Lamont Meets Brookfield Selectman on Iroquois Pipeline Project

Gov. Ned Lamont sat down Monday with Brookfield First Selectman Steve Dunn at the state Capitol to talk through a natural gas compressor project that’s become a flashpoint for communities along the western edge of Fairfield County.

The Iroquois pipeline’s “Enhancement by Compression” project sits at the center of the dispute. The plan calls for two gas-fired compressors at an existing station in Brookfield, capable of pushing an additional 125 million cubic feet of natural gas through the pipeline daily. Project filings with the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection spell out those details, and what they describe hasn’t gone over well with local officials or residents nearby.

Dunn, a Democrat, has been the loudest municipal voice against the expansion. His objection isn’t the pipeline. It’s the emissions. Critics contend the gas-powered turbines would dump pollutants into a part of Connecticut that’s already struggled to meet federal air quality benchmarks. Environmental advocates, meanwhile, say the project cements fossil fuel infrastructure that conflicts with the state’s own clean-energy targets. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tracks air quality data for the region, and that record hasn’t helped Iroquois make its case to skeptical neighbors.

Dunn walked into the governor’s office pushing a specific swap: ditch the gas-fired compressors and install electric ones instead. When he came out, he told the CT Mirror the conversation went about as well as he could have hoped.

“He said he was going to help us, and I believe him,” Dunn said.

Lamont described the electric-compressor idea as a “Constructive Alternative” but was careful to put distance between himself and the permitting process. He said he didn’t intend to take up the matter with Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes.

“He’s come up with an alternative and I hope, you know, DEEP considers it,” Lamont said. “But I’m not supposed to weigh in, so I won’t.”

That’s the governor threading a needle. He’s sympathetic enough to meet with a local Democrat who’s publicly opposing a project under his agency’s review. He’s not, at least publicly, picking up the phone to nudge DEEP toward a particular outcome.

Cathryn Vaulman, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, issued a statement after the two men met. “Governor Lamont had a productive meeting with First Selectman Steve Dunn today regarding the Iroquois Natural Gas Compressor station,” Vaulman said, adding that Lamont encouraged Iroquois Gas Transmission System to deploy the best available technology and conduct an air quality test as a goodwill gesture to Brookfield.

Nobody from Iroquois said a word about the meeting publicly.

The permitting timeline has already slipped. DEEP released a pair of draft decisions last July suggesting the agency was inclined to approve the air quality permits for the compressor station. A final ruling had been set for April 13, but DEEP pushed that date back to give regulators more time to work through public comments. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission governs the pipeline at the federal level, but Connecticut’s air permit is DEEP’s call alone.

The delay bought opponents time to keep organizing. It also left Iroquois in a prolonged hold pattern, still waiting on a permit decision that once looked like a formality. Dunn’s Monday meeting with Lamont, held on April 21, 2026, didn’t resolve anything formally. It did put the governor’s name on record as sympathetic to the town’s position, which is something Dunn can carry back to Brookfield.

Whether DEEP moves toward the electric-compressor option or proceeds toward approving the gas-fired design remains a live question. The agency hasn’t signaled a revised timeline, and Iroquois officials have consistently resisted the electric alternative. That gap between what Brookfield wants and what Iroquois has proposed hasn’t closed.