A proposal for a massive expansion to a gas pipeline that goes through CT is drawing opposition
ALISON CROSS
For the last five years, Sena Wazer has fought climate
change, but the 20-year-old environmental activist’s latest battle hits closer
to home than ever before.
“As a young person, it constantly feels like I’m watching my
future go up in flames,” Wazer said.
The natural gas pipeline that runs a street down from
Wazer’s family home in Mansfield is part of a
proposed 1,131-mile expansion of the Algonquin
Gas Transmission line.
The proposal, known as Project Maple, would raise the
natural gas-carrying capacity of the pipeline, which bisects Connecticut and
extends into New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Enbridge,
the Canadian-based energy company behind the project, said in documents that
the expansion will increase the reliability of the Northeast’s power grid,
stabilize gas prices, and support “New England’s continued journey to Net
Zero.”
Wazer called the proposal “a slap in the face,” from
Enbridge but also the federal commissions, state agencies and governors who
have not opposed the project.
“The science is very clear that we need to be rapidly moving
off of fossil fuel infrastructure. But instead here we are expanding it in a
way that prolongs our reliance,” Wazer said. “I want them to know that young
folks are watching and this is our future that they’re deciding whether or not
to sacrifice in the name of profit.”
Wazer is part of a growing grassroots coalition in
Connecticut that emerged in opposition to Project Maple. Through protest and
advocacy, the multistate movement hopes to compel federal policymakers and
state leaders to adhere to climate goals and block Enbridge’s expansion.
According to documents from Enbridge, the company
anticipates that Project Maple, which could process an extra 249 to 499 million
cubic feet of natural gas per day in some locations, could go online “as early
as November 2029.”
The expansion would include an overhaul of existing pipeline
infrastructure in order to increase its carrying volume. Expected renovations
in the documents include replacing smaller diameter pipes with larger ones,
laying new transmission lines besides existing infrastructure, and expanding
compressor stations along the route.
Max
Bergeron, an Enbridge spokesperson, said the company remains “very early in
the process and plan to finalize the project scope and schedule.”
He said Enbridge initiated Project Maple in response to grid
reliability concerns increased demand “from gas utilities and power generators”
along the Algonquin Gas Transmission system.
“The Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission has held technical conferences which have
highlighted the power grid reliability concerns the region continues to face,
and Project Maple is one solution which seeks to meet the need for reliable
access to fuel for power generation, in addition to supporting growing demand
from gas utilities,” Bergeron said in a statement to the Courant.
On paper, the prospect of a natural gas expansion appears at
odds with the Northeast region’s ambitious climate goals. With the exception of
New Hampshire, each New England state has set a target to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions economywide by 2050, according to ISO New
England.
Connecticut is uniquely legislated to maintain a carbon-free
electric grid by 2040.
Currently, Connecticut consumes more natural gas than
any other energy source. In 2023 natural gas-fired power plants accounted
for 60% of all
electricity generated in the state, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
But Paul Coppleman, a spokesperson for the Connecticut Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection, said in a statement to the Courant that the
state’s “electricity supply is already 73% carbon free.”
“The Lamont Administration’s strategy is to provide clean,
affordable, and reliable energy to the residents and businesses of Connecticut,
and to achieve our state’s statutory target of 100% zero-carbon electricity by
2040,” Copleman said. “Achieving the 2040 target will require bringing
additional new carbon-free energy online as well as ensuring that existing
carbon-free resources, like nuclear, continue to operate.”
In December, more
than 90 climate and environmental justice groups sent Gov. Ned Lamont
and the leaders of other impacted states a letter opposing Project Maple.
The
letter urged the governors to oppose the expansion publicly, demand
“strict adherence and enforcement of all climate laws and regulation,” and
“deny all permits to Project Maple.”
In response to activists’ action, Lamont’s Senior Press
Secretary David Bednarz said in a statement to the Courant that “The governor
appreciates their outreach and will take their feedback into consideration.”
