December 07, 2020

WBUR: 16 Mass. Elected Officials Challenge State Agency On East Boston Substation

Multiple members of the Massachusetts federal delegation, along with several state and local elected officials, sent a letter on Monday to Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides, challenging the state's recent decision to move forward with plans to build a controversial electrical substation in East Boston.

The letter, directed at the Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB), asked the board to re-evaluate whether the electrical substation on the Chelsea Creek waterfront is actually needed to meet the area’s power demands, and also to postpone an upcoming public hearing so that more members of the public can participate.

“The siting of any new significant energy project requires the full and informed input of the surrounding public, [especially] as this planned industrial infrastructure is in an already disproportionately overburdened Environmental Justice community,” the 16 signatories wrote. “Participation in the approval process must not be in name only.”

Officials signing the letter include U.S. Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren; U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Joseph P. Kennedy, III and Katherine Clark; State Senators Joseph A. Boncore, Sal N. DiDomenico and Jamie B. Eldridge; State Reps. Adrian C. Madaro, Daniel J. Ryan, Liz Miranda and Michelle DuBois; as well as Boston City Councilors Lydia Edwards, Michelle Wu, Julia Mejia and Annissa Essaibi-George.

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Read the full article from WBUR here.



By:  Miriam Wasser
Source: WBUR