Bill backed by WMass legislators could ban Eversource gas system expansion in Springfield
SPRINGFIELD — Teniel Rhiney was renting a two-bedroom Springfield apartment with her two children and a third on the way when she smelled an occasional rotten egg stench in her kitchen.
"We lived there for months before I realized that smell was gas. ... We were breathing that in for months," she told a panel of legislators Thursday afternoon.
That experience is one reason why Rhiney — an environmental justice organizer at Arise for Social Justice in Springfield — urged lawmakers to support legislation that would prevent the expansion of gas facilities in or near environmental justice areas.
"Gas is hazardous for our health," she said.
The legislation — filed in the Senate by Sen. Adam Gomez, D-Springfield, and Rep. Bud Williams, D-Springfield, in the House — comes as a controversial Eversource pipeline project between Longmeadow and Springfield is pending.
Rhiney was one of many people from the Springfield area who testified in support of the legislation on Thursday at a State House hearing before the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy.
The bill would prevent new gas facilities, or expansion of current ones, within 5 miles of environmental justice communities "unless required for the safety of the public." The state considers areas environmental justice communities if they meet certain racial or income requirements or where a quarter of people don't speak English "very well."
The legislation has a clear message: "Environmental justice neighborhoods must no longer be treated as acceptable zones for pollution and risk," Gomez said in a statement.
He told The Republican that the proposed pipeline project is one reason he filed the bill.
The bill also would require that gas companies create plans to transition to net-zero emissions, and it would create a state office that would train those who work in the gas industry for jobs in clean energy.
Charles Holmes, founder of Born Free Outreach Services, experienced a gas explosion in 2012. Holmes is part of the group protesting the proposed Springfield pipeline on Aug. 7. (Douglas Hook / The Republican) Douglas Hook
Charles Holmes, a Springfield resident, pointed to greener energy solutions.
"We have alternatives: Solar energy, wind power and advanced battery storage technology are no longer experimental. They're proven," he said. "The question isn't whether alternative energy solutions exist. They do. The question is whether we have the courage and a commitment to prioritize them."
Cathy Kristofferson, a Central Massachusetts resident, said the state should not be expanding gas infrastructure "when we should be working our damnedest to transition off the gas system."
Naia Tenerowicz, a member of the Springfield Climate Justice Coalition, also spoke in favor of the bills, saying that the pipeline expansion project is bad for people's health and the climate.
"Dangerous, polluting projects like this one are disproportionately sited in our communities, because as communities with many people of color, low income, immigrant and disabled residents, we are seen as expendable," Tenerowicz said. "I am here to tell you that our lives matter."
If passed, the bill could stop Eversource's controversial pipeline expansion project. The state considers all of Springfield to be an environmental justice community.
Eversource has proposed building a 5.3-mile, 16-inch diameter gas pipeline from Longmeadow into Springfield and creating a new point of delivery facility in Longmeadow. It would be a secondary pipeline that the company says is needed as a backup to its current 70-year-old line.
More than two years ago, the state reviewed Eversource's draft environmental impact statement and decided that it did not comply with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act. The company has to submit a supplemental report to further justify the project. That report has not yet been submitted.
Eversource plans to submit its supplemental impact report by the end of the year, a company spokesperson said on Wednesday. When asked for comment on the legislation, a company spokesperson did not immediately respond.
The proposed project was estimated to cost $65 million several years ago, and now estimates have grown to $85 million.
This is the proposed path of a gas pipeline. (Eversource map)
The project is contentious. Both the Springfield City Council and Longmeadow Select Board have voted against it.
Eversource held a meeting about the project in August that drew at least 80 people.
"This is not an expansion project," Ryan Barnes, project manager said at the time. "It is solely to strengthen our existing system and to make sure our customers have gas service if there was anything to happen."
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