Environmental groups in Connecticut have also called on
DEEP Commissioner
Katie Dykes to deny
all state permits for the Project Maple Expansion.
“DEEP is aware of the early-stage efforts exploring
additional natural gas pipeline infrastructure that would potentially service
Connecticut customers and transport gas through the state,” Paul Copleman said.
“As no application has been submitted to DEEP, it would be premature to comment
on the project.”
Nick Katkevich, the Northeast field organizer for the Sierra Club, said that this kind of
preemptive action is part of the coalition’s strategy to block Project Maple.
In order for Enbridge to proceed with the expansion, Project
Maple must first receive a green light from the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission – an agency that Katkevich said “seldom rejects fossil fuel
projects.”
But, even if Project Maple passes this stage, Katkevich said
he is confident that the coalition can block the project through information
campaigns, letter writing, protest, public hearings and other actions that will
get state and federal officials, and the public, to adopt their cause.
“If they [Enbridge] are wanting to expand compressor
stations, they’re going to need air permits from all the state agencies. And if
they’re crossing waterways, they might need waterway permits as well,”
Katkevich said. “There’s lots of opportunities to stop this project.”
“This is just the beginning of this coordinated regional
resistance,” Katekevich added. “I think what’s on our side is really shifting
the narrative from top to bottom politically in the region against this
project.”
Enbridge argues that Project Maple would benefit the
Northeast.
“Greater access to reliable, affordable natural gas supplies
can help lower energy costs for consumers in New England, help address
well-known energy reliability concerns, and help prevent the use of
higher-emitting fuels during high energy-demand periods such as during the
winter,” Bergeron said.
According to a
forecast from ISO New England released in June, the demand for
electricity in the region is expected to grow 2.3% each year through 2032, with
winter peak demand projected at a 2.9% annual increase
In documents, Enbridge said that as the demand for solar and
wind energy grows, so will the need for natural gas to “offset the supply gaps”
during peak demand periods that coincide with a decrease in renewable energy
productivity.
Enbridge said that “pipeline infrastructure has played a
critical role in the emissions reduction success New England has achieved to
date,” and that the Project Maple expansion would be “supporting New England’s
continued journey to Net Zero.”
Martha Klein, a Connecticut resident who serves as the lead
organizer of Stop Project Maple for the Sierra Club, described Enbridge’s net
zero claims as “Orwellian.”
While natural gas is often touted as the “cleaner”
alternative to its fossil fuel counterparts due to its comparatively low carbon
dioxide emissions, Klein said that any potential benefits to the earth’s
atmosphere are offset by methane
leaks.
“You are accelerating climate change at an even worse pace
than if you were burning coal or oil because of fugitive methane emissions,”
Klein said.
Methane, the predominant
component of natural gas, traps heat in the atmosphere at 28
times the rate of carbon dioxide, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Next to agriculture, the EPA said natural gas and petroleum
systems are the second
largest source of methane emissions in the country, which “occur in
all segments of the natural gas industry, from production, through processing
and transmission, to distribution … through intentional venting and
unintentional leaks.”
These leaks can sometimes also lead to disaster. Between
2010 and 2021, 368 documented pipeline explosions resulted in 89 deaths, 440
injuries and millions of dollars in property damages, according to an
analysis of data from the Pipeline
and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration compiled by the Doan Law Firm.
Chemical
pollutants from compressor stations that operate along the pipeline
are also a major concern.
Ian McDonald of the Windham Willimantic
NAACP Environmental Justice Committee said the areas most impacted by
fossil fuel infrastructure often overlap with historically marginalized
communities, distressed communities and communities of color.
“The impacts in terms of fugitive methane emissions tend to
be especially bad, a lot of times, in already affected environmental
justice communities, who already have particularly heavy pollution
burdens,” McDonald said. “[Project Maple] is a major climate concern, but there
are also serious concerns about exacerbating localized pollution, particularly
when Connecticut has some of the worst
ozone pollution.”
