1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:04,480 Speaker 1: Early last year, I started hearing from some activists in 2 00:00:04,559 --> 00:00:08,799 Speaker 1: Massachusetts about a natural gas project proposed in their town. 3 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:12,400 Speaker 1: One woman in particular really thought this was something I 4 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:14,880 Speaker 1: should look into. Her name is Andrea Honore. 5 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 2: But it took me a good year to understand what 6 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:20,320 Speaker 2: was going on. I never heard of a compressor. I'd 7 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 2: never heard of ferk. I didn't understand the process. 8 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:32,880 Speaker 1: Andrea lives in the town of Weymouth, Massachusetts. It's a 9 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: coastal town of around fifty thousand people in the South 10 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 1: Shore region, about half an hour south of Boston, and 11 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:44,640 Speaker 1: in twenty fifteen, Spectra Energy, a gas company from Texas, 12 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:48,480 Speaker 1: wanted to put what's called a natural gas compressor right 13 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: on the water at the north end of town. Natural 14 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: gas needs a little help to travel the whole length 15 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: of a pipeline, and compressor stations helped to sort of 16 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 1: goose the gas along the way. If you've never heard 17 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:09,760 Speaker 1: of these things, it's probably because they usually don't put 18 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:14,400 Speaker 1: them in the middle of cities or even heavily populated 19 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:18,760 Speaker 1: areas period They're generally placed kind of on the middle 20 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: of nowhere because they explode, sometimes. 21 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 2: Also breaking overnight. 22 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 3: In Green County, an explosion at a compressor station in 23 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:30,960 Speaker 3: Sycamore had firefighters busy battling flames on Hopkins Run Road. 24 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:34,479 Speaker 4: We're continuing coverage tonight on an explosion that took place 25 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 4: earlier today. According to the Monahan's Volunteer Fire Department, one 26 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 4: person has died and two others have been flown out 27 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 4: with burn injuries. 28 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:44,119 Speaker 3: Coverage on Witness Needs five. 29 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:46,120 Speaker 5: The ten starts right. 30 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:47,120 Speaker 3: Now, like breaking a ten. 31 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 6: A gas line rupture leads to a big fire and 32 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 6: explosion in Logan County. 33 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: Now we're joined by the Guthrie Fire Chief, Eric Carlow, 34 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: who is on the scene. There, a chief, what happened 35 00:01:57,160 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: out there? Exactly? 36 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 6: Well, guys, it we had an explosion at a gas 37 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:03,160 Speaker 6: compressure plant. 38 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: But Spectra wanted to put the Weymouth compressor in a 39 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: very populated area right at the foot of a heavily 40 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: trafficked bridge. Here's Honoree again. 41 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,400 Speaker 2: But at the time, Spectra Energy offered my little town 42 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 2: forty seven million dollars to drop official opposition. That's a 43 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 2: lot of money. 44 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 1: She had become somewhat known in the community as an 45 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:31,080 Speaker 1: advocate for school funding, so when she raised some concerns 46 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:35,679 Speaker 1: to the mayor about taking that money. He was surprised, 47 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:36,600 Speaker 1: but he. 48 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:38,960 Speaker 2: Called and he's like, well, what didn't the schools, you know, 49 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:41,080 Speaker 2: your school advocate. Wouldn't it be really great to have 50 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:43,840 Speaker 2: that money for the schools? And I'm like, well, yeah, 51 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 2: if you want to be a one term mayor, go 52 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 2: ahead take the money. Like that's not this is absolutely 53 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 2: not no, there's no amount of money there would So, 54 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 2: you know, he eventually asked around, did his thing. People 55 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 2: started calling up his ass. It got made more public, 56 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:01,800 Speaker 2: you know, protests and that, and so he was like, Nope, 57 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 2: we're not going to take the money. 58 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: By that point, Honore had learned about the potential impacts 59 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: of the compressor from a local group called Four River 60 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: Residents Against Compressor Station or FRAS for short. One of 61 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: the criticisms of the station is that it would be 62 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:18,800 Speaker 1: sited at the foot of the four River Bridge. Like 63 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:22,240 Speaker 1: I said, that's a major commuter bridge, so an explosion there, 64 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,559 Speaker 1: depending on the time of day, could do some serious damage. 