A federal regulatory agency gave the green light Friday to Broadwater Energy's Long Island Sound natural gas barge project.

In its draft environmental impact statement, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) claims the 12,000-foot liquefied natural gas barge will have no negative impact on the nature of the Long Island Sound or its ecosystem. Broadwater Energy plans to build the barge, which will be placed more than nine miles off shore, and a pipeline that will carry the natural gas to the island for home use.

Citizens Campaign for the Environment representatives say they are unsettled by FERC's report. They believe the barge will have a negative environmental impact and allege politics played a role in how FERC formed its ecological conclusions.

Meanwhile, some critics worry the Broadwater barge will serve as a potential terrorism target. County Executive Steve Levy (D-Suffolk) simply calls the project "misguided."