Pheffer's man lobbied for LNG project

From the Daily News:

THE LONGTIME boyfriend of a state lawmaker from Queens lobbied Albany last year on behalf of a company that plans to build a liquefied natural gas terminal off the Rockaways, raising eyebrows in her district.

Critics say this set up a potential conflict of interest for Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer (D-Rockaway Beach), even though she has been a vocal opponent of such projects.

Lobbyist Glenn Riddell describes Pheffer as being his "life partner" on the Web site for his Albany-based lobbying firm, the Riddell Group. BlueOcean Energy was a client of his between January 2008 and May 2009, he said.

"I disassociated myself with the project because I live on Rockaway Beach, and I live with Audrey Pheffer," Riddell told Queens News.

He said he told BlueOcean officials that if the company made a push to do business in New York, "I am going to have to respectfully decline" to represent them.

BlueOcean is one of the three firms planning to set up floating ocean terminals 30 miles from New York to receive and store shipments of liquefied natural gas - LNG.

The terminal, featuring a deck area the size of four football fields, will be fastened to the ocean floor by 16 steel mooring chains, according to the company's Web site.

Once stored on the terminal, the LNG will be reheated to restore it to a gas and then delivered to New Jersey or New York through an underwater pipeline to existing onshore pipelines.

Riddell said he was hired by BlueOcean to complete a "white paper," or feasibility report, of where along the Atlantic coast the terminal could be placed.

"Our whole responsibility in this project was to keep New York State, the governor's office and his energy people apprised of what was going on," said Riddell, who added he was paid $2,500 a month for his work with BlueOcean, owned by ExxonMobil.

A BlueOcean spokesman confirmed that Riddell worked for the firm as a contractor until last May.