Longmeadow Select Board questions Eversource on pipeline project

Nov. 24, 2021 | Sarah Heinonen
sheinonen@thereminder.com

LONGMEADOW – The Longmeadow Select Board put representatives from Eversource through extensive questioning about the pipeline project that has been proposed to run through Longmeadow. During a three-hour public meeting on Nov. 15, Eversource answered many questions, but the Select Board and residents expressed several concerns that went unaddressed.

The meeting began with a presentation from Joseph Mitchell, a human relations specialist at Eversource, on the proposed pipeline project.

“It is our goal to do as much outreach as possible to have the community aware of our proposed project We want to receive their feedback,” Mitchell said.

He explained that greater Springfield receives its gas from a 70-year-old pipeline that joins with a Tennessee Gas pipeline in Agawam, runs under Memorial Bridge into Springfield and to a point-of-delivery (POD) station on Bliss Street. If anything were to happen to that line, Mitchell said, 40,000 customers east of the Connecticut River, and potentially 18,000 on the west side, would be without gas.

Mitchell said gas outages last much longer than electrical outages and it could be between one and two months for complete service restoration. He painted a picture of families without heat in the winter, frozen pipes, water damage to homes and businesses and the disruption of workers needing to enter people’s homes to restore their gas service.

“We want to bring a second independent source to supply our customers,” Mitchell told the Select Board and residents watching the meeting.

The new line, which he emphasized was for reliability and not new customers, would branch off an existing Tennessee Gas line running west to east in Longmeadow near the Connecticut border and feed a new POD to be built on land at the Longmeadow Country Club. From there, a 16-inch pipeline would run along one of four routes.

Routes

The route that Eversource prefers would run from the POD, north along Shaker Road, west onto Converse Street, north on Longmeadow Street, under the Longmeadow Street curve, into Springfield along Longhill Road and finally to East Columbus Avenue. This route is 5.4 miles long and there are 1,000 abutters.

The first variation on this route would continue along Shaker Road until it becomes Laurel Street, then turn west on to Williams Street and north on Longmeadow Street, continuing the path laid out in the preferred route. There would be 900 abutters along the 5.4 miles of this route.

A second variation follows Shaker Road, onto Laurel Street, west onto Forest Glen Road, and enters Forest Park. It exits the park onto Longhill Road and continues to East Columbus Avenue. This route would be 5 miles long with 900 abutters.

The final option is a route that stretches 7.2 miles with 1,900 abutters. It runs north on Shaker Road, onto Laurel Street, east on Converse Street, north on Dickinson Street, through “the X” in Springfield, west onto Sumner Avenue and then to Longhill Road and East Columbus Avenue.

Mitchell said the routes were chosen based on analysis of reliability, environmental and community impacts and cost. Among issues considered were the location of wetlands, endangered species, the need to clear trees, traffic and land use.

Point-of-Delivery Station

Mitchell sought to allay concerns about the POD by explaining that the five buildings on the 2.5-acre site would be designed to match existing structures in the area. There would be noise-reducing technology, 24/7 gas monitoring with personnel notified with alarms if an issue arises. The safety designer has experience in emergency preparedness and fire department training.

“We want to be a good neighbor,” Mitchell assured the town.

The project would have to go through the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB), a process which can take up to two years. Eversource hopes to have the project submitted to the board by the end of the year. If approved, construction would begin in late 2023 and end in late 2024.

Select Board Questions

Select Board Chair Marc Strange read a prepared statement from the Select Board. He described the threats to the pipeline cited by Eversource as “undefined” and “speculative.” He stated, “The truth is that nothing is really broken here that needs to be fixed.” He asked for a “commissioned report by an independent third-party consultant that both the town and Eversource agree can provide an unbiased evaluation of the risk of loss for the Memorial Bridge and the Bliss Street station in Springfield. He noted that the town had passed a bylaw prohibiting the construction of a POD. “The Select Board stands with Town Meeting’s opposition,” Strange said.

Strange added that the construction would require “significant town resources,” including traffic mitigation from the Police Department and road closures. “Emergency management officials” estimated costs to the town of $400,000 and $250,000 per year from system upgrades and the safety risk posed by the POD, he said. Strange also noted concerns about damage to historic homes.

Strange then asked questions from the Select Board and read a couple from Fire Chief John Dearborn.

Strange asked how Eversource can justify the need of expansion. Erica Hafner, an attorney with Keegan Werlin, LLP who was representing Eversource, said the need case will be decided by the EFSB.

Richard Salvarezza of Eversource said 58,000 customers translates to 200,000 people when you consider families. “It’s an extremely serious event,” he said, especially for those who use natural gas for heat. Referring to catastrophic damage to the pipeline, he said, “It’s a low-chance occurrence, but it’s an extremely high impact.”

