Residents from Chelsea left last Wednesday night’s MassDOT meeting at East Boston High School with lingering uncertainties rather than clear answers.
At 6 p.m., activists representing Chelsea, East Boston, Revere and Everett presented information to attendees regarding Global Oil’s initiative to transport 1.8 million gallons of ethanol by train twice weekly to their Chelsea Creek facility.
Following that presentation, MassDOT’s Ned Cod addressed the crowd at 7 p.m. to discuss the state’s comprehensive public safety study examining ethanol transportation via rail through densely populated communities.
According to the recently completed study, fewer than 106 incidents have occurred since 2008 on the train lines designated for ethanol transport to the East Boston/Revere line.
Nonetheless, the study left numerous questions unresolved—concerns that residents raised during the meeting.
Security measures for the ethanol shipments were not addressed, and some attendees expressed worry that trains could present an attractive target for terrorist threats, particularly given that highly flammable ethanol would travel through densely populated neighborhoods.
The study failed to include an evacuation plan, with Cod noting that individual municipalities would bear responsibility for developing such plans.
“We’d have to rely on cities and towns to work with Global on a plan,” said Cod.
Residents also raised concerns about accountability for acquiring specialized foam needed to extinguish ethanol fires and for training first responders appropriately.
Boston Fire Department Commissioner Roderick Fraser had testified during a City of Boston hearing on this matter last year that only specially trained firefighters using particular foam can effectively combat ethanol fires. The BFD did not clarify whether they currently possess the capability to fight such fires. A map displaying Chelsea, Eastie, Everett and Revere illustrated the vast population that would require evacuation in the event of an ethanol fire. A derailment in Chelsea would necessitate evacuating nearly all of Chelsea, with significant portions of Eastie, Everett and Revere also affected, displacing thousands of residents.
Activists referenced incidents in Rockford, Illinois and rural Ohio, where ethanol trains—referred to by opponents as “bomb trains”—caused substantial damage in sparsely populated regions. They questioned what consequences might unfold in densely populated communities and what devastation could result from a derailment in this area.
“My question is what is our next step and how do we protect the people of East Boston, Revere and Chelsea?” asked Boston City Councilor Sal LaMattina.
LaMattina further criticized Global for failing to act as a responsible community member or respond adequately to community concerns about its operations. NOAH’s Kim Foltz supported this assertion with documented evidence.
“There have been 57 spills of 50,000 gallons of oil into the Chelsea Creek since 1996 by Global,” said Foltz. “The question here is if we can’t trust Global now to be a good environmental neighbor, how can we trust them in the future with ethanol.”
Cod announced that the state has granted an additional 45-day extension for public comments on the study. The study is available at HYPERLINK “http://www.mass.gov/massdot/ethanolsafety” www.mass.gov/massdot/ethanolsafety.
The study was submitted as part of the state’s transportation bond bill and co-sponsored by Senator Sal DiDomenico. This legislation sought to delay Global’s plans to begin shipping ethanol from upstate New York by rail through densely populated areas in Everett, Chelsea and Revere.
The amendment to the state transportation bond bill would prevent the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) from granting Global a Chapter 91 license to construct the ethanol storage facility on the Eastie/Revere line until both a comprehensive safety study and public comment period are concluded.
The federal government, rather than the state, maintains regulatory authority over Massachusetts railroads, suggesting that future ethanol shipments to the area may prove unavoidable.
“State and municipalities can not regulate the railroad lines,” said Cod.