Dunn believes DEEP will approve expansion of natural gas compressor station

By Scott Benjamin

BROOKFIELD – The large sign reading “No Pipeline Expansion Behind WMS” has a number attached to it.

1,900 feet – as in a little more than six football fields.

It denotes the distance between the Iroquois Natural Gas Compressor station on High Meadow Lane and Whisconier Middle School (WMS) on West Whisconier Road.

The sign has been standing for more than two and half years. It is in protest to the proposed $270 million expansion of the compressor station, which is even closer to an adjoining neighborhood.

Iroquois is seeking approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to expand its capacity by 125 million cubic feet per day, according to The News-Times.

The three selectman and state Senate Republican Leader Stephen Harding (R-30) of Brookfield, were among those testifying against the project this winter during a DEEP public hearing. They claim the expansion will pose environmental hazards.

First Selectman Steve Dunn, a Democrat, would award Ned Lamont (D-Greenwich) a large engraved trophy for steering Connecticut’s budget from crimson red deficits to olive green surpluses.

Lamont, who has been governor since 2019, has a likability factor that might put him in photo finish with Jay Leno.

Dunn, who is in his fifth nonconsecutive term as first selectman, has said Lamont has been more accessible than Dannel Malloy (D-Essex), his immediate predecessor.

However, Dunn said in an interview with Patch.com that he is frustrated that Lamont has not responded to Brookfield’s concerns about the impact on air quality near the site, which is directly related to the application before DEEP.

Dunn commented that he “sent overnight Fed-Ex letters to the governor. We have sent e-mail messages to the governor. We have not even gotten an acknowledgement that he had received those letters about the Iroquois compressor station.”

He remarked, “I am disappointed that the governor doesn’t believe it’s important enough to even indicate acknowledgement or receipt of those letters. In this instance we’re not getting the support that we think we need and deserve. But [overall], he has done a good job” as governor.

In an e-mail statement, Will Healey, the director of communications at DEEP, wrote that the department received public comments from the January 8 public hearing and written correspondence through January 15.

He added, “Through that process, DEEP received hundreds of comments. Since then, DEEP staff have been reviewing and formulating written responses to all relevant comments. We expect to issue that comment response on May 15th.”

A state judge has dismissed a lawsuit attempting to stop the project.

Dunn said that FERC has granted the needed approvals.

He commented. “I think [the DEEP is] going to give final approval, that’s my opinion, in the next couple of months.”

Dunn said in an interview last year with Patch.com that it would be costly to appeal the decision by FERC, since it would require a specialized attorney based in Connecticut and another in Washington.

On another topic, Brookfield’s properties are undergoing a re-valuation and Dunn expects the values to surge.

He said New Milford went through a re-valuation last year and that town’s mayor, Pete Bass, told him that the average home there increased by 60 percent in value.

Commented Dunn, “I’m not saying that we’re going to see the same thing, but we’re going to see something similar.”

Real estate associate Julie Kerton of Brookfield , who is seeking the Democratic nomination in the 107^th state House District, said that the average home in Brookfield is valued at $550,000, which is significant.”

She indicated that there is a lack of supply, partly because “people are not leaving their homes” since they have value and it is difficult to move to another home with the current high mortgage rates.

It was 10 years ago, just after Dunn began his initial tenure as first selectman, that the first streetscape project was constructed in the 198-acre Brookfield Town Center near the Four Corners intersection of Federal Road.

He said the New England-style central business district “has changed dramatically.”

Dunn remarked, “It was a small center with rundown, mostly one-story buildings where no one would go except for the gas stations.”

Now there are residents who complain that there are not enough public parking spaces in Brookfield Town Center.

Dunn praised the developers of Emporium Plaza, who have provided 38 public parking spaces to accommodate visitors and customers to that commercial/residential center.

He said the Zoning Commission is now asking future projects in Brookfield Town Center to follow the same formula.

Commented Dunn, “You can’t make it so tight that only residents can park there. It will kill the commercial.”

However, he said future development in Brookfield Town Center could be stymied by a lack of sewer capacity.

Dunn exclaimed that through regulations the Danbury sewer facility’s capacity has been slashed from 15 million gallons per day to 11 million. He said Brookfield is using about 500,000 gallons and has been allotted a maximum of 580,000 gallons.

He remarked, “I don’t think that Danbury is going to give us any more capacity right now,” Dunn said. “They are under federal orders to lower the amount of phosphorus coming out of the plant.”

Said Dunn, “Once we hit 580,000 gallons per day, no one is gong to be allowed to hook up. To build apartments like Brookfield Village [in Brookfield Town Center] you can’t use septic, you have to use sewer” It stops the multi-family, the commercial development.”

He said that Brookfield and surrounding towns need to take steps “to design adequate sewage facilities. We hit that 580,000 and no one else is going to be allowed to hook up to the sewer.”

On a separate issue, Dunn said that over the last 16 years Brookfield has had a model program for resurfacing its roads.

In April 2010 under former First Selectman Bill Davidson, the town approved at referendum at $10 million road improvement bond package. It continued to place money in the annual municipal budget for road repairs, with the objective of gradually paying more of those costs with cash.

Dunn said for at least five years all of the annual road repairs have been funded through cash.

“You don’t want to borrow for 20 years for something that’s going to last 10 years,” he remarked.

”Every road is resurfaced every 10 to 12 years,” Dunn commented. “No one will argue that Brookfield has the best road conditions among the surrounding towns.”