Gas company fines boost concerns about proposed Weymouth compressor station
/WEYMOUTH – The Texas company looking to build a natural gas compressor station in North Weymouth has been touting its commitment to meet all federal safety mandates for months. But a subsidiary company of Spectra Energy was fined twice by federal regulators in the past six years for failing to meet safety standards and other requirements at its facilities, including a gas-detecting alarm system that was improperly calibrated for more than a year at a Connecticut compressor station, records show.
Spectra says the violations were “primarily administrative in nature,” and were quickly fixed. But opponents of the proposal, including public officials and resident groups in Weymouth, Quincy and Braintree, say the fines bolster their case that the compressor station in a densely populated area near the Fore River would pose a safety and health hazard to residents, businesses and commuters.