Although Global Petroleum abandoned its Ethanol train plan the previous summer, environmental activists from Chelsea and neighboring areas petitioned state legislators for additional safeguards.
The Chelsea Creek Action Group (CCAG) called on the House to approve a budget amendment establishing an extended moratorium that would bar the Department of Environmental Protection from granting a chapter 91 license to oil facilities receiving ethanol via marine vessel. Additionally, the group requested that the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency develop an ethanol transport response plan.
The House approved the amendment this week, with the Senate expected to vote on the budget by late May.
In a statement, CCAG remarked: “The Chelsea Creek Action Group applauds Speaker DeLeo and the co-sponsors of Amendment 392 to the House Budget 4000 for uplifting the public safety hazards of mile-long ethanol trains traveling through densely populated areas. The Chelsea Creek Action Group is proud to stand with Speaker DeLeo and the State Representatives to urge the Commonwealth’s agencies to work with federal and local counterparts to develop an ethanol transport response plan and temporarily prevent ethanol trains from traveling to the Greater Boston area.”
Representative Dan Ryan cast a vote supporting the amendment.
During the previous year, Senator Anthony Petruccelli, alongside Senators Sal DiDomenico and Patricia Jehlen, introduced language during a late-night session to modify the state’s Chapter 91 law. This amendment targeted Global Oil’s proposal to transport 1.8 million gallons of ethanol by train twice weekly to their facility straddling the East Boston/Revere border.
Since the facility sits along Chelsea Creek, Global required a Chapter 91 license to alter the facility for ethanol storage along the Creek’s banks.
The Chapter 91 amendment specified that “an ethanol storage or blending facility that stores or blends or is intended to store or blend more than an average of 5,000 gallons of ethanol per day and is located within one mile of a census block that has a population density of greater than 4,000 people per square mile shall not be granted a license under this chapter. For the purposes of this section, ethanol shall be defined as any mixture composed of not less than 30 percent ethanol”.
Governor Deval Patrick, however, returned the language for additional consideration. Ultimately, recognizing the legislative momentum against the proposal, Global decided to shelve its plans to transport ethanol by train.
Residents of Eastie, Revere, and Chelsea had consistently voiced opposition to Global’s proposal to operate 60-car trains carrying 1.8 million gallons of ethanol, a highly flammable substance, two or more times weekly along commuter rail tracks to its East Boston/Revere terminal.
At the state level, Global’s plans faced obstacles through legislation co-sponsored by Petruccelli and DiDomenico. As the first elected officials to file substantial legislation addressing Global’s ethanol shipping plan, Petruccelli and DiDomenico introduced an amendment to a state transportation bond bill that prevented the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) from issuing Global a Chapter 91 license for the ethanol storage facility on the Eastie/Revere line until a comprehensive safety study was finished.