State grants public hearing on Iroquois compressor station expansion in Brookfield

The fight over expanding the Iroquois natural gas compressor station in Brookfield has entered a new phase: Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) has granted a public adjudicatory hearing on the proposal, the environmental group Save the Sound announced on October 1.

Here is what is happening.

Iroquois Gas Transmission System wants to expand its Brookfield compressor station — adding two more natural-gas-fired compressors that would push about 125 million more cubic feet of gas per day through its 414-mile pipeline system. The company needs an air permit from DEEP to do it, and DEEP issued a revised tentative permit back in August.

That tentative permit drew formal objections. Save the Sound, the Town of Brookfield itself, and a resident group called "Stop the Brookfield Compressor Station Expansion" all filed comments and petitions asking DEEP for a full public hearing. Granting an adjudicatory hearing means the state will now take testimony and evidence on the proposal rather than deciding on paper alone.

One of the central disputes is how the new compressors would be powered. Brookfield officials have pushed for all-electric compressors, arguing they would be cleaner for a facility operating in a residential community. Iroquois has estimated the all-electric alternative would cost $45–50 million more than the gas-fired units it proposes.

What happens next is still unclear. The hearing has been granted, but no date had been announced as of Monday morning, and a final permit decision would come after the hearing process concludes. We will follow this one — when the hearing date is announced, we will post it here.