The window for public comment on Exide’s proposal for cleaning contamination from the Mill River near the former battery factory has closed, but local officials continue to raise questions.
At its most recent meeting, the Shellfish Commission petitioned for a public hearing with the DEEP.
Updates will be posted as they become available
Reservations, and donations for prizes, are needed now for Nutmeg TU’s 36th annual banquet.
The banquet will be held Saturday, March 23, at the Restaurant at Tashua Knolls Golf Course in Trumbull.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with an open bar till 7:30 p.m.
The evening will include a door prize, raffles, a silent auction and presentations on Nutmeg TU activities.
Donations of prizes are still needed. To donate a prize or volunteer to help with the banquet, contact Banquet Chairman Chuck MacMath at cmacmath59@yahoo.com.
Click to download a printable reservation form, to be printed and returned to the address on it by March 15.
Click here for directions to the restaurant.
Nutmeg TU’s Ron Merly will discuss his book, The Flyfisher’s Guide to Connecticut, at the next regular chapter meeting Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m.
The meeting will be held at Nutmeg’s new home, Port 5 Naval Veterans, 69 Brewster St., Bridgeport. The hall is next to Fayerweather Yacht Club, The former site of regular Nutmeg TU meetings.
In addition to discussing his book, Merly said he will talk about “different streams people probably haven’t fished or don’t fish.”
Merly has been fishing fresh and salt water around Connecticut for some 45 years.
The Flyfisher’s Guide to Connecticut includes more than 30 detailed maps showing every access point, state park, state forest, boat ramp, campsite, access road and bridge. Also included are hatch charts, detailed driving directions, as well as fly and tackle shops, accommodations, restaurants, and air service, plus where to find Atlantic salmon and sea-run trout, as well as head-to-toe coverage of the Housatonic and Farmington Rivers.
The book can be purchased at amazon.com.
Nutmeg TU has found a new home.
Starting Tuesday, Feb. 19, regular meetings will be held the third Tuesday of each month, from 7-9 p.m., at Port 5 Naval Veterans, 69 Brewster St., Bridgeport.
The hall is located next to Fayerweather Yacht Club, The former site of regular Nutmeg TU meetings.
Port 5 can be reached at 203-576-9366, and has a website at portfiveusa.com.
The leadership of Nutmeg TU 217 is urging members to send letters to state, local and federal officials expressing concerns about Exide’s plan to remove lead from the Mill River.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly included the word “oppose.”
TU has joined other residents and conservationists in raising questions about a plan they say has too few specifics and too many risks.
The letter can be copied in its entirety from nutmegtrout.org, pasted into an email and email to officials. Email addresses are provide with the online story.
Links to articles about the plan can be found HERE.
After a subsequent meeting of the Fairfield Conservation Commission, the Fairfield Citizen reported that the commission focused on “Exide’s proposal to discharge sediment-cleansed water back into Mill River during the dredging operation — because the deadline for public comment on that application is Feb. 7.”
The letter appears below, with email addresses for state officials. Copy the text, paste it into an email, personalize it and send it to those officials.
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Dear ______________,
I am writing to ask your consideration, in your position as ___________________, of my concerns about the proposed Exide Mill River Remediation Action Plan and its significant deficiencies as an adequate restoration program for the damage this river has suffered. As a member of Trout Unlimited’s local Nutmeg Chapter in whose geographic area the Mill River flows, please allow me to express my views by reiterating below our Chapter’s position, representing our almost four hundred members residing in Fairfield and surrounding towns, which succinctly reflects the serious shortfalls of the Plan, and therefore my strong concerns about it.
Trout Unlimited’s mission is to conserve, protect and restore coldwater fisheries and their watersheds. As such, we have been following Exide’s reme diati on effort with great interest for many years. We are encouraged to see a Remedial Action Plan come together, but we do have some substantial concerns that echo those expressed by the Town of Fairfield’s Conservation Department among others.
First, we question the wisdom of any Remedial Action Plan for lead impacted river sediment that does not include a comparable action plan for chromium impacted river sediment. Second, we do not believe Exide has done enough to evaluate and explain the environmental risks potentially associated with in-water dredging activity during the spawning season. Third, this plan does not address the need for a fish passage as an essential component of remediation. Fourth, no provision of public access is addressed. Lastly, we have yet to see any plan to restore the river to its natural state once the dredging is complete. A true remediation effort would include re-filling the dredged holes with clean soil, restoring the river bottom with structural habitat including rocks and logs and finally, re-planting the river banks with native plant species.
Related to these concerns and warranting specific attention is the issue of the river herring run (alewives and blueback.) NOAA is considering these species for endangered species status. Exide is saying that their dredging process poses no issue to the spawning of these fish because the slurry will be contained and therefore they should be allowed to dredge during the spring spawning season. However, based on the technique used in 1983 — cutterhead dredge and floating silt curtain — which seems to be much the same as the one proposed now, there was plenty of spillover which moved lead all over the river. Certainly this will seriously jeopardize successful river herring spawning.
Ms./Mr. ____________, the Mill River is one of Fairfield County’s natural treasures. It is one of only a handful of specially designated Class One Wild Trout Streams in Connecticut. It’s estuarial confluence with Long Island Sound could, with an adequate restoration plan, once again be a healthy environment for our unique natural treasures (and economic resources) such as sea-run brown trout, and for safe use and enjoyment by residents of Fairfield and adjacent towns. This is finally the moment for a prudent plan to correct the damage to the Mill and restore its health and value to all of us.
