Energy/ Environment/ State government

Baker aide tells Somerset she wants to work with town

Theoharides confirms state owns land at Brayton Point

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This story has been updated.

A TOP AIDE to Gov. Charlie Baker sent a letter to town officials in Somerset indicating the administration is interested in working with them to address environmental concerns at Brayton Point and “to discuss potential next steps for management and use of this site.”

The letter, dated Thursday and signed by Kathleen Theoharides, the secretary of energy and environmental affairs, appeared to be sympathetic to town officials who have urged the Baker administration to shut down a scrap metal export business being operated on a parcel of state-owned land at Brayton Point.

The issue has become a lightning rod in the municipality. Brayton Point is viewed as a promising site for offshore wind infrastructure, but federal delays in authorizing offshore wind farms have put the St. Louis-based redeveloper of the property in a bind. The company tore down a coal-fired power plant at Brayton Point in 2017 but was left with an empty site and no money coming in due to the offshore wind delays. The company leased space to firms importing road salt and exporting scrap metal, but that angered neighbors who objected to the truck traffic, the dust, and the noise.

Opponents of the scrap metal operation mobilized politically and have now elected allies to all three seats on the Somerset Board of Selectmen. The board sent a letter to Baker in mid-July urging him to shut the scrap metal operation down. At that time, Baker told CommonWealth state agencies were sorting out the legal issues involved. He added that he wasn’t totally convinced yet that the state owned a 12.5 acre section of Brayton Point and the deep-water pier.

In her letter, Theoharides acknowledged that Brayton Point is using state-owned land under a 1959 lease. “The scope of the operator’s rights and responsibilities under those documents – and the state’s ability to take the action you request – is fundamentally a legal question,” said Theoharides.

Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides. (File photo by Andy Metzger)

She directed legal counsel for the various state agencies involved and the town’s legal counsel to jointly explore the state’s authority under the 1959 lease. Her letter said state and town officials would jointly plot “next steps for management and use of this site.”

Theoharides also said the state was taking other steps. “We share your concerns about protection of public health and the environment and are aware of the environmental impacts from the operations you have referenced,” she said. “In response, we are working with the Attorney General’s Office to coordinate appropriate enforcement actions. Among other avenues we are pursuing, the Department of Environmental Protection has already finalized an administrative consent order with penalties for some of the solid waste violations at this location.”

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About Bruce Mohl

Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.

About Bruce Mohl

Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.

Allen Smith, a member of Somerset’s Board of Aldermen, said he welcomed the cooperative tone of the letter from Theoharides, but he said he was disappointed Baker did not respond himself and he was also puzzled at how long it took to respond and how vague the letter was. He said it had been almost two months since Baker was aware of the situation and state officials had known for some time before that of the concerns.

Commercial Development Inc., the company that purchased Brayton Point, could not immediately be reached for comment. A spokesman for Theoharides declined comment.

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