Listen to our recent interview with WBZ Radio - In The Fight Over the Weymouth Compressor, A New Push

Today, members of the FRRACS community visited the office of Attorney General Maura Healey to encourage her to take action on the compressor station. We encourage Attorney General Healey to address the recent remand of Enbridge’s waterways license as it relates to Massachusetts EJ law (environmental justice).

On May 2, 2022, Norfolk Superior Court Judge Joseph Leighton vacated the Chapter 91 Waterways permit for the Algonquin Weymouth compressor station and remanded the permit back to the MA Department of Environmental Protection.

We submitted a letter to FERC today in response to this ruling.

We received some amazing news from our wonderful attorney, Mike Hayden. On March 31, Mike presented our case to Superior Court Judge Joseph Leighton against the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for granting the Chapter 91 Waterways permit to Enbridge. Judge Leighton has ruled in our favor and has remanded the permit back to the DEP.

Together with allies from across the state, we gathered in the public park located next to the compressor station to celebrate Earth Day together.

Some residents received a notice in the mail from Enbridge, informing them of “enhancements” being made to the compressor. Enbridge spokesperson Maxime Bergeron told us that "enhancements" are not part of the Atlantic Bridge project so there is no requirement to put them on the FERC docket (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) monthly compliance reporting.

ALERT: Enbridge will be doing a series of blowdowns from March 28 through April 1 from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Those with breathing issues such as asthma, please wear your masks when outside. We will be watching the PM2.5 levels during this time.

Thanks to Paul and other members for getting us this information!

If you're in the Boston area, we encourage you to stop by the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library for their new exhibit, "More or Less in Common: Environment and Justice in the Human Landscape". The Weymouth compressor station fight is featured in the exhibit. The exhibit is open from March 18 - December 28. You can read more about the exhibit here: https://www.leventhalmap.org/exhibitions/

The next PIP meeting with TRC is Thursday, March 24 from 7-9pm on Zoom. The focus of this meeting will be to present the results and receive comments on the Draft Partial Permanent Solution Statement with Conditions Statement (Partial PSCS).

More details from TRC here: https://www.trccompanies.com/insights/weymouth-pip/

You can join the meeting using this link: https://trccompanies.zoom.us/j/88319319503 or by calling 1 929-436-2866 and entering the following webinar ID: 883 1931 9503

As you may have already heard from many different media outlets, including the Patriot Ledger, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued their statement yesterday regarding the call for paper briefing from last February.

This morning we were informed that our briefing that was filed in April and May of 2021 will finally be heard before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Thursday, January 20, 2022. You can see the information here under the Sunshine Notice. To access the meeting webcast on Jan. 20, go here. (Many thanks to member Cathy K. for keeping a keen eye on the FERC docket.)

In September 2021, we asked you to submit comments to TRC in response to their Draft Phase II Comprehensive Site Assessment Report Vol 1. TRC has provided their responses to comments collected during the comment period. You can access their responses here starting on page 1,398 (Appendix P).

You can access all of the documents related to this PIP filing here. Scroll down to the bottom to access the most recent reports. The RTN number for this filing is 4-26230.

We are sad to announce that the 1st Circuit took the side of Enbridge and the DEP in their decision on the Air Quality case and the BACT (Best Available Control Technology).

At last month's FERC meeting, Enbridge waxed poetic about their use of electric motor drives and their commitment to decreasing CO2. We cannot tell you how full of crap they are, but we would like a scientific measurement done by a qualified physician.

You can the Memorandum of Decision and Order here and the Judgement here. There’s also an articicle about the decision in Bloomberg Law, but there is a paywall. You can access it here.

FRRACS has been fighting to protect the community from Enbridge’s compressor station for nearly 7 years now, but the compressor station isn’t the only problem. For decades, the Fore River Basin has been a dumping ground for toxic waste, as it’s been home to nearly a dozen industrial facilities. Many people who live in the Basin have suffered various illnesses, and it’s quite possible that the cause of some of those illnesses has been the pollution from these facilities. Our board member, Judy Roberts, is one of those people. Judy grew up in Quincy Point and raised her son there too. To her shock, she was diagnosed with lung cancer despite living a very healthy lifestyle and never being a smoker. Judy is healthy today, but the diagnosis came as a shock and left many questions in her mind as to what may have caused it. Judy shared her powerful story with The Weather Channel, as well as our story to protect the Basin from pollution. You can read the full story — A Slight Increase in Risk.

The Marvelous Margaret strikes again! Margaret spoke with AG Healey today about the future of gas program in which FRRACS is a stakeholder. This nonsensical and poorly named program that is SUPPOSED to help shepherd the Commonwealth away from gas is actually being run by....wait for it....the gas industry!! Anyone is welcome to join in the fun of the monthly meetings. Go to https://thefutureofgas.com/involved for more information on that.

In the meantime, enjoy our Margaret at about 29:50 on this recording: https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2021/10/29/boston-public-radio-full-show-10-29-21?fbclid=IwAR3nG-mlb2ouwixrqKkYPV-a8DeCGRP0VzqKIQ51Nt0_PYhBqhUGCbQqg4s

Put on your dancing shoes, Fore River Campers! Another nail in the coffin of Enbridge's big plans!! We are so happy for our Mi'kmaq sisters and brothers and are eternally grateful for the fight that they put up for over eight years. You can read more here.

Alice Arena joined Community Action Works for their “Stories from the Frontlines” podcast to talk about our multi-year campaign to stop the compressor station. You can listen to the podcast here.

Last week we attended another virtual meeting for the ongoing PIP (public involvement plan) process. This meeting is part of a series of meetings that were initiated years ago by the public’s concern about pollution at the site of the compressor station. Emily Hayes, a reporter at RTO Insider, wrote a recap on the meeting, which you can read below. Thank you, Emily!

Enbridge making lots of noise once again! Sorry, Campers, we just wanted you to know. According to Enbridge’s notice (available below), they will be operating an emergency generator on Sept. 30 for maintenance purposes. It may cause noise disruptions.

Our arguments against Enbridge and the DEP in the continued BACT analysis case were heard today in the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals. This is the continued case against Enbridge and their abettors at the MassDEP for their negligence in the use of a gas turbine instead of an electric motor drive for the compressor station.

You can listen to the audio of today’s oral arguments here, at about 1:11:35.