65 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 1: Alice Arena is the president of FRACS. 66 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 7: I kind of hooked into it a little bit, and 67 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:34,640 Speaker 7: I thought, oh, hell no, how could they put something 68 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 7: like this on this little tiny piece of land. So 69 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:42,840 Speaker 7: close to this brand new bridge, so close to a 70 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 7: sewage pumping station. I mean, it just was madness and 71 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 7: it made no sense. 72 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 1: A lot of people thought that way, and opposition to 73 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 1: the project started to grow over twenty fifteen and twenty sixteen. 74 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: Patrick O'Connor is from Wemouth. Today he's a state senator, 75 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 1: but six years ago he was a city council president 76 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 1: in Weymouth. 77 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 8: You know, this is going to be in a large 78 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 8: population center, the gateway really to two major cities in 79 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 8: the Conwealth of Massachusetts, Quinsy and Weymouth, and it's going 80 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 8: to be located next to a brand new bridge that, 81 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 8: through the state and federal government, we spent over three 82 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:21,600 Speaker 8: hundred million dollars on. So you know, tens of thousands 83 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:24,680 Speaker 8: of commuters travel by this compressor station every single day, 84 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 8: so it's not it's not the typical location for one 85 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:30,040 Speaker 8: of these compressor stations. That's one of that was one 86 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:32,600 Speaker 8: of the major things that we first sort of looked 87 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:36,840 Speaker 8: at and thought, this is unusual to be placed in 88 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:42,039 Speaker 8: an area where there's so much activity, both residential and commercial. 89 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:45,600 Speaker 8: That was the real catalyst to fight it, and then 90 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 8: from there in the research that we've done, and in 91 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 8: talking with other communities and other stakeholders, you know, we've 92 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:56,159 Speaker 8: identified a whole host of other things that are wrong 93 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,039 Speaker 8: with these compressor stations and why they shouldn't be in 94 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,720 Speaker 8: areas where people are, you know, regularly congregating. 95 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: One thing O'Connor learned about was a process called a 96 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:09,920 Speaker 1: blowdown that happens at compressor stations. 97 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:13,360 Speaker 8: So they're basically using thousands of chemicals now to extract 98 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 8: from the shale this natural gas, and as it's going 99 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 8: through these compressor stations, one of the other components is 100 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 8: that it's speeding this gas up, and it's taking some 101 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 8: of those byproducts out of that gas, and then those 102 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:31,320 Speaker 8: byproducts are captured at the station and then every so often, 103 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:34,200 Speaker 8: you know, they were saying monthly or quarterly, but realistically, 104 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:37,040 Speaker 8: when you read their filings, it happens about two or 105 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 8: three times a week. They'll take all that byproduct and 106 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:41,040 Speaker 8: release it into the atmosphere. 107 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:44,240 Speaker 1: That seems like a potential problem for a lot of reasons, 108 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 1: but it also has a big immediate negative side effect 109 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:48,679 Speaker 1: for people living nearby. 110 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,840 Speaker 8: It stinks, they said, it smells like, you know, rotten eggs. 111 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:57,919 Speaker 1: Last fall, it seemed like this six year fight was 112 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: over the compressor and the pipelines that connects to are 113 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:06,080 Speaker 1: owned by Canadian energy giant en Bridge. Now they're the 114 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 1: same folks that own the Line three pipeline you're hearing 115 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,040 Speaker 1: a lot about in Minnesota. The Waymouth project got its 116 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:16,520 Speaker 1: final permits in twenty nineteen, started construction, and in September 117 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:24,280 Speaker 1: twenty twenty was ready to start operating. Normally, that's where 118 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:27,719 Speaker 1: this story would end. Maybe the activists would launch a lawsuit, 119 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:30,279 Speaker 1: but it would be an upheld battle and it would 120 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: probably take years. That's not what happened here, at least 121 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:39,520 Speaker 1: not yet. There was an election in January, you may remember, 122 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 1: and that meant a changeup at the federal regulatory Commission 123 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:47,480 Speaker 1: that governs projects like this, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 124 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:51,080 