Beverly Gas Main Project Stalls As National Grid Drops Hale Street Installation Petition

BEVERLY, MA — About a month after what appeared to be a largely symbolic Beverly City Council attempt to take a stand against fossil fuels by blocking National Grid's proposal to install a second gas main on Hale Street, the utility company has withdrawn its petition to the Council.

A continuance of the public hearing on National Grid's proposal to place a 12-inch gas line under Hale Street, which it said was intended to increase reliability for existing customers, detoured into a lengthy discussion on March 20 on the need for additional gas capacity at a time when the city is promoting the reduction of fossil fuels.

City Solicitor Stephanie Williams told the Council at that hearing that the city had little power to tell National Grid where it could place and replace its lines under state law and that the state Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that the state Department of Public Utilities, and not the city itself, has ultimate control over these types of projects.

"I don't think that there is the authority to deny the request for consent based on concerns about expanding our reliance on fossil fuels," Williams told the Council.

However, the Council persisted in its objections over the need for the 8,050 feet of plastic gas main and requested National Grid return with additional justifications for the project before closing the public hearing. The hearing was extended once more on April 3 before City Council President Julie Flowers said the petition was withdrawn in advance of this week's meeting.

"We didn't receive much detail in their communication/withdrawal beyond that at this time they wished to withdraw the order and wouldn't be proceeding at this time," Flowers told Patch on Thursday.

Ward 2 City Councilor Estelle Rand was the first at the March 20 meeting to raise concerns about
whether the Council should be approving any new mechanism for transmitting natural gas through the city in light of a United Nations report released that week that said "humanity is on thin ice" and that urgent action is needed to stop the "climate time bomb" that is ticking.

City Councilor Scott Houseman joined in advocating voting against the consent as a means to send a message about the Council's support for reducing fossil fuel reliance.

"It just feels like a vote of conscience at this point that we should not be participating even if our vote is only somewhat symbolic in that respect," said Houseman, who also noted that digging up Hale Street for the new main would result in "a real economic impact, an infrastructure impact, and a quality of life impact" on Ward 4 residents.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)