Strange asked if calculations had been run to determine the likelihood of damage to the line. Salvarezza said it is difficult to quantify and could be caused by mechanical failures on Memorial Bridge, third parties digging too close to the pipeline or natural disasters.

Strange pushed on the idea of a natural disaster damaging the pipeline, “Do you know how many major earthquakes there have been in Massachusetts since 1900?”

Salvarezza said it is Eversource’s “obligation” to address issues that have been identified. Mitchell said that the EFSB considers need based, in part, on “foreseeable and predictable events.”

“Is it your opinion that Eversource doesn’t have to quantify the risk involved with loss of the line under Memorial Bridge,” Strange asked.

Mark Gunsalas of Eversource reiterated that there are several potential risks to the pipeline.

“You’ve sufficiently not answered the question, congratulations,” Strange commented.
The chair asked why Eversource doesn’t simply replace the old pipe along the bridge. “That solves some problems,” Mitchell said, “but it doesn’t solve the entire problem and give us redundancy.” Strange was told that most major lines have a back-up.

On the topic of the pipe acting as a backup, Salvarezza said the line is not sized to carry more gas than it already does. In addition, he said, the agreement with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, which allowed Eversource to take over Columbia Gas’s assets in the wake of the gas explosion in the Merrimac Valley, does not allow the company to take any additional gas from Tennessee Gas.

Strange asked about the possibility of damage to the Bliss Street station, to which the proposed pipeline would connect. Gunsalas said that the possibility is “remote” because PODs have several redundancies built in.

Mitchell didn’t answer two questions from Strange about whether Eversource had adopted the stance of Columbia Gas, which originated the project, that the POD would be in a non-residential area and that the pipeline was in service of “current and future growth. Mitchell said he would not speak for the corporate position on those two questions.

Strange asked why Eversource is seeking an override of the town’s zoning bylaw. Hafner said that because the town’s Zoning Board does not issue variances, Eversource must seek an exception from the state under M.G.L. Chapter 40A.

When asked about the length of construction, Salvarezza estimated it would be between six months and a year. “Strange said traffic in and out of Longmeadow is already congested and “that’s a bottleneck for a year.” Mitchell responded that he would make it as seamless as possible.

None of Eversource’s representatives could answer Strange when he asked what the project’s return on investment would be. “You don’t know how much money this is worth,” Strange asked. The representatives said they would get back to him.

In regard to the safety of Wolf Swamp Road School, within a mile of the POD, Gunsalas said that the POD will have weekly inspections, constant monitoring, automatic over-pressure shutoffs and monitoring for gas inside the facility. He also said there are first responder technicians located on Roosevelt Drive in Springfield.

Strange asked how Eversource can meet the state’s 2030 carbon goals while also laying new pipelines.

Nikki Bruno of Eversource told the town about the company’s “renewable natural gas” and “decarbonized” products. She said certain sources of gas can even be carbon-negative. The company is researching hydrogen and geo-thermal power as options for a greener energy source.

Salvarezza said the company wants to move toward becoming a more sustainable energy company but has to address the risks that exist now.

Dearborn sent questions through Strange, namely, what plans are there to increase reliability for the 85 percent of Longmeadow not served by the Bliss Street POD. Salvarezza said the supply to the rest of the town already had redundancies built into it. Dearborn also asked if the company has considered risk to the dam at the Longmeadow Country Club, which is listed as a “significant hazard” because it is located where a failure would pose risk to life and property. Mitchell told Dearborn it had been taken into consideration.

Resident Comments

Resident comments fell into a few categories. Residents expressed concern about placing the POD in a residential area, the construction of the project causing disruptions and the sound of the POD.

Marjorie Bruns cited concerns about the impact on air quality, as did Frank Smith, whose wife and stepson are severe asthmatics. Smith stated that methane will be emitted from the station and that the Agawam station already emits methane. Mitchell responded that the company is “aggressively pursuing leaks,” while Gunsalas said Eversource has eliminated all but 28 of the 184 leaks found in 2020. Stations have equipment that triggers an alarm if the emissions from the station contain 20 percent methane or greater. “We don’t have methane leaking,” he said.

Michelle Marantz, chair of the Longmeadow Pipeline Awareness Group, asked Eversource to address the cost of the project to ratepayers. Instead of the $40 million that Eversource said would only cost ratepayers across the state a couple dollars extra on their bills, she said the cost was $860 million.

Salvarezza said that while the shortest of the four possible routes, including the POD, would cost $32.5 million, the longest would cost $44.6 million. He added that those were estimates at current steel prices.

Mitchell said that the $860 million figure was separate from the Longmeadow pipeline project and was instead, the budget for upgrading the company’s infrastructure throughout the state.

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