Press Conference to demand action from the DEP

Mothers Out Front, FRRACS, and other coalition members organized a press conference at the state house today to put pressure on the DEP. You can watch a livestream of the press conference here.

Our demands included:
1) An independent investigation into the Weymouth Compressor Air Quality permitting process
2) A moratorium on any new or expanded major fossil fuel infrastructure (and other major polluting infrastructure) in MA
3) A denial of the final air quality permit for the compressor station

The event brought together over 50 allies who held signs, chanted, and spoke about their concerns related to the compressor station and the DEP’s inaction.

The press conference was held in response to Jane Rothchild’s (DEP Presiding Officer) decision to direct DEP to uphold an air quality permit issued to Enbridge for the proposed station.We gathered to express our outrage over the Presiding Officer’s decsion.

Today’s speakers highlighted shortcomings in current regulations governing air permits, which do not require existing pollution levels be accounted for in projected models. These inadequate and outdated rules result in some communities within the Commonwealth, such as Weymouth and Quincy, bearing a higher toxic burden. A new compressor station would only exacerbate conditions in these frontline communities, posing serious health and safety risks.

State House News Service was in attendance and wrote a piece about the event. You can read it here - Compressor station opponents say they’ll go to court

This about sums it up, Campers. Money talks and Baker listens. Mintz Levin is the law firm defending Enbridge. ML Strategies--the lobbying wing of Mintz Levin--is doing all of Enbridge's PR.