In a prior post I directed readers to the story regarding “Wallingford town official advised against showing video of environmental spill” via the Record Journal website. I also included the original O’Hare memo so you could see it for yourself.
Below is the four and a half minute video shot by resident William Comerford for your review.
You can read the story regarding “Wallingford town official advised against showing video of environmental spill” via the Record Journal post online. If you cannot access the article please let me know.
Beyond that, this link will allow you to read the O’Hare memo for yourself so that you can draw your own conclusions but the article written by Andrew Ragali of the Record Journal really says it all.
At the end of the day, if there really was “nothing to see” and we should all just “move along” then why NOT show the video? Show it, offer the same explanations as offered in the memo and then go about other business.
The reasons why are simple – there is more to scrutinize.
As quoted from the article “The town was asked by DEEP to stop storing catch basin materials at the facility in 2009, but the practice continued, according to DEEP. The town is required to file a compliance letter with DEEP in response to the June notice of violation”.
There is still more to these stories; stay tuned.
Via this link you can review the entire “Notice of Violation for solid waste violations in the Town of Wallingford.”
Below are the “Excerpts from DEEP notices” as published in the Record Journal on Sunday July 7, 2013
WALLINGFORD — The town has been cited for nine violations of environmental laws and regulations for its handling of waste at two town-owned properties — 91 N. Turnpike Road and 157 John St. The following are excerpts from the DEEP’s June 13 Notice of Violation addressed to Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr.:
The purpose of this Notice is to inform you that personnel of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (“DEEP”) have made observations or otherwise obtained information indicating that a violation of law has occurred at property located at 91 North Turnpike Road and 157 John Street in Wallingford, Connecticut. On May 15, 2013, an inspection was conducted by DEEP, Bureau of Materials Management and Compliance Assurance... Based upon that inspection, it appears that the town has:
1. Built, established, altered and/or operated a solid waste facility where more than ten cubic yards of solid waste including, but not limited to catch basin cleanings and oily wastewater, were disposed of after July 1, 1971, without a plan, design and method of operation of such solid waste facility having been filed with the Department and approved by the Commissioner by the issuance of a permit to construct and operate a solid waste facility...
2. Violated the Approval of Registration under the General Permit to Construct and Operate Certain Recycling Facilities to Operate a Drop-Site Recycling Facility Permit Registration ... at 157 John Street in Wallingford.
3. Violated the Drop-Site Recycling Facility Permit Registration ... at 157 John Street ... for failure to provide a berm so as to prevent run-on and failure to provide a spill containment system capable of containing 100% by volume of the contents of the 275 gallon existing used oil tank.
4. Violated the Drop-Site Recycling Facility Permit Registration ... at 157 John Street ... for failure to ensure that no person other than an employee of the facility, or person under the supervision of such an employee, may pour used oil into a collection container or tank at the facility.
5. Violated the Drop-Site Recycling Facility Permit Registration at 157 John Street ... for failure to provide an adequate temporary storage area for residents to drop off containers of used oil. This temporary storage area shall be adjacent to the used oil tank and shall, at a minimum, have a sufficiently impervious surface, have three walls and a roof, and provide for secondary containment.
6. Violated the Drop-Site Recycling Facility Permit Registration at 157 John Street ... for failure to store no more than sixty (60) scrap metal appliances containing CFCs on-site. Specifically, approximately seventy (70) individual units were observed on-site at the time of the inspection.
7. Failed to manage used oil as required by Section 22a-449(c)119(a)(2)(N) and (O) of the RCSA,incorporating Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (“40 CFR”) 279.22(d), with specified changes.
8. Failed to ensure that used oil generated by the Town of Wallingford was transported only by transporters who had obtained EPA identification numbers as required...
