President Biden named Commissioner Glick as the chairperson of FERC as of today! We welcome this news for Commissioner Glick has long been outspoken about climate and FERC's need to consider climate change in its decisions on fossil fuel build-outs.

Good news!! In an executive order, President Biden revoked the Presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. Many thanks and appreciation to all of the organizers and communities who have fought for years to shut down this dangerous pipeline.

Action Item: We are asking the public to submit comments to FERC using their online comment portal, urging them to approve our request for a rehearing on their decision to approve Enbridge’s certificate of operation. Can you send a comment to FERC? Click here for instructions on how to submit a comment.

Three of the five Commissioners rejected the denial of FRRACS' rehearing request that was issued in November of 2020.

MassDEP rules in favor of polluters once again. This evening we learned that MassDEP Presiding Officer Jane Rothchild ruled in favor of Enbridge in our BACT appeal. Though we aren't surprised by this decision, we are disappointed. But don’t worry. The fight isn't over! We're taking this appeal to federal court. Stay tuned for more updates. Thank you for sticking with us.

You can read the full ruling here.

An amazing run down of the Climate Bill taking up space on Baker's desk by Weymouth's own Tim Cronin! Read it here.

A regional plan that includes Weymouth, Quincy, and Braintree needs to be developed on the state level for the compressor station. Enbridge’s station poses a serious safety risk to surrounding communities. Although we continue to organize to shut down the compressor station permanently, we believe it is imperative to address and plan for the safety risks that the compressor station poses.

You can read more here: Weymouth News - Regional emergency plan urged for Weymouth compressor (link)

Some good news, folks. A pipeline safety, put forth by Senator Markey, has made it’s way into the coronavirus relief package. Read below for more details.

Boston 25 News / SHNS - ‘Leonel Rondon Pipeline Safety Act’ included in massive COVID-19 bill (link)

This is what happens when there is no oversight or controls on an industry run by the unethical who feed on nothing but greed.

Scientific American - This is what happens when there is no oversight or controls on an industry run by the unethical who feed on nothing but greed (link)

It was quite a day on the Parcel of North yesterday! We hope to have a link to the video soon, but you can see here that the Great Green Man of the Solstice was there to lead the socially distanced parade. Rev. Betsy spoke of the light and Rev. Gretchen blessed the children of the area. An amazing time for all who attended and who sent elves from far and wide!

So when Gov. Gas isn't busy further polluting the Basin, he's busy on the other side of the state in another environmental justice zone. This Boston Globe article - In the nation’s asthma capital, plans to burn wood for energy spark fury - is a couple of months old, but we bring it up because burning wood and trash without benefit of scrubbers and filters is...well...really awful. And using trees for energy is...well...insane. And the climate bill currently in conference will consider trash and wood as "renewable" under the Renewable Portfolio Standard of the Dept. of Energy Resources (DOER). Hearings were held over a year ago on this and many came to speak about how crazy this was. All on the deaf ears of the Baker Administration.

Start-up of the compressor station has been delayed until at least January, after PHMSA (Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration) stated that they would be doing a full safety review after Enbridge had two system failures in September.

Read more about this update in this follow up story from Spotlight fellow, Mike Stanton, in the Boston Globe. Just a few days ago, Mike Stanton released a Spotlight report on the fight against the compressor station. You can read it here.

Attention Fore River Campers: We were informed today by Congressman Lynch's office that the Weymouth compressor station would not begin operation until the final report on the cause of the second accident was completed. We will keep you informed as to when operations are to begin.

For daily information on Algonquin's shipping schedule, go to

https://infopost.spectraenergy.com/infopost/

While PHMSA does not seem to take its mandate to demand safety in gas facilities seriously, we thank Senators Markey and Warren for joining Congressman Lynch in calling for the compressor to be shut down UNTIL the root cause analysis is done.

Mike Stanton, a Spotlight Investigative Journalism fellow, followed our fight for nearly two years and has officially published his story on this fight. Many thanks to Mike Stanton for following and reporting on this story. The Boston Globe - Was it ever a fair fight?

Congressman Lynch wrote to PHMSA today to express his concern after they granted Enbridge approval for operation. He is asking that they place a stay on their approval until a cause is found for September’s system failures.

After receiving rubber stamp approval from PHMSA (Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration), Enbridge can begin operating their compressor station. This decision comes nearly three months after Enbridge was forced to shut down the compressor after they had two systems failures. PHMSA did a review of the failures and although they did not state a reason as two what caused the failures, they are allowing operation to continue. Please be aware as this means that Enbridge will be releasing gas into the community throughout the week.

The Boston Herald - Weymouth natural gas compressor will vent gas into the community during its first week of operations (link)

Go for a stroll in King Coves Park to see all the elves we have on display! Help us get to 310 elves by the end of the month. Thanks to WBZ News Radio for covering this story. You can read more below.

WBZ News Radio - "Elf Effigies" Set Up By Weymouth Compressor Station Opponents (link)

So much has happened over the past week, we are not sure where to begin. We always hesitate to overload you, but there is some very important information that we need to give you.

We want you to know--in case you have not already heard--that the investigation into the two accidents is supposedly complete. We found out about this on the afternoon before Thanksgiving. It was our November surprise! And very typical of the way Enbridge treats our community with such disrespect.

The two-day BACT appeal with MassDEP and Algonquin (Enbridge) concluded today. This is the appeal that the Town of Weymouth just dropped on October 30th--much to the surprise of their municipal partners and FRRACS.