In November the Windham
Willimantic NAACP and the Hartford-based Nonprofit Accountability Group sponsored
a protest against Project Maple in Pomfret.
NAG Founder Tenaya Taylor said the issue is intersectional
and personal.
“A lot of our problems stem from environmental injustice
with the health care barriers that we face due to polluters,” Taylor said.
Taylor and McDonald said they fear the pipeline expansion
and its emissions will compound existing climate challenges in Connecticut,
like decreasing air quality in urban heat Islands and amplifying extreme
weather events as global temperatures change.
Taylor said that many people in their community suffer from
environmentally linked illnesses like asthma, heart
disease and endometriosis.
“I’m constantly hospitalized because of endometriosis and
fatigue and inability to breathe. So it’s something I really had to take on
because I know that it’s a side effect of building these pipelines and not
having clean energy,” Taylor said. “If we can’t breathe, we don’t have anything
… we have to spread awareness about the realities of what will happen if they
actually do this.”
McDonald, Taylor, Klein and other climate activists said
Connecticut needs to shift away from fossil fuels now.
“The technology is fully at hand for us to convert to a
fossil fuel free electric grid,” Klein said. “We really don’t need more fracked
gas. What we need to do is loosen the restrictions on solar and bring on more
renewable energy onto the grid.”
Steelpointe apartments break ground in Bridgeport — 'a long time coming'
BRIDGEPORT — Connecticut will only attract new business and
residents if the state has the workforce housing it "desperately"
needs, Gov. Ned Lamont said Tuesday while in the city to help break ground on
the on the long promised — and long delayed — 420
apartments at Steelpointe.
"A lot of people want to be here," Lamont said.
"The only thing that's going to slow us down is if we don't have
housing."
The governor acknowledged the years-long process it's taken
to bring housing to the development where the father and son team of Robert
Christoph and Robert Christoph Jr. have been slowly transforming what was once
the site of a coal-burning power plant, saying the
environmental cleanup process was "complicated."
"This is a transformative moment," Lamont said.
"It's taken a long time coming. Rome wasn't built in a day. It didn't take
much longer, this, but we're getting there."
The governor pointed to planned transportation improvements
that he said will bring Bridgeport "as close to New York City as Stamford
is today."
"If I was an investor I'd be investing in
Bridgeport," Lamont said. "But they don't let me invest."
More than 100 people jammed the vestibule outside the Boca
Oyster Bar to hear Lamont and other officials speak before the
governor joined other dignitaries for a ceremonial groundbreaking
outside. Housing has long been envisioned for Steelpointe, which has
spanned several years and mayoral administrations.
Ground was finally broken there by the Christophs under
Mayor Joe Ganim’s predecessor, Bill Finch, who was in attendance Tuesday, with
the Bass Pro Shops retailer being the first building to open in 2015 shortly
after Ganim ousted Finch in that year’s Democratic mayoral primary.
Tuesday's event celebrated the eventual construction —
anticipated to take about two years — of "The August," a 420-unit
apartment development with 10,000 square feet of retail space and a 466-space
parking garage. The apartments will be 13 percent studio, 55 percent one
bedroom, 32 percent two bedroom, and 1 percent three-bedroom.
The nearly $200 million development was partially
financed through
the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority via a program designed to
support housing for middle income residents who wouldn't qualify for affordable
housing as defined by law.
State Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno said 160
units would be set aside under the program for those making 80 to 100 percent
of the median income.
Michael Pugh, the CEO of Local Initiatives Support
Corporation, which also provided financing, said he looked forward to future
development balancing the needs of closing the equity gap as the neighborhood
faces possible gentrification.
"This kind of project is only the beginning," he
said.
City Council President Aidee Nieves said she is
"extremely proud" to see the project move forward after years of
delay.