9. Failed to have a permit to operate a used oil collection center as required... Specifically, there are certain regulatory requirements that must be met prior to aggregating the used oil from the used oil storage area’s secondary containment to an aggregation point.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Under the Department’s “Guideline for Municipal Management Practices for Street Sweepings and Catch Basin Cleaning” ..., street sweepings are allowed to be stored at a designated temporary storage location for less than one year. The Town of Wallingford stated that the existing street sweepings stockpile at 91 North Turnpike Road accumulated over three years. The Town of Wallingford is required to either reuse in accordance with the Department’s guideline or send off-site for disposal at a permitted facility all street sweepings from this site. The Town of Wallingford is advised that the violations cited above can reasonably be expected to create a source of pollution to the waters of the State, by a release of used oil and other solid waste to the ground. Such a condition would be in Violation of CGS Section 22a-427, and would require action by the Town to remedy this condition.
As published in the Record Journal Sunday July 7, 2013
By Andrew Ragali
Record-Journal staff
aragali@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224
Twitter:@AndyRagz
WALLINGFORD — The town has drafted a response to nine environmental violations issued by the state for a municipal recycling center on John Street and a Public Works dumping and storage facility on North Turnpike Road, according to Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr.
Dickinson said the town plans to respond to the June 13 notice of violation from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection by the end of the week to comply with the department’s orders. The town violated state environmental laws and regulations by improperly disposing of residential waste oil at the 157 John St. facility, while Public Works was cited for illegal dumping on the 91 N. Turnpike Road property.
According to the DEEP, a letter of compliance must be submitted no later than 30 days from when the notice of violation was issued. On Friday, Dickinson said he did not believe the compliance letter had been sent to DEEP yet.
“The communication from DEEP is still being reviewed,” Dickinson said.
Civil penalties of up to $25,000 may be assessed for each day the town was knowingly in violation of DEEP standards, although the town’s response “may affect DEEP’s decision whether or not to pursue a formal enforcement action,” according to the notice of violation.
The notice advises the town that the local violations “can reasonably be expected to create a source of pollution to the waters of the state, by a release of used oil and other solid waste to the ground.”
Asked if the town will contest any of the violations, Dickinson said “at this point, it’s being reviewed.”
“A determination will be made,” he said Friday. “Nothing has been totally decided as of yet.
“We’re looking to comply with most of it as far as I know.”
Eight of the violations stem from the town’s recycling center and how used oil was recycled at the facility. The town contracts with Fabio Enterprises of Old Colony Road to run the recycling center. Violations vary, from the lack of a “used oil” sign, to the failure to provide a spill containment area, or failing to ensure no person other than an employee of the facility, or a person under direct supervision of an employee, pours used oil into the collection tank.
On May 15, Laurene Buckowski, a sanitary engineer at DEEP, visited the town to investigate any possible violations. She was escorted by Public Works Foreman Stephen Palermo. According to an interoffice memo between Buckowski and DEEP Supervising Environmental Analyst Frank Gagliardo, Buckowski said there was about 10 gallons of an oily black liquid in the oil recycling containment area. Buckowski states in the memo that Palermo said the area would be closed, cleaned out and renovated due to violations.
Dickinson reported during the June 11 Town Council meeting that, due to improper disposal practices, oil recycling would no longer be available to residents. At the time, Dickinson said residents were disposing of liquids other than oil, such as antifreeze, and that the service would be discontinued because an employee of the facility could not constantly oversee it. He did not mention the environmental violations.
“It makes me wonder why the mayor would say the reason we shut it down is because of the wrong liquids,” said Democratic Town Councilor Jason Zandri, who is opposing Dickinson, a Republican, in the upcoming mayoral election.
If Dickinson wasn’t being forthcoming during the June Town Council, “I would not be very happy, as a councilor or a resident,” said Democratic Town Councilor John Sullivan.“That is extremely serious to me. I’d be disappointed in Mayor Dickinson if he did that.”
Republican Town Councilor John LeTourneau said the issues at 91 N. Turnpike Road, known as the “dog pit,” need to be kept separate from the issues at the recycling center. LeTourneau said he was surprised the department only handed out nine violations in total because of past experiences with the department and how “they have to go by the books.”
DEEP officials familiar with the violations in Wallingford were not available for comment, a spokesperson said.
