Providence & Worcester Railroad v. Energy Facilities Siting Board

In this case we are asked to decide whether G. L. c. 164, §§ 69G and 69S, give the Energy Facilities Siting Board (board) the power to authorize an oil pipeline company to take land by eminent domain for a pipeline that is not “new,” a *136question of first impression in Massachusetts.2 We hold, contrary to the decision of the board, that the statutory scheme allows the board to authorize a taking only in connection with the construction of new oil pipelines, not for pipelines already in existence, and does not authorize the board to do so in the circumstances of the present case.

Statutory…