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STOPBOXFORDGASCOMPRESSOR.COM
Opposition to the Proposed Boxford Gas
Compression Station
A group of North Andover and
Boxford residents has formed to oppose a proposed natural
gas pipeline compressor station on land bordering North
Andover and Haverhill.
The facility, including a 15,000 HP compressor and a
compound of six to seven buildings would be part of the
East to West Hubline Expansion Project.
A Spectra Energy Subsidiary, Algonquin Gas Transmission
LLC, wants to build it on a 158 acre site next to the
11th hole of the Far Corners Golf Course. This site
directly abuts residences in several communities and is
residentially zoned.
Algonquin has made a poor effort to contact residents in
the adjacent communities. In fact, even the closest
of abutters has yet to receive any literature from the
company describing the project, let alone the impact it
will have on the area. Many residents feel that
this apparent disregard for abutters’ rights is
indicative of a large corporation trying to influence the
decision process by withholding information from all
parties concerned.
The aim of the group and its website is to increase
awareness about this project and encourage people to
voice their comments. A considerable number of
locals are unaware of the proposal or the potential
impacts it may have on the local communities.
The website outlines concerns involving public
safety, environment, noise, traffic and property
values. The proposed Boxford site is located within
a sensitive environmental area surrounded by wetlands and
borders the Water-shed district for the Town of North
Andover. This area is currently protected in the
interest of providing clean safe water to the area.
Many think it is environmentally irresponsible to propose
a water resource/recharge region for a potential toxic
waste discharge, if an industrial accident should
occur.
In addition, the site is near approach paths for Lawrence
Airport, which leads into the safety issues regarding
this proposal.
Boxford has a 40 member volunteer fire department.
The site will have one access road located in North
Andover. Boxford’s emergency personnel would
need to travel 2 miles outside of their town to reach the
site. Boxford is not equipped to supply the
required infrastructure to provide the necessary public
safety to meet foreseeable emergencies.
This type of project is better suited to a number of
other locations where existing industrial sites, city
infrastructure, and services exist to support such a
project.
Algonquin has filed its application for the project and
an Environmental Impact Statement is currently being
prepared. The FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory
Committee) is presently reviewing the proposal and has
requested public involvement.
Those who are interested need to petition the FERC and
the MEFSB (Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board)
to reject the site as proposed as it is an inappropriate
use of land. This site is located in a public
water-shed district, abuts residential districts, is
situated within a sensitive environmental habitat, can
not be adequately policed or accessed by the community
proposed to host it, requires the disruption of wetlands
to access the site, and in brief, is a public
accommodation of inappropriate land use that provides an
intolerable burden on the quality of life and safety of
its abutters.
Please visit the website, stopboxford gascompressor.com
for addresses and instructions on how to forward your
comments.
Your letters need to be sent to the FERC as well as to
the MEFSB (Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board)
and MEPA (Massachusetts Environmental Protection Agency),
and need to be received as soon as possible.
Without your action, a hazardous, noisy, polluting
industrial facility will likely be approved and built in
this rural, residential area.
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The December 2007
Edition of the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
Publication.
All Contents (C) 2007, Valley Patriot, Inc.
We publish 16,000 newspapers and distribute in Andover,
North Andover,
Methuen, Haverhill, Chelmsford, Georgetown, Groveland,
Boxford, Amesbury, Newburyport
Lawrence, Dracut, Tewksbury, Merrimack, Newburyport,
Westford, Acton, and Lowell.
Hampton & Salisbury Beach, (summers
only)
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