Concerns about practices at 91 N. Turnpike Road date back 20 years. In 1993, Town Environmental Planner Brent Smith issued a cease and desist order to Public Works Director Henry McCully, asking him to stop all expansion activities at the site. According to a letter from Smith to McCully on May 12, 1993, the order was issued because in March of that year McCully came before the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission and said expansion at the site would stop. Between March and May of that year, Smith wrote that commissioners observed further activity at the site.
“If private citizens are obligated to abide by state and municipal environmental legislation, should the town itself be any different?” Smith wrote.
In 2008, the Department of Environmental Protection investigated the site after receiving a complaint that catch basin clean out waste was being dumped there, according to a March 3, 2009 department memo. The memo states that McCully was made aware of the issues, and that he would address the problem with the local wetlands commission. The DEP found McCully’s response adequate and closed the investigation.
The current violations at 91 North Turnpike Road stem from a complaint by local resident William Comerford, who noticed large pools of oily liquid at the site on April 8 and reported it to Environmental Planner Erin O’Hare. Comerford took video of what he found. On April 10, Comerford contacted the DEEP. Donnell Thigpen, of the department’s emergency response unit, visited the site that day and filed an “emergency incident field report.” He said an investigation of the area revealed “soil in the storage area that had a petroleum odor, it appeared that the pile was not covered immediately, causing the liquids to migrate around the area.”
O’Hare and McCully then arrived on scene, Thigpen said, adding that McCully had hay bales put around the release to prevent any spread. McCully could not be reached for comment.
On Friday, O’Hare said her jurisdiction, as well the jurisdiction of the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission, is 50 feet outside of wetlands. The release, as O’Hare characterized the dumped material, came within 47 feet of her jurisdiction. “It’s very serious,” she said. O’Hare said she is investigating the incident on her own, and will share a report during the July 24 wetlands commission meeting. At this point, “I don’t see any contamination to the wetlands,” she said.
According to the DEEP’s notice, a violation was handed out in regard to dumping at the “dog pit” because more than 10 cubic yards of oily waste or catch basin material were stored at the site without proper permits.
O’Hare said she would approach her investigation with due diligence.
“I would get to the bottom of it no matter what department is involved,” she said.
Democratic Town Councilor Nick Economopoulos said Friday that a fair investigation isn’t possible within the town.
People in town positions shouldn’t be investigating people in town positions, he said. “The town should not self-investigate.”
LeTourneau said he expects O’Hare to be honest, and hopes her investigation doesn’t just scratch the surface, “because you have people’s reputations at stake.”
The Planning and Zoning Department was also briefly involved with the situation at 91 N. Turnpike Road because the area is in a protected aquifer zone, and the department oversees aquifers. The town was ordered by DEEP to cease dumping at the site, so the department is no longer involved, according to Town Planner Kacie Costello. Materials must now be shipped to the proper facility by an outside contractor.
From now on, “you really shouldn’t be dumping anything there,” Zandri said. “There has to be a better location to temporally maintain those materials until carted off.”
Republican Town Councilor Tom Laffin said the facility does not need to be totally abandoned “if you watch it and you’re careful.”
Councilors agreed that if necessary the party responsible for the violation should be punished. But punishment, they said, should depend on whether the violations were malicious or not as determined by the Personnel Department.
Republican Town Councilor Craig Fishbein questioned whether the investigation by O’Hare was necessary.
“Certainly it makes things tricky,” he said of a town employee investigating another town department.
Going forward, O’Hare said she will establish town regulations for what can and cannot be placed at 91 N. Turnpike Road.
Economopoulos said that within the next few months he plans to put the topic of illegal dumping on the Town Council agenda to address the “attitude of disrespect to the taxpayer, to the environment and to authority.”
“If you don’t answer to those things,” he said, “who do you answer to?”
As published in the Record Journal Thursday June 20, 2013
By Eric Heredia
Record-Journal staff
eheredia@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2243
Twitter: @EHerediaRJ
WALLINGFORD - The state filed a notice of violations with the town last week over the dumping of waste in April at the Department of Public Works storage area on North Turnpike Road. The area is in an aquifer protection zone, and the waste, which included some oily substances, raised concerns about potential effects on ground water and nearby wetlands.
