Ch. 91 Waterways Appeal Recap

We wanted to provide you with a short update on one of our final appeals before the MassDEP. 

 With your support we have waged a long appeal against the MADEP for granting Enbridge the Chapter 91 Waterways permit. Our first hearing on this case was in July of 2017. There have been many back and forth appeals and a case before the Superior Court, who found in our favor that the compressor did not need to go in the Fore River Basin. In July of 2022, Presiding Officer Jane Rothchild agreed with the Court and the case has been in the hands of the MassDEP ever since. This fight is now coming to an end with a Final Decision from DEP due on November 22. 

Enbridge should never have been allowed to begin construction without this permit being clear, especially when it rested on one word: “ancillary.” Our lawyer, Mike Hayden, has been clear that the compressor station is NOT ancillary. Both the DEP and Enbridge claim that the existing pipeline requires the compressor station to be located next to it. This is untrue. Enbridge identified 5-7 other locations that could have served this compressor station--although, we would have objected to any of them as this station does not belong on planet Earth--and none of them were next to the metering and regulating station currently in the Basin and none of them were coastally located. Their reason for NOT choosing any of the other locations? Money. It was cheap and convenient for them to dump their toxic mess in an already overburdened Environmental Justice neighborhood. (Pat yourselves on the back that your efforts as FRRACS has cost them a lot more money than they ever expected.)

Further, the philosophy of the Ch. 91 Waterways program dates back to 1641! The general doctrine is: More than ever, the presence of a program like Chapter 91 is vital, especially because many of the fastest growing regions of the state, such as the North Shore, South Shore and Cape Cod and the Islands, are coastal areas. In these coastal areas, Chapter 91 regulations serve to protect traditional maritime industries, such as fishing and shipping, from displacement by commercial or residential development.  For the overview of the Ch. 91 Waterways regulations and process, please go here. 

The most current legal briefs in this process are available here (one each from FRRACS/Hayden, DEP and Algonquin/Enbridge). They are complex and confusing, but stay the course. Although we have no reason to believe that the DEP will do its job and side with us, it is not over.

As ever, thank you for all that you do!