Speaker 1: or FURK. If you listen to this podcast or you 125 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:53,479 Speaker 1: know me in real life, you know I love to 126 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 1: nerd out on a good FURK story. Generally I try 127 00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: not to bore other people with them. But buckle up, 128 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 1: because today we're going to enjoy the rarest of things, 129 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: a truly dramatic FURK story, and it could have huge implications, 130 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: not just for the folks in Weymouth, but for other 131 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:16,560 Speaker 1: people living near natural gas infrastructure, and for this country's 132 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: progress on climate action in general, all that coming up 133 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,560 Speaker 1: right after this quick break. I'm Ami Westervelt, and this 134 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: is drilled. Activists like Andrea and Alice have been trying 135 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:37,360 Speaker 1: to get national reporters to pay attention to what's happening 136 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: in Weymouth for years, and so has Miriam Wasser, an 137 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: environmental reporter with WBR Boston's and PR news station. Last 138 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:50,720 Speaker 1: month something happened that made people outside of Massachusetts sit 139 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 1: up and take notice. 140 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:57,440 Speaker 3: It is now suddenly like this big issue that gas 141 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:00,280 Speaker 3: companies all over the country are paying attention to. And 142 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:03,440 Speaker 3: one person I talked to just had this great line 143 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 3: where he was like, Miriam, this is the Weymouth compressor's 144 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:08,520 Speaker 3: decoda access pipeline moment. 145 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:12,200 Speaker 1: That might be a stretch, but who knows. Here's what's 146 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:16,040 Speaker 1: been happening in Weymouth since last fall. So, like I 147 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:18,560 Speaker 1: mentioned before the break, despite a lot of pushback for 148 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:22,360 Speaker 1: years from local activist groups, the compressor station got its 149 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 1: permits and started operating in September, and then almost immediately. 150 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 3: They had an emergency shut down. Turns out this overing 151 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 3: gasket failed and it wasn't supposed to be used in 152 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:40,080 Speaker 3: this situation. But anyways, workers had to manually shut down 153 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:42,839 Speaker 3: part of the facility, and in the process they vented 154 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 3: a lot of natural gas into the area. 155 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: People were pretty freaked out, especially the people who had 156 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:51,160 Speaker 1: been worried about this project from the beginning. And Bridge said, 157 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 1: everything's fine. The emergency system worked like it should. We 158 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:57,480 Speaker 1: fixed a small maintenance issue, and we're back in business. 159 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: Two weeks after that shutdown, FIRK says, okay, you're good 160 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 1: to go. Here's your final final permit. Now keep in 161 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:06,200 Speaker 1: mind this is still the Trump administration's FIRK, which was 162 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:09,520 Speaker 1: extremely pro oil and gas. The head of the Commission 163 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:13,439 Speaker 1: at the time was Neil Chatterjee, Mitch McConnell's energy advisor. 164 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:18,440 Speaker 3: And then six days later, the Waymouth compressor has a 165 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:23,440 Speaker 3: second emergency shutdown. This time it's I there was some 166 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 3: sort of loss of power to the emergency shutdown system 167 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 3: and it basically, I mean, it did what it's supposed 168 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:32,760 Speaker 3: to do, right. It lost power, it triggered itself to 169 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:37,120 Speaker 3: shut down, but again vented a lot of natural gas 170 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 3: into the area. And people were so alarmed and a 171 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:46,439 Speaker 3: number of our congressional delegates were really alarmed, and they 172 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:48,040 Speaker 3: reached out to the federal government. 173 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 1: That triggered an investigation from the federal government, specifically from 174 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: the Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration or PIMZA. The 175 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:02,360 Speaker 1: investigation kicked off in October, effectively pausing all activity at 176 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:06,520 Speaker 1: the Weymouth compressor and activist groups and local legislators took 177 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:10,280 Speaker 1: that opportunity to appeal to Ferk to say, hey, this 178 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:12,840 Speaker 1: is what we said was going to happen. Now it's happened. 179 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:18,000 Speaker 1: You need to rethink this. Here's State Senator Patrick O'Connor again. 