WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — The U.S. Department of Justice announced on July 12 that NSTAR Electric Company, which does business as Eversource Energy (NSTAR), NSTAR subsidiary Harbor Electric Energy Company (HEEC) and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) will settle allegations related to a permit for an electrical cable beneath Boston Harbor.
According to allegations, the involved parties installed an electrical cable underneath Boston Harbor in 1990 that was not placed at the proper depth. The settlement ensures that a project undertaken by the government, "the Boston Harbor Deep Draft Navigation Improvement Project," will continue and the United States will not be financially liable for modifications caused by the electrical cable.
“The settlement will remedy the Clean Water Act and River and Harbors Act permit violations,” Jeffrey H. Wood, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, said. “The permit violations in connection with the electric cable running under Boston Harbor will be resolved so that the Deep Draft Project can proceed as scheduled. In addition, the settlement shows the commitment we place on upholding the integrity of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredge-and-fill permits and the work the corps does to protect our nation’s waterways and highways of commerce.”