Subject: Iroquois Federal Court Lawsuit

I am pleased to report that this morning, based upon the brief that I filed and oral argument this morning, the Federal Court Judge dismissed the lawsuit brought against the Town and the Wetlands and Zoning Commissions by Iroquois.

The Court concluded, as I argued, that the Commissions and Town had not done anything wrong, that the Commissions understood that FERC had exclusive jurisdiction over the approval of the 1st compressor and that the Town and its Commissions were not required to issue approvals just because FERC had. I had argued that Iroquois came to the Commissions as a "courtesy" and the idea was to get comments on the project and that is exactly what the Commissions delivered, their respective comments and concerns. The Judge agreed. However, the Judge indicated that IF the Town took any enforcement action, that action would constitute an interference with the FERC approval to construct the 1st compressor, and then the Court might have to issue an injunction if Iroquois brought another lawsuit.  Since that has not occurred in this case, the lawsuit by Iroquois was premature and, therefore,  dismissed.

Accordingly, if any Commissioners or Land Use personnel have any concerns with respect to any on-site activity that is taking place, or is about to take place, the issues should be discussed with Fran Collins or myself before any action which could be, in any way, categorized as enforcement takes place.

Tom Beecher
Collins, Hannafin, Garamella, Jaber & Tuozzolo, P.C.