180 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:21,440 Speaker 8: It was almost an immediate emergency shut down, and then 181 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:24,720 Speaker 8: right after that there was another one when they started 182 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:28,040 Speaker 8: to get up and running again. And no one could 183 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:30,040 Speaker 8: have made a better case for why that compressor station 184 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:34,040 Speaker 8: shouldn't be there than the company themselves by having those 185 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:35,000 Speaker 8: malfunctions happen. 186 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:38,440 Speaker 1: I should mention that O'Connor is a Republican and this 187 00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:41,040 Speaker 1: is something that I see over and over again that 188 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:44,839 Speaker 1: when it comes to national discussions in DC, a lot 189 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:47,960 Speaker 1: of times debates around natural gas and oil and other 190 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:51,839 Speaker 1: kinds of fossil fuels are kind of in the abstract. 191 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:56,040 Speaker 1: At the local level, these things are not partisan. When 192 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:59,480 Speaker 1: there is a pipeline or a compressor station in your 193 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:04,840 Speaker 1: district causing potential harm to your constituents, all of a sudden, 194 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:07,640 Speaker 1: it seems very clear that it's something that you might 195 00:11:07,679 --> 00:11:10,480 Speaker 1: want to do something about. And O'Connor is very frank 196 00:11:10,679 --> 00:11:13,960 Speaker 1: about what he thinks FERK should be doing in situations 197 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:15,040 Speaker 1: like this, you know. 198 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 8: Seeing regulatory commissions that have all this authority and power 199 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:24,760 Speaker 8: make decisions based on what the industry wants them to do. 200 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:29,240 Speaker 8: That practice as a whole, whether it's in healthcare or energy, 201 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:32,959 Speaker 8: or education or wherever it is, just has to end. 202 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:35,200 Speaker 8: And it's been going on for far too long down 203 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:38,839 Speaker 8: in DC. So yes, I would hope that not just FORK, 204 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:42,640 Speaker 8: you know, but other agencies see that people are paying 205 00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:46,080 Speaker 8: attention more than they have ever been paying attention to 206 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:49,800 Speaker 8: what's going on down in our federal government, and that 207 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:53,360 Speaker 8: we need to actually look out for our taxpayers, look 208 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:56,720 Speaker 8: out for our neighbors, and you know, not just rubber 209 00:11:56,760 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 8: stamp these projects and these initiatives that big, big corporations 210 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 8: put forward. 211 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:07,000 Speaker 1: Okay, So the Weymouth compressor was temporarily paused in October 212 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:11,559 Speaker 1: there was this federal investigation going on. Legislators and activists 213 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 1: were appealing to Furk, and then Firk did something kind 214 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:19,439 Speaker 1: of weird. They initially declined to rehear the arguments about 215 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:23,120 Speaker 1: the Weymouth compressor, but they didn't completely shut the idea 216 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:28,200 Speaker 1: of a rehearing down. Oh Furk, you inscrutable beast. Here's 217 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 1: Alice arena with fracks. 218 00:12:30,559 --> 00:12:34,160 Speaker 5: They had to either give us the rehearing or they 219 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:36,960 Speaker 5: had to deny it. They didn't have a choice, so 220 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:39,720 Speaker 5: they denied it on November twenty third, but said, but 221 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:42,800 Speaker 5: you know, maybe we'll think about this later. So it 222 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 5: was it was a non denial denial. It was kind 223 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:50,240 Speaker 5: of crazy in December. At the commission meeting on December seventeenth. 224 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:55,240 Speaker 5: I believe we were on the docket on the agenda 225 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:58,320 Speaker 5: for this meeting, and we're like, we don't even know 226 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:00,520 Speaker 5: what it is that they're talking about, but they were 227 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:01,720 Speaker 5: talking about the denial. 228 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:05,000 Speaker 1: Apparently at the December meeting they decided to table the 229 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:07,600 Speaker 1: denial discussion until January. 230 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:12,920 Speaker 5: So at the January meeting on January eighteenth, three of 231 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:18,720 Speaker 5: the commissioners Chatter, Gye, Glick and Clements voted to deny 232 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:26,880 Speaker 5: the denial double negative, and so we said, well, gosh, 233 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:31,360 Speaker 5: that's wonderful. You denied the denial, but you didn't give 234 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:35,280 Speaker 5: us the rehearing. So what can we do. So Frank 235 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:40,280 Speaker 5: started a campaign with our allies, you know, across the 236 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:46,359 Speaker 5: state and our members, the state delegation and our federal delegation, 237 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:49,040 Speaker 5: and we went after Frock on the dock and said, 238 00:13:49,559 --> 00:13:53,720 Speaker 5: you have to give us the rehearing. You can't. You know, 239 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:56,640 Speaker 5: you've got to either deny it or or approve it, 240 00:13:56,760 --> 00:13:57,320 Speaker 5: one or the other. 