Environmentalists have collected more than 700,000 signed petitions, exceeding a threshold necessary to hold a referendum opposing the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal off the coast of Taiwan. Opponents say that the project will endanger the algal reef coast as well as northern Taiwan’s precious ecosystems. Taiwan’s government claims that a plan to cut the station’s size and their efforts to avoid most of the reef area should be sufficient to ease concerns.