This is a high pressure pipeline (750 psi) at risk for explosion.It will run within a hundred feet of an active blasting quarry, and through residential neighborhoods, and past several schools.
Massachusetts does not face an energy crisis, and does not need new gas infrastructure. Residents will not get a monetary benefit from the additional natural gas supply. If anything, our utility rates will likely increase.
The local permitting process was overridden by the abuse of the concept of “Eminent Domain”. This pipeline was not approved by the local permitting process, but by a travesty of democracy that used the power of a federal agency to override local concerns. The FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission), which oversees and approves all gas pipeline projects, gave Spectra Energy permission to build this pipeline. FERC is a remote and unaccountable federal agency, with the authority to override all local legal processes. In the words of Robert Kennedy Jr., FERC is a “rogue agency, a captive agency, controlled by the big energy corporations.”