The notice says that the Emergency Incident Field Report confirms that a town truck transported solid waste that was dumped at 91 North Turnpike Road, a town storage area also known as “the dog pit.” The DEEP said in late April that the material, including the oily substances, tested as nonhazardous, according to state standards.
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection spokesman Dennis Schain said Wallingford Public Works crews were moving materials collected during various cleanup and maintenance activities and stockpiling them at 91 North Turnpike Road, which is a solid waste permitting violation.
“They don’t have proper permits and authority to bring those materials to that address,” Schain said. Dumping activities have since been shut down.
He said DEEP has already discussed the issue with town officials. The town is now required to put the material into containers and send it to a commercial landfill.
Though the material was ruled nonhazardous, Wallingford’s aquifer regulations identify hazardous materials as “any oil or petroleum” as identified by state statute. The level of Extractable Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons in the material was 1,682 milligrams per kilograms, higher than the reporting level of 50.
State statute requires anyone who unloads oil, petroleum or chemical liquids to report the spill or unloading. Any person who fails to make a report may be fined up to $1,000, and the employer maybe fined up to $5,000. The town has 30 days to respond to DEEP in writing about compliance, Schain said. A civil penalty up to $25,000 is applicable to the violation, however, Schain said that if municipalities work with DEEP, fines normally aren’t imposed.
Wallingford resident William Comerford noticed the material at 91 North Turnpike Road on April 8 and reported it to Environmental Planner Erin O’Hare. Comerford said he took a video of what he found that day.
Comerford brought the video to the attention of the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission during its meeting June 5. Commissioner Jim Heilman wanted to see the video, but Chairman Jim Vitale thought the video should go to DEEP and chose not to show it.
“The gentleman had information I felt was important ... he was describing a situation of potentially significant impact to wetlands and the public water supply, possibly an intentional release,” Heilman said.
Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. said the only issue that’s important about the spill is that the material was nonhazardous.
Comerford filed another complaint over 91 North Turnpike Road with O’Hare on May 30, saying that he saw a sheen at the base of the wetlands. O’Hare went to the site that day and again June 4. She saw what DEEP determined to be a naturally-occurring bacteria common in wetlands and landfills.
She saw no obvious evidence of release and saw no dead vegetation, which would have been a clear sign of contamination.
Joseph Mrowzowski of the Water Division also went to the site, and O’Hare said he determined that there was no contamination in the wetlands and no need to test the water levels. Water Division General Manager Roger Dann confirmed that.
As published in the Record Journal Tuesday June 18, 2013
By Andrew Ragali
Record-Journal staff
aragali@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224
Twitter:@AndyRagz
WALLINGFORD - The State Bond Commission is expected to approve a $225,000 grant for the town on Friday, said state Rep. Mary Fritz. The money will pay for extending public water to five houses in a South Broad Street neighborhood.
The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection tested residents’ wells between 1171 and 1179 S. Broad St. in December 2011 and found dangerous levels of trichloroethylene in five of them. Commonly used as an industrial solvent, the chemical can damage the central nervous system when inhaled. The agency installed filters on the wells to clean the water of contaminants, and residents have been working to get access to the town water supply.
“I knew how serious it was,” Fritz, D-Wallingford, said of the contamination issue.
For the past few months, Fritz said, she has stayed in contact with residents in the area, assuring them that she would try her best to secure funding. Harold Lincoln, of 1175 S. Broad St., and Nicholas Sherwood, of 1179 S. Broad St.,have been the most outspoken of the residents with contaminated wells. Both have said they would like the source of the contamination to be investigated. But DEEP officials have said there are too many potential sources to warrant further investigation.
“This whole area was once all silver businesses, and that’s what you have,” Fritz said of water and soil contamination in the neighborhood.
