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.