Tewksbury Conservation Commission Approves Merrimack Drive Road, Delays Battery Storage Vote

TEWKSBURY -- June 24, 2026, Tewksbury Conservation Commission delays battery storage decision, narrowly approves subdivision road near drinking water intake. The commission voted to continue the contested Eastpoint Energy battery energy storage proposal at 73-75 Hillman Street to its July 15 meeting after a lengthy public hearing at which residents argued the application improperly separates the battery site from a related National Grid transmission line project, a move they said violates the state Wetland Protection Act's prohibition on project segmentation. Tyler Rynne of Eastpoint Energy said a separate Notice of Intent for the transmission corridor would be filed once National Grid finalizes its easement approval, expected around mid-July. In a split vote with the chair breaking the tie, the commission approved a major land disturbance permit for Marwick Associates, LLC, to extend a long-dormant cul-de-sac at 0 Merrimac Drive, a subdivision dating to the 1990s with 10 residential lots adjacent to the town's drinking water treatment plant. One commissioner objected to waiving a formal stormwater management plan given the site's proximity to the municipal water supply, while engineer Jim Hanley of Civil Design Consultants argued a 5,000-square-foot reduction in impervious surface and a new hydrodynamic separator constitute a net improvement over the original design.