Lincoln and Sherwood, who could not be reached for comment on Monday, have said they’d like a connection to the public water supply. But “getting town water will only solve part of the issues at hand,” Sherwood said via email in early May. “I still won’t know if our soil is polluted. And our home values are still going to suffer from all of these issues, whether they are fixed or not.”
It was Sherwood’s explanation of his family’s situation, expressed through emails, that Fritz said kept her committed to helping residents in the neighborhood.
Fritz said she invited several town officials to the Bond Commission meeting, to be held Friday at 10:30 a.m. in Room 1E of the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. Fritz said that once an item is put on the commission’s agenda, there is little doubt it will be approved. Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. could not be reached for comment on Monday.
But Roger Dann, general manager of the town’s Water Division, said Monday, “This is not a done deal by any stretch.”
Of the $225,000, Dann said,“We would need to see what strings, if any, come attached to that” before proceeding with construction plans.
The closest water main is in the condominium complex behind the houses, Dann said.
Fritz said the grant amount comes from an estimate put together by the town and is intended to cover the total cost of construction. The entire project can be performed by the DEEP, Fritz said, adding that she is working to make sure a crew will come to Wallingford once the funding is approved on Friday.
“I think they should be happy,” Town Councilor Craig Fishbein said of the residents who may now be hooked into town water if the grant money is approved.
“I guess it’s not surprising what priorities government chooses to use our tax dollars for,” Fishbein said.
“I am so thrilled,” Town Councilor Nick Economopoulos said when informed of the potential funding on Monday. Economopoulos and Town Councilor Jason Zandri have both advocated for families in the South Broad Street neighborhood.
“Obviously I’m thrilled that (Fritz) has been able to get those funds for the families,” Zandri said. “I think it’s the right thing to do.”
“I think (Fritz) did an outstanding job,” said Town Councilor John Sullivan. “She stuck with it even though sometimes residents displayed concern.”
“It’s always hard getting money, especially in these times,” said Fritz.
As published in the Record Journal Sunday May 5, 2013
By Andrew Ragali
Record-Journal staff
aragali@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224
Twitter:@AndyRagz
WALLINGFORD — Town Councilor Nick Economopoulos believes he should have been allowed to attend an April 29 meeting at which Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. and leaders of the town’s health and water departments met with state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection officials.
Dickinson said the meeting was held to discuss the status of contaminated wells at five homes on South Broad Street. It enabled DEEP officials to explain the process of obtaining state funding to extend public water to the area, he said.
On April 24, Dickinson sent a letter to Economopoulos, a Democrat, explaining why he would not be allowed into the meeting.
“The meeting scheduled for Monday involves personnel from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Wallingford Health Department and Wallingford Water Division,” wrote Dickinson, a Republican. “It is an administrative meeting and as such attendance is limited to those parties.”
“Something leads me to believe they don’t want us to know what’s going on,” said Economopoulos, who has advocated for two of the five families dealing with contaminated wells — the Sherwoods at 1179 S. Broad St., and the Lincolns at 1175 S. Broad St.
Nicholas Sherwood and Harold Lincoln also attempted to attend the meeting but were not allowed in. Several fellow councilors said they understood the mayor’s position.
“I’ve been on the council for 30 plus years, and the mayor’s policy has consistently been that councilors don’t normally go to these meetings unless initiated,” said Town Council Chairman Bob Parisi, a Republican. “I have absolutely no problem” with Dickinson’s decision.
Town Councilor John LeTourneau, a Republican, said “I agree with the mayor.”
“He handled that right,” Le-Tourneau said. “It’s not a councilors’ place to be. It’s not a function for us. We don’t get into the micromanaging of things.”
Because town councilors are not members of the administration, they are “not entitled” to attend administrative meetings unless invited, said Town Council Vice Chairman Vincent Cervoni, a Republican.
In agreement with his fellow Republican council members was Tom Laffin, who said the efforts of Economopoulos are “usually for good.” Laffin said he just doesn’t always “agree with the strategy.”
Because the meeting was administrative, Town Councilor Jason Zandri, a Democrat, doesn’t think Dickinson was wrong in not permitting Economopoulos to attend.