241 00:13:57,559 --> 00:14:00,400 Speaker 1: Now by this point, Biden has been inaugurated and a 242 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:03,679 Speaker 1: guy named Richard Glick has been appointed the FURK Commissioner. 243 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,480 Speaker 1: And this seems like a big deal to climate activists 244 00:14:07,559 --> 00:14:10,600 Speaker 1: because Glick has been very outspoken about the fact that 245 00:14:10,679 --> 00:14:14,200 Speaker 1: he thinks FERK ought to be considering environmental justice and 246 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:18,920 Speaker 1: climate impacts when they evaluate things like pipelines and compressor stations. 247 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:22,680 Speaker 3: What was like super surprising is after this meeting, Commissioner 248 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 3: Richard Glick got on Twitter and he said, quote, the 249 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:31,760 Speaker 3: Weymouth Compressor Station raises serious environmental justice questions which we 250 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:35,960 Speaker 3: need to examine. The communities surrounding the project are regularly 251 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:39,560 Speaker 3: subjected to high levels of pollution and residents are concerned 252 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:42,600 Speaker 3: emissions from the station will make things worse. In three 253 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:45,200 Speaker 3: years at FIRK, i've seen little more than lip service 254 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:49,400 Speaker 3: paid to environmental justice. This needs to change, and that 255 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:53,000 Speaker 3: I'm sure, as you know, Amy is like an astounding 256 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 3: thing to hear from someone within FIRK. 257 00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 8: It really is. 258 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:01,800 Speaker 1: That was Wbuur's Miriam laws her again and she's right. 259 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:06,000 Speaker 1: In twenty years reporting on energy and climate change, I 260 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:09,080 Speaker 1: have never heard a FIRK commissioner say something like this, 261 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:12,800 Speaker 1: let alone put it in writing in public. And then 262 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:16,560 Speaker 1: came another big surprise at the FIRK meeting in February. 263 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:18,400 Speaker 1: Here's Alice Arena again. 264 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:24,000 Speaker 5: So in February, on February eighteenth, at that meeting, they 265 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:30,800 Speaker 5: opened up another subdocket where they issued an order for 266 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:36,840 Speaker 5: paper briefing on the compressor station. And this order for 267 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:41,760 Speaker 5: paper briefing kind of says, did we do something wrong? 268 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:49,360 Speaker 5: Did we consider environmental justice? Did we consider safety under 269 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:56,120 Speaker 5: the Natural Gas Act? And what has changed? So? What 270 00:15:56,320 --> 00:16:01,800 Speaker 5: has changed since the certificate is in September? And as 271 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:06,000 Speaker 5: far as we're concerned, what has changed since they issued 272 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:13,080 Speaker 5: the original certificate back in twenty seventeen, and so going 273 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:15,840 Speaker 5: back to twenty seventeen, we've got lots of things that 274 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:20,680 Speaker 5: have changed climate, you know, the acceleration of climate change 275 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:24,720 Speaker 5: going above and beyond when anyone expected. So we've got 276 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:31,000 Speaker 5: that going for us. And also necessity, the gas is worthless. 277 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:36,240 Speaker 5: The domestic need has gone down, the international need has 278 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:39,680 Speaker 5: gone down, and so why are you even doing this? 279 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:44,000 Speaker 5: So that's where we are right now. We are in 280 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 5: this briefing period and the briefs are due technically April fourth, 281 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:51,240 Speaker 5: but that's a Sunday, so we're saying April second. 282 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 1: The industry is of course also filing briefs and not 283 00:16:56,000 --> 00:17:00,160 Speaker 1: just Mbridge, every large gas company and trade group. As 284 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:03,280 Speaker 1: if Ferk decides to rethink this permit, it might just 285 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:06,840 Speaker 1: rethink others. Here's State Senator O'Connor again. 286 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:09,959 Speaker 8: Oh, they're all in. When you look at the wee 287 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:12,359 Speaker 8: an email every time that somebody files, and when you 288 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 8: look at who's filing, it's all the big players, you know, 289 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:18,560 Speaker 8: the ones that don't even have a financial interest in 290 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:22,040 Speaker 8: what's going on in North Weymouth because they know that 291 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:26,600 Speaker 8: this is a real showdown. Ferk is asking some real 292 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:31,439 Speaker 8: legitimate questions about the operational practices, the public health components, 293 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:35,840 Speaker 8: and of a lot of other the demand and need 294 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:37,840 Speaker 8: for natural gas, especially in this region. 295 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:41,879 Speaker 1: Adam Carlesco with Food and Water Watch brought a lawsuit 296 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:45,760 Speaker 1: against FERK last year for failing to consider impacts like 297 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:49,399 Speaker 1: the ones people are concerned about in Weymouth. We covered 298 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:51,320 Speaker 1: that case if you want to go back and listen. 