Proposed Compressor Station Gets Waterways Permit

WEYMOUTH, MA — Local officials are considering their options following the issuing of a new permit to Algonquin Gas Transmission.

The company recently received a waterways permit for a proposed compressor station on the Fore River as part of the Atlantic Bridge expansion project, according to the Patriot Ledger.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has final say because it is an interstate pipeline project and the company has yet to receive clean-air and waterway permits from the state's Department of Environmental Protection. Approval from the state's Office of Coastal Zone Management is also needed.

Mayor Robert Hedlund said the DEP looked at the compressor station as an expansion of a 2002 project and did not review why the non-water dependent project can be stationed somewhere else.

Residents and officials in Weymouth, Quincy and Braintree have come out against the compressor station, believing that the gases produced would decrease the quality of life and an explosion could cause major problems for a densely populated area.

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