More than 5,000 New Yorkers have commented against a proposed expansion of the Iroquois fracked gas pipeline, in a public comment period that ends today.

The Iroquois Pipeline Company applied for an Article 19 State Air Facility Permit to expand noisy, toxic compressor stations in Dover and Athens in order to substantially increase the amount of fracked gas moved through their nearly 40-year-old pipeline to New York City and Long Island. Commenters called on Governor Hochul to direct her Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to deny the permits.

Food & Water Watch Senior New York Organizer Emily Skydel said:

“The Iroquois Pipeline expansion poses a critical test for our state climate laws. Governor Hochul must stand up to polluters and say no to this proposal to increase fossil fuels in New York. We need less fracked gas, not more. We call on Governor Hochul to direct her DEC to deny the Iroquois Pipeline Company its desired expansion permits, and deliver a critical blow to fossil fuels in New York.”

3,300 additional comments were filed in opposition to the proposal in a public comment period that ended in February 2023. With this comment period’s additional influx of comments this brings the total to at least 8,300 comments against the proposal. Additionally, more than 60 elected officials have written to Governor Hochul requesting she deny the project its permits.

“We have received overwhelming feedback from Dover residents that the expansion of the Iroquois compressor station must be stopped. Dover residents have lived with the health and safety hazards of the compressor station for more than thirty years and enough is enough. We should not have to further compromise our health, our safety and our air quality for this needless pipeline expansion,” said Jill Fieldstein, Concerned Citizens of Dover. “We urge Governor Hochul and the DEC to put the residents of Dover first and deny Iroquois’ requested expansion permit.”

Mary Finneran, co-chair of the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter Gas Action Team said, “The need for more gas is absolutely not there, and people need to know that stopping this project is not the end of the world for anyone (except maybe the gas companies), BUT perpetuating more natural gas, aka climate destroyer, would contribute to the end of the world as we know it.”  

Kim Fraczek, Director of Sane Energy Project, emphasized, “Governor Hochul must prioritize climate justice. Despite claims from Iroquois Pipeline Co. and National Grid, the Iroquois Pipeline expansion is unnecessary. New Yorkers cannot afford skyrocketing bills due to this expansion, and it is alarming that the NYS DEC hasn’t halted this reckless effort. Doubling pressure through a 40-year-old pipeline is a terrible idea, especially when National Grid acknowledges energy efficiency and heat pumps as viable alternatives. This is merely a ploy to build more harmful gas infrastructure for the profit of a UK-based corporation, at the expense of public health and safety.”

Sandra Steingraber, PhD, co-founder of Concerned Health Professionals of New York said, “The Iroquois Pipeline expansion represents a grave public health threat to the entire Hudson River Valley but especially to the environmental justice communities where the loud, toxic, 24/7, benzene-spewing compressor stations would be located. Just this week an exploding natural gas pipeline in Ward County, Texas sent a massive fireball into the air and set off a second explosion for reasons still unknown. The science is clear: further pressurizing a high-pressure, fossil-fuel time bomb in the densely populated state of New York is bad public health policy.”

Niki Cross, Staff Attorney with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest’s Environmental Justice Team said, “the fossil fuel industry wants to continue taking advantage of overburdened, disadvantaged communities, sacrificing their health for the sake of an unnecessary and dangerous project in violation of New York’s climate laws. We can’t afford ExC, and we will stop it.”