Connecticut officials are blasting the federal government?s approval Thursday of Broadwater?s liquefied natural gas facility in the Long Island Sound.

Lawmakers say the approval is a setback in the fight against the barge, but they also say it wasn?t unexpected. Gov. Jodi Rell had a statement ready less than 20 minutes after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authorized construction of what is commonly known as the ?Broadwater facility.?

Rell calls the decision nothing short of a disgrace and an insult to the people of Connecticut. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal had the same reaction to the FERC decision.

?In this case it is not only the wrong decision, the worst possible project, the worst place, but it is ill conceived, illogical and illegal,? Blumenthal says.

If built, the LNG facility would sit 10 miles off the coast of southwestern Connecticut and nine miles off the shore of Long Island.

Lawmakers now say the goal is to delay the project as much as possible. Blumenthal says he will take Connecticut?s appeals all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

The newly sworn-in New York Gov. David Paterson has yet to make a decision on whether the state will issue permits for the facility.

Fedsapprove Broadwater LNG terminalRelltask force urges N.Y. to reject Broadwater project