Alejandro García Padilla. Route The proposed pipeline would distribute natural gas from the Costa Sur Sugar Plantation (Peñuelas/Guayanilla area) north to the Salinas plant. The proposed route would cut through Puerto Rico's southern region. It would cross 6 municipalities. Technical features The pipeline was to be operated by AEE. The gas to be transported by the pipeline will be supplied by EcoElectrica. The pipeline will have a diameter of . It would have a length of . Autoridad de Energia Electrica plans to convert several oil-fired plants to natural gas, starting with Costa Sur's units 5 and 6, which should be up and running December 2011. Subsequently, AEE plants at Salinas will convert to natural gas. Dr. Arturo Massol González, professor at the University of Puerto Rico, winner of the 2003 Goldman Environmental Prize, and director of Casa Pueblo, a community-based environmental watchdog organization in Puerto Rico, opposed the project on environmental, safety and technical grounds arguing that the project would run through highly populated southern coast areas and that it will not be capable of supplying the natural gas needed for processing in Salinas. Controversies The project has been highly controversial due to environmental, safety, and technical concerns. Environmental impact Some argue that the pipeline, should it be built, will negatively impact sensitive areas, hydrographic basins, and lands fit for agriculture. It will also represent further dependence on another form of fossil fuel that, while less polluting than the current oil-based system of electricity generation, will still contribute to global warming. Proper infrastructure According to officials at EcoEléctrica, gas output at their facilities will not provide enough natural gas to power generators beyond Costa Sur, the first gas-to-electric conversion unit in the path of the pipeline and located in the municipality of Peñuelas. Opponents argue that "building a pipeline when there is no gas, makes no sense" and are demanding that the government abandon the project altogether: the admission by a high-ranking officer of EcoEléctrica to La Perla del Sur is a decisive and unequivocal confirmation that what we have been stating for months. Safety concerns The Puerto Rico director of the Caribbean Tsunami Alert Program, Crista Von Hillebrant, confirmed to a local news weekly that EcoElectrica – the only point of entry for the natural gas to be injected into the Gasoducto – was located in a tsunami risk zone. Ethical issues Alternatives Excelerate Energy signed a contract