More on Sec. Beaton's departure to contractor with ties to Enbridge

Sec. Beaton's departure to TRC does not pass the smell test. Jessica Trufant covers this story in The Patriot Ledger. Thank you for your continued and excellent reporting, Jessica! You can read the full article here: The Patriot Ledger - Top regulator to work for firm with ties to compressor proposal

“Gov. Charlie Baker announced this week that Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton is leaving the agency to serve as a senior vice president at TRC Companies Inc. Undersecretary of Climate Change Kathleen Theoharides is set to be sworn in as secretary today.

TRC has done work for Algonquin Gas Transmission, a subsidiary of Spectra Energy-Enbridge, including overseeing the cleanup of oil contamination at the proposed compressor station site.

Alice Arena of Fore River Residents Against the Compressor Station said she and other residents recently met with Beaton to share their concerns about the project, including work done by TRC. She said she was “quite stunned” to learn less than two months later that the head of the agency regulating the project will now work for a company helping to get it permitted.

Arena said she believes Beaton already knew during their meeting that he would be leaving to go work for TRC.

“Given the optics of this situation, I feel well within my right to question his ethics,” Arena said.”