Workers at a controversial Weymouth gas compressor station that was shut down for repairs last week vented “a small quantity of natural gas” during maintenance work on Wednesday, officials said.
Enbridge, the company that operates the facility, said on Friday that it was performing maintenance work on a piece of equipment that helps reduce compressor unit emissions, a process that required the station to be shut down.
As part of that work, natural gas was released from the station “in a controlled manner consistent with our procedures and the design of the facility,” Enbridge spokesman Max Bergeron said in an e-mail Wednesday evening.
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“During testing, we identified the need to initiate controlled venting through the compressor case vent stack, which is specifically designed to vent natural gas,” Bergeron said. “The controlled venting of natural gas is a safe and routine procedure which is part of certain maintenance activities.”
The facility has earned the ire of a number of prominent Massachusetts politicians, as well as local environmental activists, who say it puts local residents at risk.
Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com. Follow him @jeremycfox.