LNG route arouses fears Opposition to the federally-approved terminal for liquified natural gas imports at Fall River continues to roil Rhode Island waters. The gas, liquified under great pressure, is carried in large tankers that many consider a safety hazard because a tanker explosion could wreak devastation in an urban area.

The tankers would travel past Block Island and thread their way through Narragansett Bay and Mount Hope Bay into the Taunton River. A group of of public safety and environmental experts, led by Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, sailed the route last week aboard Save the Bay's trawler to assess the risk of the transit.

A bill in the General Assembly, already passed by the House, would require a safety zone around each tanker, two miles to the front, a mile behind, and 1,000 yards on each side. Shoreline in the narrow parts of the passage, including Roger Williams University in Bristol and Ft. Adams State Park in Newport, would fall within such a zone, effectively barring the LNG port from operating. - Read Kingsbury