Senators Markey and Warren call for review of compressor proposal

Senator Markey and Senator Warren have written to FERC, urging them to reconsider Enbridge’s project proposal. In January 2017, FERC issued an approval of Enbridge’s Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, pending all other permit approvals. In December 2018, FERC reissued their approval of the certificate, which was set to expire the following month. Since that time, Enbridge has received all of their permit approvals. Senators Markey and Warren, along with Congressmen Lynch and Kennedy and other groups, are urging FERC to reconsider Enbridge’s Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, given the lack of need for the gas.

We don't have the letter on the docket just yet, but we will publish when we do. Many thanks to Senators Markey and Warren.

And many thanks to Jessica Trufant for her continued reporting. It's been a long five years....

You can read more here: The Patriot Ledger - U.S. senators call for 11th-hour review of compressor station proposal

Excerpt: “Massachusetts’ two U.S. senators are pushing federal energy regulators to hold off on issuing their final approval for a 7,700-horsepower natural gas compressor station and reconsider whether the project is necessary.

U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey sent a letter to Neil Chatterjee, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, on Wednesday asking that the commission reject a request from gas company Enbridge to start construction of the compressor station, and instead reopen its decision to issue a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the project.

The letter comes less than a week after U.S. Reps. Stephen Lynch and Joseph Kennedy III sent their own letter to Chatterjee urging the commission to reevaluate the project in light of the declining demand and the contamination at the proposed site that has not been remediated. Kennedy, whose congressional district does not include Weymouth, is challenging Markey in the 2020 Democratic primary for the seat Markey has held since 2013.

Algonquin Gas Transmission, a subsidiary of Enbridge, received initial approval for the compressor station in January 2017 from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, known as FERC. The company also needed several state permits, all of which have now been granted by the state despite vehement and organized opposition from local officials and residents.” (The Patriot Ledger)