299 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:54,000 Speaker 1: I was curious for his take as someone who's been 300 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:56,960 Speaker 1: frustrated with FERK and gone up against them in court 301 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:00,960 Speaker 1: over their reputation for rubberstone projects. 302 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:04,040 Speaker 6: They're willing to open up a docket and look at 303 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:07,840 Speaker 6: issues that might have been overlooked under a regulatory captured 304 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:11,919 Speaker 6: FERK under Trump and a lot of the folks that 305 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:14,720 Speaker 6: were working with in the agency at that time. And 306 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:17,399 Speaker 6: so that shows me that there's a little bit of 307 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 6: willingness to listen to public outcry and kind of correct 308 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:24,480 Speaker 6: mistakes that might have been there and you know, some 309 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:26,200 Speaker 6: oversight issues that they might have had. 310 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:30,119 Speaker 1: And even if it doesn't, the Commission is signaling in 311 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:32,800 Speaker 1: a pretty big way that it plans to look more 312 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:36,960 Speaker 1: closely at projects like these. But Carlasco says he's still 313 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:40,439 Speaker 1: waiting to see real action from FERK, not just speeches 314 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:41,200 Speaker 1: and tweets. 315 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:44,800 Speaker 6: I'm not necessarily holding my breath on anything, because while 316 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:46,520 Speaker 6: there's a lot of lip service coming out of the 317 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:52,560 Speaker 6: Commission on the whole, I'm not necessarily, i guess, overly 318 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:56,600 Speaker 6: optimistic about some of the approaches that they're taking so far. 319 00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 6: They're still issuing certificate orders are wholly deficient. They issued 320 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:06,560 Speaker 6: one on a project that's running through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 321 00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:09,720 Speaker 6: and New York that is wholly disregarding any sort of 322 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:14,119 Speaker 6: indirect impacts, specifically downstream combustion. This is supposed to go 323 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:17,040 Speaker 6: into the New York City metro area, and they completely 324 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:20,320 Speaker 6: fail to look at how this would impact compliance with 325 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:24,560 Speaker 6: New York's climate policy laws. And they're not looking at 326 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:27,200 Speaker 6: how it might incentivize for the drilling within the Marcella's shale, 327 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:30,960 Speaker 6: despite it coming directly from the Marcella's shale. So they're 328 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:32,879 Speaker 6: wholly ignoring a lot of the issues that are and 329 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:33,480 Speaker 6: play here. 330 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:36,879 Speaker 1: In June, Neil Chatterjee, the former head of FIRK and 331 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:40,120 Speaker 1: still a commissioner, will leave his seat and Biden will 332 00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:43,119 Speaker 1: appoint another commissioner, so the FIRK that makes a final 333 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:46,480 Speaker 1: decision on the Waymouth compressor will be very different than 334 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:49,320 Speaker 1: the one that approved it, replies to the briefs that 335 00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:52,119 Speaker 1: are being prepared now will be doing early May, and 336 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:54,480 Speaker 1: then Ferk needs time to read through it all and 337 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:57,920 Speaker 1: discuss it, so it's unlikely there will be a decision 338 00:19:58,119 --> 00:20:01,960 Speaker 1: until June or July. In the meantime, Alice Arena is 339 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:05,680 Speaker 1: enjoying an unfamiliar sensation optimism. 340 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:09,080 Speaker 5: When it all started to happen, We're just standing there 341 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:10,760 Speaker 5: with our hands up in the air, going what the 342 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:13,040 Speaker 5: heck is going on here? It's like we're so used 343 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:15,560 Speaker 5: to just being beaten on the head by Fark and 344 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:17,920 Speaker 5: by all of the agencies that all of a sudden 345 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:18,760 Speaker 5: we're sitting in the sand. 346 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:42,680 Speaker 1: What that's it for this time? Thanks for listening. We'll 347 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:46,159 Speaker 1: be sure to update you on this project as there's news, 348 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:49,760 Speaker 1: and don't forget we'll be back soon with a new 349 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:54,919 Speaker 1: narrative season on the natural gas industry in general. So 350 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:57,720 Speaker 1: make sure you're subscribed so you won't miss that. Big 351 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:02,480 Speaker 1: thank you to our latest Patreon subscriber. They are Daniella Osiander, 352 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:06,600 Speaker 1: Jake Full and Fiona Writer. If you would like an 353 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:10,359 Speaker 1: ad free feed of the podcast plus bonus content. Go 354 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:14,359 Speaker 1: check out patreon dot com slash drilled. 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