It’s very hard to believe—and even we forgot to mention it at our meeting this past Tuesday—but it’s been six years this month that FRRACS began organizing to stop the Weymouth compressor station! If it were a different year, we would have broken bread together at the Club House in Quincy and reminded one another of how far we have come.

Yes, the station is constructed, but it is barely operational. Yes, the DEP failed us yet again with the appeal of the Best Available Control Technology (BACT) that would have required Enbridge to use an electric motor instead of a polluting gas turbine. Yes, we worry every day about whether or not this monster will begin operating at full—and dangerous—capacity. But there is a light coming over the horizon.

In February of this year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an Order for paper briefing of the Weymouth compressor station. They have included in their request information on safety, climate change, necessity, and environmental justice. This is an unprecedented event. It is our chance to be heard, and FRRACS and our allies will raise our voices high.

We—and that means you—have fought for these six years for our health, our safety, our environment, and our economy. For three of those years, we have stopped Enbridge from shipping gas from the station (proposed shipping date was November of 2017). Now, we seem to be a test case for FERC on taking all of our issues seriously. This was all because of you--our members, our partners in the City of Quincy, the Town of Braintree, the Town of Hingham, the Town of Weymouth (prior to last October), our South Shore senators and representatives on The Hill, our federal delegation in Washington, and our allies in the grassroots environmental community.

Happy Sixth Anniversary—from all of us on the FRRACS Team to all of you

Below is a slideshow of some photos taken over the years! Take a look!