"Things are happening here in Bridgeport," she
said, mentioning
a proposal to put a new waterfront soccer stadium nearby. Lamont last
week expressed skepticism about the soccer stadium project, which is reliant on
significant state funding.
Robert Christoph Jr. said Steelpointe is "what
happens when smart development takes place."
"This waterfront has been kept from the great people of
Bridgeport for the past hundred years, and we are here today to further
public access to the waterfront which creates a better opportunity to live,
work, play, and best of all, be entertained," he said.
The project's amenities will include a fitness center with a
sauna and cold plunge, salt water pool, private pickleball courts, a pet park
and spa, private balconies, and electric vehicle charging stations.
"It's going to be unparalleled in the
marketplace," said Ryan Cronk, vice president of development for Flaherty
& Collins Properties.
Ganim credited Finch and John Fabrizi, his predecessors —
and successors — in the mayor's office, while thanking the governor and other
state officials and the Christophs for their "vision and commitment"
which he said could create up to 400 local jobs during the peak of
construction.
"This is no throwaway project," said Ganim,
who was originally mayor from 1991 to 2003. "This is a singular, impactful
development."
Following the Bass Pro opening in 2015, Starbucks coffee
shop, Chipotle Mexican restaurant, a new marina and the Boca seafood
restaurant followed. Others plans, such as for a luxury movie theater, a Dave
& Buster’s restaurant and a hotel, never materialized, though the hotel is
still planned.
Two years ago the all-Democrat City Council approved a 12
year tax break for the apartments which critics at the time panned as an
unnecessary giveaway to the Christophs.
As outlined at the time in city documents, Bridgeport would
receive $23,900 in taxes for those initial three years the apartments are being
built/leased, then $1.26 million in year four, and then, in years five through
10, the payments would increase by 2 percent, reaching $1.47 million.
Council members who backed the tax subsidy argued it will be
worth it because the apartments — studios, one, two and three-bedroom units
costing at that time $2,100 to $2,700 a month — would establish a higher-end
housing market in Connecticut’s largest city and, hopefully, encourage future
investment that will not require a local subsidy.
But then, as previously reported, the project ran into an
issue with environmental cleanup. It was determined that the site, the former
location of a steel works and electrical substation, had more ground pollution
problems than initially anticipated. Specifically, elevated levels of
hazardous, federally-regulated PCBs or polychlorinated biphenyls that
required more involved clean-up and capping plans required by both the state
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency. The final
approvals were issued last June.
Fairfield project would add apartments, retail and public plaza on Post Road
FAIRFIELD — Months after a real estate company pitched a
mixed-use apartment development at the former site of the Exide Battery
plant on Post Road, a Fairfield architect said he wants to build a second one
across the street.
Architect and developer Marc Andre said he hopes to build a
four-story, mixed-use building that would incorporate affordable housing,
first-floor businesses and a public plaza on a series of properties surrounding
Fairfield Cigars near the corner of Post Road and Fairfield Place. Andre's
project targets the same neighborhood where the New York company, TVG
Partners, wants
to place a complex with 98 apartments, first-floor retail tenants, a
self-storage building and green space along the Mill River.
"We hope and expect that if you agree with our vision
here, that this will provide an incentive for future development in this
important gateway area of the community, provide for an exciting and creative
mixed-use development and provide regulations, at least in this district, that
would have a very strong emphasis on the commitment to affordable housing
opportunities in our town," John Fallon, the attorney representing
Andre, said at a recent Town Plan and Zoning Commission meeting.
Neither developer has submitted a formal application, but
their plans signify growing private interest along a corridor of Post Road
where the town has considered extending its downtown business district with
denser housing, increased foot traffic and stronger commercial activity.
"What we're trying to do is to provide you a vision
with what, at least on these parcels, could be the effect of the extension
of the zone for the Center Designed Business
District," Fallon said. "We're prejudice I guess, but we
think it's a pretty exciting concept."
