As the new home of MASSPIRG's environmental work, Environment Massachusetts can be contacted regarding this news release.
Last
month Virginia based AES Battery Rock, LLC announced its intention to
buy or lease Outer Brewster Island in the Boston Harbor Islands and
convert it into an LNG facility and storage depot. We are here today in
opposition to that plan.
This is a bad proposal from both energy and environmental policy perspectives.
From
an energy perspective, it is clear that we should not be building any
LNG facilities until we have exhausted other cleaner, safer, more
environmentally-friendly options, and until we know how much of the
fuel we need. We cannot know how much LNG we need until we take every
cost-effective step toward energy efficiency that we can, and until we
have a regional plan that looks at regional energy needs. Energy
efficiency is the cheapest, quickest, cleanest way to start solving our
energy problems.
The
legislature needs to pass HB 4299, the energy efficiency standards
bill, as a start toward a more energy-efficient future. The House
deserves thanks for advancing this important bill, and we look forward
to working with the Senate to pass it in the near future. In addition
Senate President Travaglini and House Speaker DiMasi and the chairmen
of the energy committee deserve praise for including in their recent
energy assistance plan extension of the electric utility efficiency
programs. These two steps will help to reduce the need for
controversial LNG facilities. And there are other cost-effective energy
measures that should be adopted, such as efficiency programs for oil
and gas heating customers and improved building codes and standards,
that will save money for consumers and businesses while reducing use of
dirty and expensive fossil fuels.
From
an environmental perspective, Outer Brewster and the cluster of
surrounding islands that make up Calf Bay and Brewster Cove are a
spectacular natural and recreational resource, with stunning and
historic views of the Graves and Boston Light. They are the seaward
gateway to the Boston Harbor Islands State Park, and the Boston Harbor
Islands national park and recreation area, which includes 34 islands
rich in natural and cultural resources.
These
outer islands are on a major seasonal migration route for eagles,
hawks, osprey, and for Monarch butterflies. They are also the seasonal
home to important species of sea and shore birds. The adjacent waters
are among the most popular in the park, with great fishing, sailing,
diving, lobstering, birding and boating. The bays themselves are rocky
and shallow, and comprise critical habitat for juvenile finfish and
lobster. Calf Bay is winter home to the Harbor Islands only colony of
seals, which often haul out within a few feet of the proposed LNG
terminal.
Whale
watch vessels, commuter and excursion boats, and other commercial and
recreational vessels regularly pass through Hypocrite Channel on their
way into and out of Boston Harbor, to the South Shore, Cape Cod and
beyond. The proposed plant and the security zone that it would likely
require could forever restrict access to this important part of the
park to recreational boaters, divers, fisherman, lobsterman, and
sailors, as well as the kayakers and canoeists who consider these
protected bays the jewels of the park.
Outer
Brewster and the surrounding bays and islands are an important part of
both the state and national park systems, a primary purpose of which is
to "preserve for public use and enjoyment the lands and waters" of the
area encompassed by the park. Outer Brewster Island is owned by the
Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and is
protected from development or transfer for non-park uses by Article 97
of the state Constitution.
The
management plan for the park designates Outer Brewster Island in the
Natural Resources Emphasis category, a highly protective category of
use and management, consistent with the ecological sensitivity of the
site. The proposed development of an LNG terminal on the island would
be inconsistent with the island's status both as a state park, and as a
national park and recreation area.
All
of us here today are united in our opposition to that plan. Together we
call on decision makers, opinion leaders, our elected officials, and,
in particular on the State Legislature, to reject any bill that would
allow the Department of Conservation and Recreation to transfer
ownership or control of Outer Brewster Island to AES or any other
company for use as an LNG terminal.
