Washington (October 1, 2020) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the Senate Climate Task Force, released the following statement after Canadian energy company Enbridge announced it will pause activities at the Weymouth Compressor Station. Enbridge agreed to pause start of operations at the natural gas compressor station after the facility required two emergency shutdowns in the past three weeks due unplanned releases of natural gas into the nearby area. Operations had been requested to begin today, October 1.

“Weymouth Compressor Station operations shouldn’t just be paused, they should be permanently stopped,” said Senator Markey. “After two recent unplanned releases of gas at the Weymouth Compressor Station, a third time would not be the charm, it could be a disaster.

“PHMSA was correct to call for a halt to activities at the site and investigate these dangerous accidents. At a minimum, FERC should immediately rescind its order granting Algonquin Gas Transmission’s request to put the compressor station into service. FERC should also rescind the approval to proceed with construction and rescind the certificate of public convenience and necessity, since this project is not necessary and endangers the public.

“I am also calling on the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to conduct complete, comprehensive, and updated reassessments of the public health, safety, and environmental impacts of this project. If these investigations and assessments are conducted in an open and transparent way—taking into account all of the available and latest research—it will clearly show that this station is unhealthy, unsafe, and unnecessary. No compressor station should be built in our communities, threaten the safety of our residents, and threaten our environment just to support our natural gas being sent overseas to benefit gas companies’ bottom line.”