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Kinder Morgan Wins Injunction Request to Build Pipeline Through a Massachusetts Town

Adam Frenier
/
NEPR
Pipeline protesters rally in downtown Pittsfield before an injunction hearing on a natural gas pipeline.

A Berkshire Superior Court judge has granted Kinder Morgan an injunction, allowing it to go forward with a natural gas pipeline in Sandisfield, Massachusetts, on its way to Connecticut. But the judge did issue conditions.

Judge John Agostini wrote that federal laws give Kinder Morgan the right to build the pipeline in Otis State Forest.

Massachusetts law protects state-owned conservation land, but the judge ruled Kinder Morgan would suffer irreparable financial harm if it isn't allowed to go forward with the project.

Agostini did issue two conditions: The injunction is stayed until late July to give the legislature time to complete its review, and in case state Attorney General Maura Healey appeals. Kinder Morgan also has to put up a half-million dollar bond until it’s determined exactly how much money Kinder Morgan owes the state for the land.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Healey expressed disappointment in the judge’s decision, but said the stay “recogniz[es] the critical role of our state Legislature in determining the status of conservation land and allowing it the time to act.”

The spokesperson said the attorney general’s office is reviewing the decision and “considering our options moving forward.”

This report was originally published at New England Public Radio.

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