This summer has been very clear: climate change is here, now. It’s hotter, the weather is more extreme and less predictable, and insect patterns are changing.

It’s been clear in another way too: methane gas pipelines and compressor stations are destructive, and people don’t want them, but the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) continues to bend to the will of fossil fuel energy corporations.

Around midnight on Sunday, July 12, people in Oxford, Middlebury, and Naugatuck were suddenly woken from their sleep by a jet-engine like noise. It continued for almost an hour and residents were not notified of what was happening. We later learned that it was an accidental “blowdown,” a rapid release of methane gas all at once, at the Enbridge-owned methane gas pipeline compressor station in Oxford, which was caused by a valve being stuck open. Firefighters who arrived at the compressor station had to wait for a tech from Enbridge to arrive to stop the blowdown. Check out this news story describing the experience of a local resident. As far as we know, following the accident, no information was shared with local residents.

The Connecticut agency that is supposed to be regulating methane gas infrastructure and their accidents is DEEP. However, even in direct communication Sierra Club has had with DEEP, they have shared very limited information regarding how they will follow up with Enbridge to evaluate the impacts of this accident or how to prevent similar accidents from occurring in the future.

Unfortunately, it’s a pattern. When the Enbridge-owned gas pipeline compressor station in Cromwell was found to have released excess volatile organic compounds in 2014 and 2016, it was almost a full decade before DEEP brought them back into compliance.

We’ve also been closely following and organizing against the proposed Brookfield Compressor Station expansion. As a reminder, this expansion would double the size of the Brookfield Compressor Station, which is located 1900 feet from the town’s only middle school. If approved, the compressor station would be the largest in New England, and would be allowed to emit another 80,000 tons of climate-harming carbon pollution and 24.9 tons of NOx pollution each year.

This July, DEEP released their response to public comment, following the public hearing that was held in January. Along with the response, DEEP announced that they are issuing new tentative air permits to allow more carbon monoxide emissions than the original petitions proposed. The issuance of new permits re-opens opportunities for public comment and to request an adjudicatory hearing, which the community was previously denied. DEEP also added a requirement that the corporation add equipment for continuous emission monitoring. These changes are a big win, and are a result of our organizing and your comments and engagement. Over 400 comments were previously submitted. THANK YOU!

At the same time, the new air permit still prioritizes the company over the community and Connecticut’s environment. As such, we are continuing to demand that the company be required to apply for a more stringent permit that reflects the real level of emissions we expect from this station; that they monitor all emissions in real time, rather than just NOx averaged over an hour; and ensure that all monitoring data is publicly available; among other demands. Read more about the updated permit and our demands here.

Across methane gas compressor stations, and all fossil fuel infrastructure, DEEP needs to step up. It is time to stop prioritizing multi-billion dollar fossil fuel companies like TC Energy and Enbridge, and focus on our air, our environment, and our communities.

To learn more about compressor stations and their impact on our communities join us on Monday, September 28 for a noontime webinar titled Invisible Pollution: Connecticut's Compressor Stations and How to Fight Back. RSVP and read more here.

Sena Wazer is the Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator at Sierra Club Connecticut.