and is your protection going to be secure enough that a tanker will not be commandeered here and taken in 50 miles into the coast of the United States?"
According to the website LNGdanger.com, which was created by Mr Riley and his wife Hayden, typical LNG tankers are larger than the size of three football fields and carry more than twenty times the natural gas it took to burn one-square mile of Cleveland Ohio in a LNG-related accident in 1941. The tankers reportedly require five miles to halt.
Mr Diaz has warned that members of his Cat Cay Club, who are worth between 30 and $40 billion, would liquidate the more than 300 million dollars they have invested in their homes, accompanying infrastructure and other assets at Cat Cay and pull out once Government approved the AES LNG project.
Cat Cay comprises more than182 acres of land and is 7.8 miles away from Ocean Cay and 19 miles from Bimini.
Praises New Film About LNG
Copyright Owner Tim Riley 2004