Mayor Walsh Files Request for Pipeline Rehearing with FERC

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Mayor Martin J. Walsh on Thursday joined the West Roxbury delegation to announce that the City of Boston has filed a request for a rehearing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in regards to the West Roxbury Lateral Gas Pipeline.

Boston’s request comes in response to FERC’s Final Environmental Impact Statement on March 3, 2015 which would allow Algonquin Gas to construct a new High Pressure Gas Line along Washington Street and Grove Street in West Roxbury in addition to a Metering and Regulation Station across from the West Roxbury Crushed Stone. The proposed pipeline poses public safety concerns because it would be constructed directly across the street from a quarry that uses dynamite on a daily basis.

“I have listened to the concerns of the community, and we have asked Algonquin Gas and Spectra Energy several times to find a new route for this pipeline,” said Mayor Walsh. “The project as proposed poses real public safety risks for West Roxbury residents, and we must work together with the community and with our city, state and federal partners to find a solution that is in the best interests of West Roxbury residents.”

The City’s rehearing has been filed on behalf of the West Roxbury Delegation: Mayor Walsh, U.S. Congressman Stephen F. Lynch, Senator Michael Rush, Representative Ed Coppinger, City Councilor O’Malley, and the Boston City Councilors at Large.