But Zandri, who said he is also “very sensitive” to the issues of the Sherwood and Lincoln families, understands why it would have made sense for Economopoulos to attend the meeting as a “watchdog in the room.” Zandri said the Sherwood and Lincoln families feel “they’ve gotten the runaround” from the town after they found their wells to be contaminated with trichloroethylene 18 months ago and asked the town to hook them up to the public water supply. Zandri said he understands why the families “would have felt more comfortable if a councilor was present to represent them.”
“I don’t see the problem with the families inviting one watchdog of their choice to these meetings,” Zandri said. “Just to listen and not interject.”
As published in the Record Journal, Wednesday October 24, 2012
By Andrew Ragali
Record-Journal staff
aragali@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224
WALLINGFORD — After months of negotiating with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, a coalition of municipalities that includes Southington, Wallingford and Meriden may not have to make expensive changes — an average of $56 million — to the facilities that handle their discharged water for at least five years.
The state has previously indicated that the phosphorus limits in water released from wastewater treatment plants would need to be decreased to 0.2 parts phosphorus per million. Relief from that requirement may be on the way, Southington Town Councilor Lou Martocchio said during Monday night’s council meeting, as the coalition is nearing an agreement that would provide a five-year permit from the DEEP allowing for phosphorus limits to remain at 0.7 parts per million, a limit set in 2008.
With the permit, Martocchio said, municipalities may see “literally in the millions of dollars in savings.”
Southington, Meriden and Wallingford have all said they would have to spend an average of $56 million in capital improvements and more than $2 million in annual operating costs to reach the new phosphorus limit of 0.2 parts per million.
“Six months ago, I thought this would never happen,” Martocchio said.
With nothing set in stone, leaders in Meriden, Wallingford and Southington are cautiously excited.
“There have been some good signs recently,” Wallingford Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. said Tuesday.
He’s not convinced just yet though, saying, “We haven’t seen any language that at this point would confirm a breakthrough.”
“If you still have to commit to a process of removal within five or nine years, that would still be a concern to us,” he said.
Dickinson wants assurance he won’t have to upgrade the town’s treatment plant for phosphorus in the future, but Martocchio said that won’t be necessary after more testing is conducted to determine the effects of the nutrient on plant and animal life in the Quinnipiac River.
“The position DEEP took was at best arbitrary,” Martocchio said Monday night. “The standard or threshold won’t stay at the level it is now ... the threshold requirements are based on now will go higher.”
By possibly holding off on enforcing new limits for at least five years for further research, Meriden City Manager Lawrence J. Kendzior said DEEP is “doing what we had asked of them initially.”
“We’re encouraged by the department’s latest position,” Kendzior said.
Southington Town Manager Garry Brumback credited the DEEP for “stepping up to the plate” and considering a five year permit. The part that is still up in the air, he said, is further scientific research.
“We’ve got to have some scientific evaluation method as to whether or not the draconian and expensive steps we would have to take to get phosphorus levels down to 0.2 parts per million are necessary,” Brumback said.
Unlike Dickinson, Brumback isn’t worried about a commitment to upgrade the town’s treatment plant after the permit expires.
“We would have the ability to protest it, and we’re hoping if we get to that point, the handwriting will already be on the wall,” he said.
DEEP spokesman Dennis Schain said that the state agency understands the challenges faced by municipalities in trying to adhere to phosphorus limits handed down by the Environmental Protection Agency, a federal entity.
“We’re working with them trying to find new approaches that work for municipalities, work for us and the EPA, and serve to protect the environment,” Schain said.
He couldn’t comment further on negotiations because they are ongoing.
Cheshire was once part of the coalition, which also includes Danbury and Waterbury, but dropped out in April because it received $6.9 million in grant money from the Clean Water Fund to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant — a $31.3 million project.
“We’re happy with the way we went,” Milone said. “We couldn’t walk away from $7million in grants.”
He credited the entire coalition, especially Brumback, for its work in fighting new limits, but said “I’m not completely confident that there will be an immediate resolution.”
