Location: Brookfield and Milford, CT; Dover and Athens, NY | Status: Active
Summary: Save the Sound is fighting to stop the Iroquois Gas Transmission Enhancement by Compression (“ExC”) Project, which would modify an existing pipeline by enhancing compression at various stations along the pipeline to increase the amount of natural gas transported to New York utilities. The project would create new emissions and health burdens on already overburdened environmental justice communities and would conflict with New York’s and Connecticut’s greenhouse gas goals.
The Iroquois Pipeline is a natural gas transmission system that runs from Canada, through New York to southeastern Connecticut to provide natural gas to central Long Island. The ExC Project includes an increase of 12,000 horsepower of compression and gas cooling at the compressor stations in Athens and Dover, NY, an increase of 24,000 horsepower at the compressor station in Brookfield, CT, and the addition of gas cooling at the compressor station in Milford, CT.
From the operation of the Brookfield Compressor Station alone, the Iroquois ExC Project would result in additional CO2 equivalent emissions totaling over 80,000 metric tons per year, directly interfering with the State’s ability to comply with the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA), which requires Connecticut to reduce emissions to at least 45 percent below 2001 levels by January 1, 2030.
The ExC Project would also undermine New York State’s ability to meet its 2030 emission limits established by Article 75 of the Environmental Conservation Law and conflict with the state’s established goals of investing in renewable energy infrastructure instead.
In November 2021, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) completed the final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the ExC Project. In January 2023, Iroquois applied for an air quality permit in New York, which the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) then asked Iroquois to modify it in light of the new federal methane regulations.
In April 2024, Save the Sound, Sierra Club, and New York Lawyers for Public Interest (NYLPI) submitted letters in response to the NY Department of Public Service’s (DPS) assessment of whether the ExC Project is needed for NY’s energy demand. In July 2024, Save the Sound joined other Long Island organizations and communities in signing onto Food and Water Watch’s letter calling on Governor Kathy Hochul to stop the ExC Project.
Latest Step: Save the Sound submitted comments challenging the conclusions of the NYS DPS Assessment of Need for the ExC Project and a letter to CT DEEP urging the denial of the ExC Project.
Next Step: NYSDEC to decide on air quality permit. CT DEEP to publish draft air quality permit.
Further Reading:
- PRESS RELEASE: Opposing new natural gas infrastructure in NY – Save the Sound
- PRESS RELEASE: Save the Sound attorneys urge denial of new pipeline compressors in Connecticut – Save the Sound
Action Opportunities:
Last Updated: September 26, 2024