Andre said the building would have 40 residential units
comprised of smaller-scale studio and one-bedroom apartments meant to keep
options affordable, ranging between 500 and 1,100 square feet.
He said he would set aside at least 30 percent of these
units for affordable housing for tenants who fall within 60 and 80 percent of
the area median income. The building's affordable space is more than double the
town's requirement for affordable housing space to make up at least a tenth of
the residential units in developments with 10 or more units.
Fairfield's Plan of Conservation and Development, which the
zoning commission is reviewing, recommends unlocking more potential housing
options by furthering the western boundary of the Center Designed Business
District, a zoning district that allows taller buildings, more floor area and
less distance from the street than other parts of Post Road. The widened
territory would include the two proposed multi-use sites.
Fallon said he would propose six amendments to Fairfield's
zoning regulations to enable the project to move forward with its proposed
parking and street setback plans.
Andre said the development would come with about 70 parking
spaces, roughly 20 of which would be off street in front of the building and
along Post Road, Lindbergh Street and Fairfield Place. The traffic impacts of
the project remain unclear, but Fallon said Andre would include one in his
application.
Andre said the first-floor businesses in the mixed-use
building would be retail-oriented, with potential tenants including a coffee
shop and restaurant. Fallon said his team has yet to reach out to
the public about the project but intends to do so as the planning
progresses. A one-family and two-family set of houses, alongside a vacant lot,
stand on the 31,100 square feet of Andre's proposed project.
Commissioners applauded Andre's project for embracing
affordable housing and offering a transition along the outskirts of
Fairfield's commercial hub. Some suggested Andre could receive better
feedback from neighbors and redesign the building's exterior to appear
less industrial and fit in with more of a traditional New England aesthetic.
"The prospect of having 30 percent affordable housing
in this area I think is wonderful," commissioner Steven Levy said. "I
think this is the ideal way to go, basically incorporating the benefits of an
8-30g along with a vibrant resident business mixes use."
Andre said he plans to work in tandem with the zoning
commission to strike an agreement on his plans and secure approval for the
project to move forward. He contrasted his strategy with 8-30g developments,
which allow developers to bypass local zoning regulations if they set aside at
least 30 percent of their units as affordable under state statute. Andre's
proposal is not an 8-30g project but will still add to Fairfield's affordable
housing stock that the state monitors. Once a municipality's supply of affordable
housing reaches 10 percent of its total residential units, the state will
excuse it from the 8-30g statute.
"I want to be very clear," Andre said. "If we
wanted to do an 8-30g, we wouldn't come here for a pre-app, full stop. We are
fully invested in this."
N.Y. developers add three Broadway buildings to their Norwich investments
Claire Bessette
Norwich ― New York-based real estate developers Ernest and
Alfred Tollja learned about Norwich in 2018 from a persistent Norwich comedian
who drove to their comedy theater nearly every night and pressured them to buy
a building in his hometown.
Six years later, the two brothers, originally from Albania,
own more than a dozen apartment buildings in Norwich, with a total of 117
apartments. That comedian, however, has moved to upstate New York, the pair
said Tuesday.
On Thursday, they completed the purchase of three prominent
lower Broadway buildings that are part of a larger revitalization plan that
includes a park and event space and street improvements, along with building
renovations.
The Tolljas, under the ownership name, TT Investments LLC,
purchased the vacant and decaying Fairhaven building at 26-28 Broadway and the
vacant buildings at 51-53 Broadway and 59-61 Broadway ― the building with the
colorful Metamorphosis mural facing City Hall ― for a combined price of
$810,000. They obtained a $950,000 mortgage from GCCG Lending LLC.
The former owner, Stackstone Group, had started renovations,
supported by a Norwich Downtown Revitalization Program grant, but ran out of
money and abandoned the project. Stackstone had nearly completed renovations at
51-53 Broadway, with hardwood floors, appliances, washers and dryers in four
apartments. The Tolljas plan to advertise them for rent next week.