Brumback said that the permit, if issued, would come by the end of the calendar year.
Milone said that he felt that the best that could be achieved is a delay, and that the town would still have to go forward with upgrades five years from now. To partner the phosphorus upgrade with the Cheshire treatment plant’s overhaul saves money, Milone said, and it would be pointless to do the project separately.
“I’ve learned one thing,” Milone said. “It ain’t over till it’s over. Until the permit is signed, you can’t rely on it.”
The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and Covanta, the owners of the town’s trash-to-energy plant, will hold an informational public meeting TONIGHT October 4th at 7PM in the Wallingford Town Hall to answer questions about the facility.
The public is invited and encouraged to attend.
The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and Covanta, the owners of the town’s trash-to-energy plant, will hold an informational public meeting on October 4th at 7PM in the Wallingford Town Hall to answer questions about the facility.
The public is invited and encouraged to attend.
As published in the Record Journal Wednesday September 26, 2012
By Laurie Rich Salerno
Record-Journal staff
lsalerno@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235
Twitter:@LaurieSalernoRJ
WALLINGFORD – Ever wonder what happens to your trash when it leaves the curb? On Thursday, Oct. 4, residents will be able to tour Covanta’s Wallingford trash-to-energy facility and afterward ask questions of representatives from the company and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
The idea for the event was sparked by a petition filed by resident Robert Gross to contest the DEEP’s approval of Covanta’s application to renew its solid waste permit. Gross cited resident concerns about smells and emissions violations that have since been addressed. The tour will be held at 4 p.m. at Covanta, 530 S. Cherry St., and the informational session will be held at6:30 p.m. at Town Hall.
The Record-Journal was given a preview tour on Tuesday by the plant’s local and regional operators, who answered questions and gave an overview of operations at the Wallingford plant.
The Cherry Street facility began operating in 1989 under the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority. New Jersey based Covanta bought it in 2010. Today the facility, equipped with three furnaces, burns 420 tons of trash each day from Wallingford, Meriden, Cheshire, North Haven and Hamden. The process generates 11 megawatts of energy, which is sold to the Connecticut Light & Power Co. That’s roughly enough to power 9,000 houses, according to Covanta literature.
Officials Tuesday stressed the environmental benefits of a trash-to-energy plant over depositing trash in landfills, and presented their continued efforts to support recycling.
“We’ve been doing green energy before people thought it was sexy,” said Cheryl Thibeault, business manager at the Wallingford site.
The site, staff say, produces energy equivalent to 100 tons of coal or 420 barrels of oil each day, reducing the need for either substance. Ninety percent of the trash it takes in becomes energy. The other 10 percent is ash, which is deposited in landfills. James Regan, communications manager for Covanta, said the company’s operations in some other countries use the ash in paving and other projects, and he’s hoping the U.S. will soon allow the same practices.
Waste company trucks roll in six days a week, stopping at a scale and then dropping off their loads of garbage in a warehouse-like room called the “tipping floor.” On Tuesday, the room, visible from Covanta’s offices through a pane of glass, was filled with about 2,500 tons of all manner of trash.
There was no scent of trash behind the layer of glass, and that’s because the plant both sprays a deodorizing formula and sucks air from the room into its processes so that it is burned with the trash.
Gross has said some residents have said they can smell trash emanating from the facility. Though the plant takes measures, Thibeault acknowledges that on a hot summer day, someone might smell a truck pulling in with contents that have been marinating.
Though it’s only open for deliveries six days a week, the plant processes waste 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. From the tipping floor, the trash is pushed into one of three graded furnaces, with higher temperatures the farther down each one sits; the temperature hits as high as 2,000 degrees.
The ash is collected below, and the hot air generated heats a boiler that sends steam that powers a generator that generates electricity that is transmitted to CL&P through an on-site transformer.
Air and particulates that are byproducts of the process are routed through other mechanisms that filter out unwanted substances before the final emissions are released as air and steam from a stack on the site.
