North Weymouth Compressor Station Proximity in Relation to Residential Cardiopulmonary Health in the Fore River Basin Area

Jarard R.

Abstract: In the United States, the natural gas industry continues to expand as the country switches
from coal to natural gas as its main source for electricity generation. As the need for natural gas
rises, the infrastructure required to collect and deliver natural gas has begun to increase. This
includes the building of new pipelines and compressor stations. One of these newer pipelines
travels through the South Shore of Massachusetts, where a compressor station was also recently
built in the town of Weymouth. Due to the negative implications of compressor stations releasing
toxic pollutants that contribute to air pollution, it is of great concern for Weymouth residents as
well as other surrounding towns. The presented study thus looks at the negative health effects the
compressor station may have on residents, asking the question, “Since its opening in January of
2021, how has the North Weymouth Compressor Station Affected surrounding residential
cardiopulmonary health through its influence over air quality?”. With almost no research that
pertains to proximities to compressor stations and human health in the academic literature, the
study plans to address this gap through the use of a non-experimental correlational analysis that
looks at proximity and occurrence of cardiopulmonary diseases.

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