Tribal Councillor Hilda Lewis described the meeting "as long and sometimes
contentious." The meeting that convened at 10 a.m., with breaks during the day,
lasted until 10 p.m. Lewis made, and Councillor Dale Mitchell seconded, the
motion to delay action on the land lease request for two weeks. The vote passed
6-1, and another meeting is scheduled for May 19.

     According to Vera Francis of We Protect Our Homeland Group, when members of the
Passamaquoddy community who oppose LNG in Passamaquoddy Bay were told by the
developers, the developer's attorneys and a few of their own tribal councillors
that they could not see the proposed land lease agreement, that all discussions
about the proposed lease would be held in executive session and that they would
have to leave the tribal building or possibly be arrested, they stood up and
moved shoulder to shoulder. They remained steadfast, and in the Passamaquoddy
language, announced they would not be turned out or turned away from the process
they believe they have a right to have access to as tribal members. According to
Francis, when the women asserted their rights as communal owners of the land,
Donald Smith, chief executive officer of Smith Cogeneration, "became rude." Also
present was Brian Smith, manager of development for Smith Cogeneration.

     Ed Bassett, who works in the tribe's environmental office, says he only attended
for approximately two hours, but he is dissatisfied with the conduct of the
meeting. Bassett feels there needs to be more respect shown on the part of the
opponents. He believes, "There is a healthy and respectful way to disagree."
According to Bassett, a minority of the opponents use every means at their
disposal to discredit anything they can. He would like to see a respectful
dialogue between both the opponents and the proponents of the project.

     Bassett comments, "Those are my feelings as far as the process goes, but when you
get down to the purpose of the meeting, I have some concerns because things are
changing. I am still concerned whether it is a viable proposal. I would like to
hear more." Bassett believes it is viable if the tribal council wants it. In the
event that the Passamaquoddy Tribe turns down the LNG proposal, he believes the
project will be located in a nearby community. "We will just watch the ships go
by. We will have exerted a lot of energy to turn it down, and it will wind up in
another community. Sort of shooting ourselves in the foot."

     The tribal council did meet in executive session and at that time passed the
motion to delay the lease request for two weeks.

     Several opponents of the LNG proposal asked if lawyer Robert D. Williams of the
Boston firm of Masterman, Culbert and Tully was licensed to practice law in Maine
and whether it was a conflict of interest that he was representing the tribe and
being paid by Quoddy Bay LLC. Williams responded that he was operating under
tribal lawyer Craig Francis's license and denied any conflict of interest in
representing both the tribe and the developer. We Protect Our Homeland
coordinator Vera Francis is leading the process to pursue the question of a
conflict of interest related to attorney Williams.

     "I thought the meeting went all right," comments tribal lawyer Craig Francis. He
says the opponents to the project were quite vocal in their opposition. Francis
says the executive session was to allow the leadership to review the 110-page
comprehensive agreement between Quoddy Bay LLC and the Pleasant Point tribal
government in relation to a land lease. Attorney Francis believes Donald Smith
does recognize that dealings with any governing group may take time, but Smith
would like to see some momentum.

     Smith, while unwilling to distribute copies of the land lease agreement he was
proposing for Quoddy Bay LLC, revealed that his company is proposing to lease the
acreage restricted by Article 40 and recently rejected by the voters of Perry as
a site for a terminal. The Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point, in an agreement
with the Town of Perry, annexed 40 acres of Perry land. The agreement, referred
to as Article 40, required Perry voters to approve any commercial development on
the land. Perry voters in March rejected the LNG proposal by a vote of 279 to
214.

     Vera Francis says it was also revealed that in addition to the 40 acres covered
under Article 40, Quoddy Bay LLC also wished to lease land near the tribal wharf
known as Split Rock. Francis says, "We own this land, our people own this land
as we have for generations. These men were demanding that the tribe give them a
land lease for 30-plus years. They were proposing to take parcels of our land
into their total control. These parcels of land are located in various locations
around the reservation and with LNG exclusion zones, safety zones and thermal
radiation zones, under their plan, the entire reservation would have to be moved
to accommodate their project."

     Save Passamaquoddy Bay organizers in Perry intend to stand by the decision of the
voters who rejected the terminal facility on Article 40 land. Perry organizers
expressed shock that Smith and Quoddy Bay LLC were proposing to the tribe that
they lease the Article 40 land in spite of the Perry vote, thus forcing a legal
action. Organizers confirm that several of their members continue to actively
work with their own attorney in the pursuit of their request for a grand jury
investigation into the statutory bribe charge against Donald Smith, Quoddy Bay
LLC and their agents, related to the financial offer made to the voters of Perry
just prior to the Article 40 vote.

     Tribal attorney Francis says the tribe does not view the Perry vote as having any
legal status. He says the vote was not requested by the tribe and was not worded
properly -- a "yes" vote meant "no" and a "no" vote meant "yes." According to
attorney Francis, if a lease is signed, then, "We will follow the proper
procedure and go to Perry and see if we can get approval."

     Passamaquoddy Tribal Representative Fred Moore, who originally invited LNG onto
the reservation and has since separated himself from the project, was present and
spoke about the positive path the proposed Downeast racino/racetrack is on and
supported the moratorium on the LNG land lease agreement in favor of letting the
racino/racetrack move forward. This recommendation met with favor and was seen
as an additional reason to delay any decision on the land lease request.

     While Donald Smith was not successful in obtaining a lease agreement at the May
5 meeting, it is expected he will be back again on May 19.

     Smith has approached at least three Robbinston property owners asking them if
they would be willing to sell their properties. One of the property owners, Mr.
and Mrs. Joseph Johnson, say they were approached by Brian Smith and asked if
they would be interested in selling their property. The Johnsons' reply was a
definite "no." The Johnsons, with 2,000 feet of river frontage and 70 acres, may
be one of the larger property owners in Robbinston. Another Robbinston property
owner with acreage located on the land side of Route 1 also declined to discuss
the matter with Brian Smith.

     Attorney Francis says he has heard that another company is interested in
Robbinston as a possible LNG site. He says he does not know the name of the
company and he is not aware of any move on the part of Smith Cogeneration to
contact land owners, but Francis says he represents the tribe, and Smith would
necessarily tell him about any Robbinston activities.