Everett urges National Grid to fulfill 12-year Rivergreen walkway promise, postpones local conduit request

Everett City Council on Tuesday pressed National Grid to complete a 12-year-old commitment to build a Rivergreen public walkway along the Malden River and voted to draft a letter to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the utility urging enforcement.

The action followed more than an hour of public testimony from river advocates and a detailed presentation by Assistant City Solicitor Keith Slattery, who traced more than a decade of permitting and appeals. "In 2017 the Department of Environmental Protection wrote, as a condition that National Grid shall the site itself be further improved by the construction and maintenance of the required public access walkway," Slattery told the council, recounting the MassDEP license condition that coupled earlier permits.

Conservation agent Tom Philbin framed Chapter 91 as a central tool for waterfront access and recreation, saying, "Chapter 91 is our most powerful tool municipalities have," and urging enforcement to complete trail connections from Medford to Everett and beyond.

Advocates from regional groups urged the council to act. Karen Buck Gilbert of Friends of the Malden River said Chapter 91 protects "public access to waterways for health, public health" and asked the city to press DEP to ensure compliance.

Separately, the council considered a National Grid petition to install approximately 15 feet of underground conduit in the Mystic Street sidewalk to provide a temporary underground service for a private property at 33 Mystic Street. Several councilors said they would withhold favorable votes until National Grid addresses broader waterfront commitments. Councilors voted to postpone action on that conduit request to the February 26 meeting and instructed the clerk to invite National Grid to explain both the temporary-work plan and the unresolved Rivergreen obligations.

The council’s move signals heightened municipal pressure on a global utility with a local footprint: lawyers and conservation officials described years of regulatory filings, an appeal to DEP, litigation and procedural steps that have delayed implementation of public-access conditions tied to National Grid’s licenses.

Next steps: city staff will work with councilor Rogers to draft the letter to DEP and National Grid and National Grid representatives are expected to appear at the Feb. 26 meeting to respond to questions about repairs, permits and the long-delayed Rivergreen walkway.