DEP Presiding Officer rules in favor of Enbridge in BACT Appeal

Late this afternoon, we received pretty much what we expected from the Department of Enabling Polluters, formerly known as the Department of Environmental Protection.

In her final decision on the BACT (Best Available Control Technology) Analysis of the Air Quality permit, Jane Rothchild once again did extra special thought gymnastics in order to give Enbridge the go-ahead to use a gas fired turbine as opposed to the non-polluting electric motor drive. In other words, she let all polluters and fossil fuels companies know that Massachusetts is open for business to pollute at will with no interference from the MassDEP. Go here to read the entire decision. Giving Jane a break, though, we are sure that had she found for us and for Quincy, Braintree, and Hingham, that Commissioner Suuberg would have overruled her in order to please Governor Gas.

What does this mean for us? It's back to court we go! The compressor is still not operating as they have not been able to determine what caused the second accident. And our goal, as ever, is to keep it a non-operating stranded asset for Enbridge. Stick with us!

You can read the full ruling here.