Brookfield officials and residents worry local children could suffer more air pollution if a permit to expand a local natural gas compressor station is approved. The station is located less than a mile from the town’s only public middle school.
“We've had members of the public and parents who have come to us almost in tears concerned about their children's health,” said Brookfield Selectman Robert Belden. He spoke at a recent public hearing held last week by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP).
The hearing comes after the state agency rejected three petitions from local groups asking for a more formal review process. The petitions are currently undergoing an appeal process.
Connecticut Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, a Republican who represents Brookfield, said he is opposed to any expansion.
“This is being put up literally yards away from a school, a middle school, which my children are going to be attending,” Harding said. “This should not be approved in any circumstance.”
Shipping natural gas from Canada to New York
The Brookfield Compressor Station is one link in the Iroquois gas pipeline, which sends natural gas from Canada to New York.
An expansion means the station would be able to send more natural gas, but could also emit more air pollutants. Fairfield County already has some of the highest levels of ozone pollution in New England.
In a statement, state environmental officials acknowledged emissions “will increase slightly at the site” due to an expansion, but said that uptick “will be somewhat offset by increased control of leaks.”
Emissions from the station would not be subject to Connecticut’s greenhouse gas reduction goals since natural gas supplied by the project “will be consumed principally in New York State,” added DEEP spokesperson Bill Flood.
Gabby Meredith, a student who spoke during DEEP’s recent public hearing, called the project a step backward.
“There is no doubt many of you in this room and in the Zoom grew up with climate change as a distant problem,” Meredith said. “As a 14-year-old, to be honest, my most recurring thought is, ‘Do I even have a future?’”
DEEP is accepting written public comments on the expansion until Jan. 15.
Áine Pennello is a Report for America corps member, covering the environment and climate change for Connecticut Public.
