Wednesday Community Meeting to Focus on Proposed Pipeline in West Roxbury Area

Image via West Roxbury Saves Energy

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to clarify that this week’s community meeting is Wednesday, Oct. 8, and not Tuesday, Oct. 7 as originally reported.

West Roxbury community members will gather for a special community meeting Wednesday to continue discussions regarding the proposed installation of gas pipeline through several streets in West Roxbury.

The meeting is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday at the Irish Social Club, 119 Park St. in West Roxbury and is being organized by West Roxbury Saves Energy, while also having gained support from State Rep. Ed Coppinger (D-Boston) and Boston City Councilor Matt O’Malley.

Residents and community members on Twitter can help spread the word about the meeting and the project by using the hashtag #PipelineWRox.

The proposed project is an effort by Algonquin Gas Transmission, LLC, a subsidiary of Spectra Energy Partners, which is looking to “expand its existing pipeline system from an interconnection at Ramapo, New York to deliver up to 342,000 dekatherms per day of natural gas transportation service to the Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts markets,” according to an Environmental Impact Statement on the “Algonquin Incremental Market Project.

The proposed project facilities include the “construction and opeartion of about 37.6 miles of pipeline in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts,” that comprise the following:

• Replacement of 26.3 miles of existing pipeline with a 16- and 42-inch-diameter pipeline
• Extension of an existing loop pipeline with about 3.3 miles of additional 12- and 36-inch-diameter pipeline within Algonquin’s existing right-of-way
• Installation of about 8.0 miles of new 16-, 24- and 42-inch-diameter pipeline.

For West Roxbury, the project would include the construction of about 1.73 miles of new 16-inch and 24-inch diameter lateral pipeline along Washington, Grove and Centre streets, as well as a new metering and regulating station at the intersection of Centre and Grove streets.

The portion of the pipeline would also affect parts of Westwood and Dedham, and a Metering and Regulating station would be installed across from the active quarry on Grove Street. The pipeline in West Roxbury would be a new, high-pressure line and would not replace pipes for older lines, according to WRSE Chair Rickie Harvey.

To view the draft of the Environmental Impact Statement of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the project, click here.

For more information on the meeting or on the project in general, contact WRLateralPipeline@gmail.com.

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