CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – It’s a big night for a community who doesn’t want a plant that makes rocket fuel less a mile from their neighborhood.
A new meeting about a controversial proposal to build a liquefied natural gas plant is set for 5-7 p.m. Wednesday night at Cape Canaveral’s Community Center.
The meeting is hosted by the two companies behind the project, Berkshire Hathaway and Chesapeake Utilities, who are seeking to buy vacant land on Merritt Island’s barge canal that’s owned by Port Canaveral.
[WATCH BELOW: Neighbors voice concerns over planned LNG plant in Merritt Island]
“We’ve been trying to interact with as many folks as possible,” Chesapeake’s Communications Director Alex Nye told your Cape Canaveral Community Correspondent James Sparvero at last month’s Port Canaveral commission meeting.
Nye told Sparvero he’d feel safe living close to the plant.
He said LNG is the future for space and maritime industries and right now, none of it’s made here.
Sparvero asked Nye, why not put the plant closer to Kennedy Space Center.
“We’ve looked at a number of sites, and this one is most advantageous on a number of different fronts, including access to the water,” Nye answered.
Port commissioners haven’t voted yet on whether to sell the land where the plant would be.
CEO Capt. John Murray has said that while the port doesn’t use the land on the canal now, it might be useful for the port’s interests in the future.
“It’s a little simpler for us,” resident Bob Wise told Sparvero. “It’s open and shut, too close.”
After Wednesday night’s meeting hosted by the project leads, the community is organizing its own meeting to talk more about fighting this proposal.
Wise said it will be this Friday night, Feb. 20, starting at 6 p.m. at the Lighthouse Christian Church at 1250 N. Banana River Drive in Merritt Island.
[WATCH BELOW: Proposed LNG plant near Port Canaveral sparks debate]