Mother Out Front urges FERC to stop construction of the compressor station

Mothers Out Front, a longtime ally in this fight, submitted a letter to FERC, urging them to shut down construction citing the lack of Enbridge’s air quality permit. We thank Mothers Out Front for their continued advocacy on this issue. You can read their letter below:

June 16, 2020
Ms. Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20426
Re: Algonquin Gas Transmission, LLC, Docket No. CP16-9-000, a call
to rescind the Notice to Proceed due to lack ofauthorizations

On June 3, the First Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the air quality permit
which the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
had issued to Algonquin for the Weymouth compressor station in
Weymouth, MA

In spite of the project now not being properly authorized as required by
FERC, the construction of the compressor continues. This is in violation
of Condition 9 of the FERC certificate issued January 25, 2017. Work
cannot proceed without all necessary permits having been granted.
In addition, should the DEP find that Algonquin must use an electric
motor, all the current work to install a gas turbine with associated
infrastructure would be senseless and a wasted expense.

Our organization has followed the DEP's permitting process closely. We
call on FERC to enforce its own regulations by rescinding the Notice to
Proceed with construction granted Algonquin to prohibit construction
without required permits.

Respectfully,
MA Mothers Out Front
Contact person: Susan Lees