There is a proposal submitted to the state’s top environmental agency for the construction of a natural gas pipeline that would potentially impact two popular state parks.
The state’s largest utility company, Eversource, which owns Yankee Gas, submitted a project proposal to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, according to the scoping notice on the plan shared last August and a copy of the application.
The electric company is proposing two modifications to two existing electric transmission easements. The modified easements would allow construction, operation, and maintenance of a 199-psig natural gas distribution pipeline across state owned property, records show. The pipeline would allow for the maximum allowed operating pressure or pounds-per-square-inch for industrial gas piping in Connecticut, according to the plan shared in the scoping notice.
The proposed pipeline would be 16 inches in diameter and stretch for the entire length of the already existing electric easements, records show. The proposed pipeline segment would cover a distance of approximately 6,700 feet or 1.2 miles, according to the project proposal. The existing electric easements were established by the former Hartford Electric Light Co., now modern day Eversource.
The utility company said that the proposed construction is part of its “Southeast Resiliency Project.” The aim of the pipeline is to improve Connecticut’s natural gas infrastructure to better withstand threats and impacts while ensuring greater energy supply to customers, according to Eversource, records show.
According to DEEP, the first easement is located on the Connecticut Valley Railroad State Park Trail in Middletown. The second easement, several hundred feet wide and located in Haddam and East Hampton, covers portions of Hurd State Park and George Seymour State Park Scenic Reserve along with Higganum Meadows Wildlife Management Area.
Construction and gas equipment would not impact the George Seymour State Park Scenic Reserve and the Higganum Meadows Wildlife Management Area portion of the existing easement, according to DEEP. Officials said that’s because that portion “falls to the south of the proposed pipeline segment.” Construction would impact the Connecticut Valley Railroad State Park Trail and portions of Hurd State Park.
DEEP did not specify if those areas would be closed to recreational use during construction.
The agency notes that “at the scoping stage, detailed information on a project’s design, alternatives, and environmental impacts does not yet exist. Sponsoring agencies are asking for comments from other agencies and from the public as to the scope of alternatives and environmental impacts that should be considered for further study.”
In a report shared this month on a public meeting on the project, DEEP noted, “It is unlikely that this project would impact the overall energy diversification of Connecticut, but DEEP generally agrees that there is a significant need for a greater supply of clean, reliable, and affordable energy in the state.”
Asked about the portion that would pass below the Connecticut River, DEEP said it is the regulatory agency “for activities proposed in public trust areas like the Connecticut River. However, DEEP’s statutory authority to grant interests in submerged land beneath navigable waters is limited to lands beneath certain lighthouses in Long Island Sound. That authority is not implicated here and Eversource has not requested such rights from DEEP. In the absence of a delegation of authority to a state agency to grant those rights, the General Assembly would have authority to grant an interest in submerged lands.”
After the public hearing held on Sept. 9, DEEP officials said they are moving forward with an environmental impact evaluation. AN EIE is the next step after a proposal that may “significantly affect the environment” to review any possible impacts.
“DEEP will proceed with the preparation of an Environmental Impact Evaluation for the proposed modification of easements within portions of Hurd and Connecticut Valley Railroad State Parks for the purpose of accommodating the operation and maintenance of a 199-psig natural gas distribution line,” the agency noted.
“DEEP agrees that before an amendment to an existing easement moves forward, additional surveys of critical species, natural communities, and their habitats within and in proximity to the easement corridor should and will be required from the applicant,” the post meeting report notes.
The agency noted that it “knows that in the long-term a new pipeline will necessitate increased access to the property for repairs, vegetation management, or other reasons, but the full extent of the habitat and species impacts will only be understood once the additional habitat and species analyses are completed. Going forward, any impacts would be mitigated before and during construction as well as each successive time Eversource re-enters for work on the pipeline. ”
The agency did not give a timeline for when the EIE is expected to be completed.
Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com
