NSTAR Electric Company, doing business as Eversource Energy Company, and the Harbor Electric Energy Company (HEEC), are seeking a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District to conduct work in the waters of South Boston, Massachusetts.
Work is proposed in the Reserved Channel and Boston Harbor starting approximately 200 feet to the east of the Summer Street Bridge in South Boston and ending approximately 500 feet to the east of the Boston Harbor Main Shipping Channel Federal Navigation Project (FNP).
The project purpose is to remove an approximately 8,000 linear foot section of the existing buried 115 kV electric HEEC cable and to cap and to abandon the remainder of this cable in place.
The HEEC cable to be removed will be cut and extracted via 1) winching (direct pull); 2) loosening sediment around the cables using a hydro-donut and then winching; and/or 3) dredging overburden above the cables and then winching.
According to the Corps, this project could involve dredging up to 16.25 acres of sub-tidal bottom within the Reserved Channel and Boston Harbor. HEEC is requesting approval to transport and dispose up to 235,251 cubic yards of dredged material to the Massachusetts Bay Ocean Disposal Site.
The deadline for sending public comments on this work proposed by Eversource Energy Company and the Harbor Electric Energy Company is March 21, 2019.