Brookfield is our home. Our children go to school here. Our neighbors live near the compressor station. We are raising funds so our community has the legal and technical support it needs to oppose the proposed expansion and protect the people who would live with its consequences.

Our goal is to stop this project as proposed: no expansion, or a substantially safer alternative that avoids added combustion pollution and demonstrably protects our community. We are not convinced that Connecticut DEEP or Iroquois is doing enough to protect us.

WHERE WE ARE

After more than three years of effort by residents, the Town of Brookfield, and regional environmental groups, Connecticut DEEP has granted an adjudicatory hearing on whether Iroquois's air permit for the Brookfield compressor station expansion is lawful. DEEP originally denied requests for this hearing. That denial was appealed to Superior Court, and DEEP later reopened the permit. Our group, Stop the Brookfield Compressor Station Expansion, is a formal party to the hearing, alongside the Town of Brookfield and Save the Sound. The first status conference is scheduled for October 21.

WHAT AN ADJUDICATORY HEARING IS

It's a mini-trial run by DEEP's Office of Adjudications. Parties present sworn testimony, cross-examine DEEP staff and Iroquois's witnesses, and submit evidence. Unlike public comments, this becomes the formal record, and that record is what a court reviews if the decision is appealed. Iroquois will arrive with attorneys and engineers. Brookfield needs the same.

USE OF FUNDS

We have identified experienced environmental counsel whose firm has successfully challenged deficient permits, and we have received an estimate of legal fees. We are now identifying independent experts. Funds will pay for:

• Hearing counsel: preparation, discovery, hearing days, and post-hearing briefs

• An air permitting expert: emissions, modeling, and permit limits

• A compressor and pipeline engineering expert: the feasibility and cost of electric motor drives (EMDs) instead of new gas-fired combustion

• Transcripts, filing, and related costs

$25,000 covers the core of counsel's estimated fees for the hearing. $30,000 adds independent expert testimony. $50,000 supports a broader expert effort and begins a reserve for appeal. These are fundraising targets, not fixed-price commitments; the final scope depends on the proceeding.

WHAT COMES NEXT

The hearing officer issues a proposed decision, and the Commissioner issues the final one. Hearings like this mostly build the record. If the decision goes against Brookfield, the next step is an appeal to Superior Court based on that record. A strong record now gives us the best chance at both stages.

WHO WE ARE

Stop the Brookfield Compressor Station Expansion is a nonpartisan community effort of Brookfield residents, parents, and longtime advocates, with experience in engineering, environmental law, environmental regulation, education, and community organizing. Professional counsel serves as our attorney of record in the hearing, and independent experts give testimony that carries weight on its own. Learn more: https://stbcse.org

ACCOUNTABILITY

Daniel Myers holds funds in a dedicated account, separate from personal funds, and they are spent only on the work above. Donations are not tax-deductible. We'll post an update at each major filing or ruling. Any money remaining after the hearing will go toward an appeal or other legal proceedings on this permit. If funds remain once the matter fully concludes, they will be donated to Save the Sound, and we'll publish a final accounting.

Please give what you can and share this with neighbors who care about Brookfield's future.