A broken pipe in furnace 2 that was supposed to shoot a substance that leaches dioxins from the escaping emissions is what caused the plant’s 2010 DEEP violations. The company reported the problem after a compliance test showed the issue, and Covanta was fined $400,000.
The furnace was taken immediately offline and remedied, and emissions were not high enough to have had any effect on the health of nearby residents, Regan said.
“What happened in 2010 was unacceptable to us as a company,” Regan said. He said the company worked hard to ensure that the plant is now well under the amount allowed. It is also a site for new technology that is further decreasing dioxin emissions.
Business at the plant will increase in the next year, with the company adding trash from Newington, Madison, Guilford and Southbury.
Covanta staff say they’re looking forward to answering questions and concerns next week.
“‘Not in my backyard’ is real,” Regan said, and he and other staff hope they can help change negative perceptions of the plant.
Those interested in the tour before the hearing should call Thibeault at (203) 294-1649, ext. 3029, well in advance.
As published in the Record Journal Saturday September 15, 2012
By Laurie Rich Salerno
Record-Journal staff
lsalerno@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235
Twitter:@LaurieSalernoRJ
WALLINGFORD – The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the owners of the town’s trash-to-energy plant will hold an informational public meeting in October, triggered by a petition from residents with concerns about the plant.
Representatives of Covanta, the New Jersey-based company that runs the Wallingford plant at 530 S. Cherry St., and the DEEP will be at Town Hall on Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. to answer questions about the facility.
Every day, the plant burns 420 tons of trash from Wallingford, Meriden, Cheshire, North Haven and Hamden, according to Covanta. The process produces 11 megawatts of energy daily, which Connecticut Light and Power purchases. Covanta has applied to the department to renew its Solid Waste permit. After an initial and then more in-depth technical review, the DEEP tentatively approved the permit, with a 30-day period for public comment.
Resident Robert Gross, a longtime critic of the plant, submitted a 25-name petition to the DEEP during the period, which forced a hearing. Gross said he and other residents are concerned about the facility’s previous Environmental Protection Agency violations and the odors he says sometimes emanate from the facility.
“You can go down there on a good day and get some real strong whiffs of trash and burning - especially in the summer months when the air is heavier,” Gross said.
After submitting the petition, he and two other residents met with representatives from DEEP and Covanta to discuss some of the issues that led them to object to the permitting. Some issues were resolved, according to Gross and the DEEP, but it was decided to hold a public information session so all residents can ask questions of both the authority and the business.
The information session is preferable to a public hearing, Gross said. In a public hearing, the public merely voices concerns about the direct issues that are logged for the DEEP’s consideration. But in an information session, the company and DEEP can answer questions raised at the meeting, or get back later to inquiring parties. In this format, the public also doesn’t have to stick to questions related solely to solid waste permitting; they can talk about air emissions, which is covered in a separate air quality permit that will come up for renewal next year, according to a DEEP spokesman.
“My hope is that it’s very productive dialogue and that we satisfy the questions and the concerns that the residents have,” said Gabrielle Frigon, permitting supervisor at the DEEP. Frigon has been working with both Gross and Covanta on the process.
Covanta representatives said they, too, were looking forward to the October session.
“We’re always open to letting the public know what we do at the plant and help them understand what we do with the plant,” said James Regan, Covanta’s manager of corporate communications. Regan said the meeting “should provide plenty of information and address concerns if there are concerns.”
Gross said he believes some of the conversation will involve the plant’s previous emissions violations.
The state attorney general’s office sued Covanta in 2010 and won the case after the plant had two emissions violations in two years. The company was forced to pay $400,000, split between the state treasurer and DEEP.
Testing showed that one of the plant’s emissions stacks was letting out more than twice the dioxins than are allowed. The unit was shut down and upgraded to fix the problem, according to Regan, and is now running below the legal limit.
“Tests have come back since we’ve restarted the unit, and it’s been well within compliance,”Regan said. Frigon said the petitioners could still force a public hearing if they are unsatisfied by the outcome of the informational session. “We want to make sure that the public absolutely maintains their right to be heard,” Frigon said.
