proceedings, retained a prominent Washington, D.C., law firm, and mounted a vigorous opposition campaign. In 1989, Iroquois decided to reroute the pipeline, shifting it south of Washington's borders. Shepaug River Lawsuit. In 1997, Washington residents voted unanimously to join a lawsuit against the City of Waterbury, which operates a reservoir at the headwaters of the Shepaug River in the adjacent town of Warren. Waterbury, which had long relied on the reservoir to supply water to its citizens, had come to view the river as a revenue stream, and was removing extra water to sell to neighboring municipalities. The lawsuit, which the town of Roxbury also joined, sought to compel Waterbury to release more water into the river, which slowed to a trickle during summer months, impeding important ecological functions. After considerable legal maneuvering on both sides, river advocates prevailed in February 2000, when a Superior Court judge ordered Waterbury to release more water into the Shepaug. Sempra Fight. In 1998, Sempra Energy submitted a proposal to the Connecticut Siting Council to construct a power plant approximately south of Washington in New Milford. The plant was to emit 443 tons of pollutants per year, many of which would have projected toward Washington, owing to the region's prevailing wind patterns and complex terrain. The Washington Environmental Council hired environmental consultants, who demonstrated that the plan would be particularly harmful to New Preston and Lake Waramaug. The council became an intervenor in the proceedings and generated scientific evidence that was cited by the Siting Council when it unanimously rejected the permit application in 1999. Contemporary Washington In 2008, Optasite submitted an application to the Connecticut Siting Council to erect a telecommunications tower atop Tanner Hill in a visually conspicuous location above the Macricostas Preserve, some north of the Washington town line. The State of Connecticut had previously purchased the development rights for the land beneath the proposed tower site for farmland preservation. Washington's Conservation Commission became an intervenor in the application. Working with a coalition that included Governor Jodi Rell, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, and an ad-hoc community organization called CROWW, they built an environmental and legal case against the tower proposal. In 2009, Optasite withdrew its application, and legislation was subsequently introduced in the Connecticut General Assembly to hold companies liable for costs incurred as a consequence of applications submitted to the Siting Council in bad faith. Geography Washington is located in