Newsday reports that the infamous Broadwater project may be simmering under the surface when the presidential race arrives in New York in anticipation of the February 5th primary. The project, which proposes the creation of a liquefied gas terminal in the Long Island Sound, has become an extraordinarily potent topic as its final environmental impact statement has been slated for an early January release.

Although essentially a local issue, it may emerge in the primary as candidates Rudolph Giuliani and Hillary Clinton possess ties to the controversial project. Giuliani Associates has been a security consultant since the project's inception, working to solicit support for its passage. Alternatively, Clinton has opposed Broadwater; however, her former top LI aide Rezi Cooper and fundraiser Robert Zimmerman have both recently signed on as consultants, defections that some have cited as evidence undermining her sincerity on the issue. Whichever candidate residents support, the project seems inevitably linked to the election; as Fred Thiele (R-Sag Harbor) states, "Long Islanders care about the environment, and I'm sure Broadwater has come up in opposition research."