HUDSON – Does the town still oppose Eversource’s proposed transmission line route between Hudson and Sudbury?
That’s what Protect Hudson’s Brian O’Neill asked the Hudson Select Board on March 14.
“Nothing has changed,” responded Select Board Chair Scott Duplisea.
O’Neill, who has long been a vocal opponent of the Eversource project, pressed the Select Board to weigh in after he said abutters to the project recently received a letter stating that Eversource would begin “pre-construction efforts” along the transmission line route.
“You spent a lot of time and money opposing it just up to about 18 months ago, 14 months ago,” O’Neill said. “So, does the Town of Hudson still oppose this route?”
The Select Board, with two new members joining last year, hasn’t discussed the project, Duplisea said.
Duplisea also noted ongoing legal action being taken by the group Protect Sudbury to fight this project.
“It wouldn’t have done any good to have another town go to court for the same reason,” Duplisea said of Hudson’s decision to not follow suit.
Speaking on March 14, though, multiple Select Board members did individually express continued concerns about the project.
Project would build 9-mile power line
(Photo/Dakota Antelman)
At issue is a set of plans by Eversource to build a 115,000- volt underground power line that would run for nearly 9 miles between the Hudson and Sudbury substations.
About 7.6 miles of that route would run along a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) right-of-way in Sudbury, Stow, Marlborough and Hudson. The remainder of the line would be located under the streets in Hudson.
“The towns of Sudbury and Hudson have publicly opposed the use of the MBTA right-of-way as a route for this project,” O’Neill said.
He continued, “We’re entering our seventh year of opposition. There are voluminous amounts of documentation related to the universal host community opposition of this project.”
Tens of thousands of dollars have been spent on counsel for the towns and Protect Sudbury and its companion group, Protect Hudson, O’Neill said.
Eversource surveys route
According to O’Neill, the abutters to the project received that letter from Eversource on Feb. 17 stating that as a part of pre-construction efforts, Eversource will be performing environmental surveys along the route.
A contractor was due to mark out the limits for removing vegetation.
“Eversource is committed to being a good neighbor and doing our work with respect for our and your property,” the letter said. “Keeping open lines of communication is important to us.”
Eversource’s project has been approved by the state Energy Facilities Siting Board.
It’s use of the MBTA right-of-way was the subject of a petition by Protect Sudbury from last year, though. A federal agency, the Surface Transportation Board is tasked with regulating surface transportation, especially freight rail.
The petition asked the board to issue a finding that the line has not been abandoned and could be reactivated. The petition argued that the easements imposed on the line by the MBTA to allow Eversource to move forward “unlawfully interfere with the right to reactivate rail service and are therefore void.”
The Surface Transportation Board has denied Protect Sudbury’s request, writing, in part, that the matter is outside of its jurisdiction.
Opponents of the project have planned to refile their petition, though, planning to do so “in a manner that insures that all parties involved in the petition have ‘standing’ so that the STB must make a determination on the status of the line,” according to a statement from Protect Sudbury President Ray Phillips that was posted on social media.
Select Board responds
O’Neill asked if Hudson was interested in working with Sudbury “to pressure the Surface Transportation Board to come up with an answer to this.”
Duplisea said his inclination was to reach out to counsel with the request and have counsel contact Sudbury’s lawyers.
“Brian, I want to thank you for sticking to this,” said Select Board member James Quinn.
He said he didn’t see a reason for the town not to add their voice.
“In my mind, any little bit that we can add to the weight of this whole thing — I’m all for it,” Quinn said.
Select Board member Shawn Sadowski reiterated Quinn’s sentiment.
“I don’t want to see something like this wreck our neighborhoods,” Sadowski said.
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