Thank you for considering my views on this very important issue.
Sincerely,
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The letter should be sent to:
DEEP Commissioner Daniel C. Esty
State Rep. Kim Fawcett
State Sen. John McKinney
State Rep. Tony Hwang
State Rep. Brenda Kupchick
brenda.kupchick@housegop.ct.gov
Those in other towns may also send to their legislators.
Eric Rasmussen, who led a cleanup of the Halfway River on the Monroe/Newtown border last spring, will receive his Eagle Scout award Saturday, Jan. 26, at 2 p.m. at Fairfield Ludlowe High School.
Six members of Boy Scout Troop 199 in Fairfield will be elevated to the rank of Eagle Scout that day. Michael Connelly, William Fulda, Conor McGuinness, Michael McQuade and William Poling will also be awarded their certificates at the Eagle Court of Honor ceremony on
Eric, son of Jarry and Terri Rasmussen, is a junior at Fairfield Ludlowe High School. He worked with Trout Unlimited to clean up a section of Halfway River polluted with junked cars, appliances, water heaters and household trash. Volunteers for this project included family, friends, scouts and members of Trout Unlimited, who hauled the garbage up a steep hill to a container provided by City Carting.
City Carting also donated all the proceeds from the scrap metal back to Troop 199.
Eric has held numerous positions in Troop 199, including assistant senior patrol leader, patrol leader and scribe. He attended the National Boy Scout Jamboree in 2010. Eric was elected to The Order of the Arrow and participated in the Thunderbird Youth Leadership Training.
Eric is a long-distance swimmer on the Fairfield High School co-op swim team. He is also a member of the Key Club. He has been a member of the Fairfield YMCA FlyFins Swim Team for 10 years. For the past two summers, Eric worked as a lifeguard for the Lake Hills Beach Association.
Eric traveled to China last spring with his foreign language class.
Nutmeg TU will hold its 36th annual banquet Saturday, March 23, at the Restaurant at Tashua Knolls Golf Course in Trumbull.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with an open bar till 7:30 p.m.
The evening will include a door prize, raffles, a silent auction and presentations on Nutmeg TU activities.
Donations of prizes are still needed. To donate a prize or volunteer to help with the banquet, contact Banquet Chairman Chuck MacMath at cmacmath59@yahoo.com.
Click to download a printable reservation form, to be printed and returned to the address on it by March 15.
Click here for directions to the restaurant.
The state Department of Environmental Protection has extended the deadline for comment on a proposal by Exide to dredge the lower Mill River in an effort to remove lead contamination left by the company’s battery making operation.
The extension comes after a hearing at which questions were raised by residents and conservations, including Nutmeg TU representatives.
Nutmeg TU President Chuck Petruccelli told The Fairfield Sun that the chapter’s members are being encouraged to express opposition to Exide’s plan.
The Sun’s article also included views of the proposal from Nutmeg TU’s conservation chairman.
“Trout Unlimited’s mission is to conserve, protect and restore coldwater fisheries and their watersheds. As such, we have been following Exide’s remediation effort with great interest for many years,” said Ross Ogden, conservation chairman for Nutmeg TU Chapter 217. “We are encouraged to see a Remedial Action Plan come together, but we do have some substantial concerns that echo those expressed by the town of Fairfield’s Conservation Department, among others. First, we question the wisdom of any Remedial Action Plan for lead-impacted river sediment that does not include a comparable action plan for chromium-impacted river sediment. Second, we do not believe Exide has done enough to evaluate and explain the environmental risks potentially associated with in-water dredging activity during the spawning season. Lastly, we have yet to see any plan to restore the river to its natural state once the dredging is complete. A true remediation effort would include refilling the dredged holes with clean soil, restoring the river bottom with structural habitat, including rock and logs, and finally, replanting the river banks with native plant species.”
A Connecticut Post report also quoted residents questioning the proposal. One asked if the river itself is deep enough for the dredging proposed by Exide.
After a subsequent meeting of the Fairfield Conservation Commission, the Fairfield Citizen reported that the commission focused on “Exide’s proposal to discharge sediment-cleansed water back into Mill River during the dredging operation — because the deadline for public comment on that application is Feb. 7.”
More details and links will be posted as the story develops.
A roughly $38-million plan for a new United Illuminating substation in Shelton has been proposed by the power company, and construction could start in July if the proposal receives state approval.
The Connecticut Siting Council has scheduled public hearings on the application this Thursday, Jan. 17, at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Shelton City Hall.
The substation would take up roughly two acres of a six-acre site at 14 Old Stratford Road. The six-acre property has Route 8 to the east, Pootatuck Place on its western side, and to the north, Far Mill River. Until the 1990s it was used by the Lord Corp. for the manufacture of O-rings and seals, according to UI.
Guide, author and Trout Unlimited leader Jeff Yates will describe how to safely and comfortably enjoy fly fishing during the winter at the next regular meeting of the Nutmeg Chapter of Trout Unlimited.
The meeting will be held Monday, Jan. 21, 7-9 p.m., at Burroughs Community Center, 2470 Fairfield Ave. in Black Rock.
President of the Mianus Chapter of Trout Unlimited, board member of Friends of Mianus River Park, life member of Trout Unlimited and the Housatonic Fly Fishers Association, Jeff is also a member of the American Museum of Fly Fishing and the Catskills Fly Fishing Center and Museum. When he’s not guiding or fishing, Yates is leading river restoration projects or planning fishing and conservation events and clinics.
Information can be found at www.flyfishingct.com, or on Twitter and Facebook.