The complex purchase required about 15 parties and about 50
phone calls between real estate brokerage firm, Seaport Realty of Mystic, banks
that were poised to foreclose on Stackstone, the Norwich Community Development
Corp., which pledged to continue matching grant support for the project, and a
letter of support from Norwich Mayor Peter Nystrom.
On the day of planned purchase closing, Dec. 15, a portion
of the front façade on the Fairhaven building collapsed into the street. City
crews cleaned up the mess, boarded up the front of the building and slapped a
$31,483 lien on the property for the cost of the work. That delayed the closing
nearly a month before the bank that held the Fairhaven mortgage agreed to pay
off the lien, the parties said Tuesday.
At one point, in an effort to convince the bank to let the
property go, Seaport real estate agent Kyle Schrader took the bank CEO on an
online tour of the dilapidated Fairhaven with a flashlight, showing roof leaks,
collapsed and decaying features.
NCDC President Kevin Brown credited Seaport, which serves as
NCDC’s marketing brokerage for troubled Norwich properties, for its tenacity in
getting the deal to the finish line.
Seaport real estate agent Dylan Grandeur said NCDC’s
agreement to keep the remaining $205,000 Downtown Revitalization Program
matching grant with the three buildings, along with $39,000 from the American
Rescue Plan Act grant program, were critical to the deal’s success.
Seaport had put together a 180-page marketing packet on the
three lower Broadway buildings, describing renovation plans on file, permit
status, the city grant programs and the broader plan for improvements to the
entire block.
Ernest Tollja said he and his brother saw the listing and
contacted NCDC.
The Tolljas welcomed the city matching grant support and
said they hope to complete renovations of the three buildings within six to
nine months, adding a combined total of 29 apartments and three street-level
commercial spaces to the downtown.
That timing fits perfectly with the city’s plan to apply for
state grants through the Community Investment Fund to create the Jubilee Park
and event space, make improvements to lower Broadway and for a grant to assist
TT Investments with the as-yet-undetermined Fairhaven renovation cost.
NCDC used American Rescue Plan Act grant to hire the Yale
Urban Design Workshop to create a plan for Jubilee Park and lower Broadway. The
proposed Jubilee Park design was made public Tuesday by lead proponent Castle
Church. Its pastor, Adam Bowles, said the plan release coincided with Tuesday
being the National Day of Racial Healing.
Jubilee Park, dominated by a mural with giant images of
prominent Black Norwich historic figures, carries the theme of racial equity.
The Yale design plan calls for a terraced park with a glass enclosure in the
current vacant gravel space for arts events, flea markets or other public
gatherings.
State Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, whose district includes
Norwich, helped secure a $500,000 Urban Act grant to hire a firm to engineer
the park plan and develop cost estimates to accompany the city’s Community
Investment Fund grant application.
The Fairhaven building, now with its broken windows, sagging
roof and decaying outdoor stairway, abuts the proposed park.
“We can’t talk about the park without somebody talking about
the Fairhaven,” Bowles said Tuesday. “There’s no formal link, but if this
becomes beautiful, and you’re looking at a building that’s about to fall down,
it’s not going to work. It’s kind of a momentum builder.”
Including the three lower Broadway buildings, the Tollja
brothers said their rental units in Norwich are either occupied or in final
stages of renovations. The properties include several buildings on Boswell
Avenue and buildings on Chestnut Street, Central Avenue, East Main Street and
West Main Street, and buildings in Taftville.
During an interview Tuesday, the brothers said some people
tried to dissuade them from the purchases, saying the locations were in the
slum areas of Norwich. But coming from the Bronx in New York City, they said
they thought Norwich’s historic downtown and mill villages looked beautiful.
“They are good people, working people,” Ernest Tollja said
of the group’s Norwich tenants.