Environmental Review Of

Gas Pipeline Proposal Delayed

By Andrew Gorosko

The Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) has postponed its review of the watercourses/wetlands protection aspects of a local manufacturing firm’s proposal to extend a high-pressure natural gas pipeline spur to its industrial complex at 11 Edmond Road.

IWC Chairman Anne Peters said March 28 that some members of the IWC had inspected the area where Advanced Fusion Systems, LLC, (AFS) has proposed extending a section of natural gas pipeline beneath Tom Brook, a small stream that runs parallel to Interstate 84.

“Do we now have a map?” Ms Peters asked in inquiring whether the specific place where a pipeline would cross beneath Tom Brook has been delineated by the applicant.

Wetlands Enforcement Officer Steve Maguire said the town is waiting for AFS to provide a map showing where the pipeline would cross beneath Tom Brook. Such mapping would occur after the Iroquois Gas Transmission System decides where it would position a pipeline spur that passes beneath I-84 and beneath Tom Brook, he said.

Ms Peters said the IWC would postpone consideration of the wetlands/watercourses protection aspects of the project until after a map is submitted.

Rob Sibley, deputy director of planning and land use, said the IWC would not decide on the application until more information is submitted. It is unclear how long it would be before that data is provided, he said.

Although the proposed extension of a pipeline beneath Tom Brook involves a minimal wetlands/watercourses disturbance, commission members still need to know exactly where such a stream crossing would occur to review the proposal, he said.

A pipeline spur extension project also would be reviewed by agencies including the Connecticut Siting Council, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the state Department of Transportation.

At a March 14 IWC session, William Joyce, the AFS chief executive officer, presented documents to IWC members depicting the possible routes that a new pipeline line could follow from the Iroquois pipeline in Sandy Hook to the AFS site.