Early Wednesday, environmental advocates from East Boston and Chelsea assembled at Boston City Hall with a mission: presenting 700 postcards to Boston Mayor Martin Walsh requesting a direct meeting with residents from both sides of the Chelsea Creek to explore alternatives to Eversource’s proposed substation location along the creek.
For the past two years, environmental groups operating on both the East Boston and Chelsea sides of the Chelsea Creek have waged a sustained campaign—utilizing visuals, media, and community outreach—against Eversource’s plan to construct the substation on a parcel owned by the City of Boston at the City Yards in East Eagle Square.
The state’s Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB) ruled last year in support of the City Yards location. However, the approval came with conditions attached. According to the EFSB, its vote to authorize the substation and 115 kV underground cables across Eastie, Chelsea, and Everett included specific requirements. The board mandated that Eversource engage in talks with the City of Boston about potentially relocating the substation and associated cables on the Chelsea Creek site.
“We are here to deliver more than 700 postcards to Mayor Martin Walsh from local residents and environmental organization,” explained John Walkey, a local environmentalist with Chelsea-based Green Roots, an environmental justice organization addressing environmental concerns on both sides of the creek in Eastie and Chelsea. “The residents and organizations are all asking for the same thing–to meet with the residents from East Boston and Chelsea hear our concerns about the substation project.”
According to Walkey, the project poses heightened dangers to both communities, which already shoulder substantial environmental burdens from Logan International Airport, highways, and jet fuel storage facilities along the Chelsea Creek.
“It’s not really clear if this project is really needed given the current electricity demand data we received from ISO New England (an independent, non-profit Regional Transmission Organization that coordinates, controls, and monitors a multi-state electric grid),” Walkey stated. “We feel it is not a wise use of the coastal zone given what we know about climate change and coastal flooding. This project precludes any other more appropriate use of the waterfront that could be more climate resilient and provide a better benefit to the community.”
Walkey noted that while Mayor Walsh’s administration has shown receptiveness to their concerns and staff members have met with the group, a direct meeting with the mayor himself has not yet occurred.
“We are here to bring home this idea that we just want to sit down and talk,” Walkey remarked. “We are not demanding anything ridiculous. We just want to voice our concerns and have the mayor hear them.”
Sandra Nijjar, also an environmental advocate, expressed worry about the proposed location given its proximity to the American Legion Playground, where children gather, as well as jet fuel storage tanks and the Chelsea Creek itself.
Paul Shoaf Kozak, a resident living near the proposed substation site, shared Nijjar’s reservations. From an environmental perspective, Shoaf Kozak contended that the location makes no sense.
“I can testify that this past winter the streets around the substation flooded twice,” Shoaf Kozak stated. “Condor Street, which runs perpendicular to the proposed substation, flooded two times during last winter’s blizzards. The elevation of the proposed substation is only 11 feet above sea level so it doesn’t take a mathematician to figure out this could cause a potentially hazardous and very dangerous situation during a flooding event. We are requesting that the mayor simply hear our concerns and include the community in the decision of where to place the substation.”
As part of its decision, the EFSB required Eversource to provide the board with updates on community-city discussions before construction begins. This requirement has created additional opportunity for Eversource, the City of Boston, and residents to identify alternative substation sites.
Mayor Walsh has stated that the city is actively collaborating with Eversource to identify the most suitable location for the substation that serves the interests of residents and businesses in Eastie and along the Chelsea Creek.
Originally, the substation was planned for an Eversource-owned parcel on Bremen Street. However, under the administration of former Mayor Thomas Menino, Boston arranged a land swap with Eversource. Eversource transferred the Bremen Street parcel to the city to allow construction of the new East Boston Branch Library, while the city provided an East Eagle Square parcel in exchange.