Uranium found in 16 public wells in Connecticut

December 15, 2008 - Tests on 16 well systems in Connecticut in the past year have shown uranium contamination in the water, according to state Department of Public Health records.

All residential public water systems serving 25 or more people must be tested quarterly for uranium. At the end of the third quarter in September, nine systems in four towns were out of compliance, according to the records, which were reviewed by The Hartford Courant. Seven other systems that had violated the uranium standard earlier in the year were in compliance after the latest round of tests, the newspaper reported yesterday.

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More pollution found at Willow Street park site in Connecticut

November 19, 2008 - The Willow Street Park project has more contamination below the surface than environmental experts had predicted. It sits in immense mountains just off the side of what will be the Willow Street park neighborhood children have been waiting for.

Officials say that LTC Construction and CMG Environmental discovered gasoline below the remnants of what was once the Willow Street public housing project.

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Connecticut Legislature Introduces Bill Requiring Disclosure of Environmental Hazards in all Residential Real Estate Transactions

HB 5874, was recently introduced in CT. The purpose of the bill is:

To require a written disclosure of proximity to an environmentally hazardous site prior to the sale of residential property and to give the potential purchaser of such property the right to terminate his or her obligation to purchase the property based upon such disclosure.

Read the full text of the bill here.

This is an important Bill that should be supported by anybody who believes that homebuyers have a right to know about environmental contamination on or near properties they are considering purchasing. Just spend a little time reading the stories on this blog and think about how many families could have been spared hardship and health risks if such a law existed in all states.

Disclosure: The company I work for - Environmental Data Resources - is a strong supporter of this bill.

If you would like to support HB 5874, send a letter indicating your support to:

The Honorable Richard Roy
Chair, Environment Committee
Connecticut House of Representatives
Legislative Office Building, Room 3201Hartford, CT 06106-1591

The Honorable Edward Meyer
Deputy Majority Whip
Chair, Environmental Committee
Connecticut State Senate
Legislative Office BuildingRoom 3200Hartford, CT 06106-1591

Connecticut forum looks for contaminated sites

February 12, 2008 - Michael Moore of the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency said there may be as many as 262 brownfields in the city because of its industrial past.

Armed with $400,000 in federal Environmental Protection Agency grants to assess different properties, Moore and environmental scientist Amy Czerwonka held a public information forum yesterday at police headquarters.

"There are tons of properties that were once gas stations, auto repair places and dry cleaners," Czerwonka said. "It doesn't mean that these properties have contamination but that they're potential brownfields due to their historic land use.

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After decades, EPA moves to clean Connecticut superfund site

January 25, 2008 - WATERBURY -- For nearly two decades, Joseph Santos' morning walks on Store Avenue took him past a contaminated wasteland littered with abandoned barrels and other debris.

On Thursday, the barrel era officially came to an end when Environmental Protective Agency contractors, wearing hard hats, yellow coveralls and respirators, heaved about 30 containers from the desolate site near Meriden Road and shipped them off to Massachusetts.

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Home heating oil leaks into Lake Kenosia in Danbury Connecticut

January 9, 2008 - Between 75 to 80 gallons of heating oil leaked out of a home fuel tank Tuesday and onto the shore and water of Lake Kenosia.

Firefighters responded to a report of a fuel spill at 85 Boulevard Drive after a neighbor spotted a red slick in the water.

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Toxics Action Center "honors" three Connecticut facilities and nine others across New England with a special "Dirty Decade Award"

November 28, 2007 - From the steps of the state Capitol in Hartford, the Massachusetts-based group "honored" three Connecticut facilities and nine others across New England with a special "Dirty Decade Award" and issued a report suggesting how these industries can clean up their acts.

"They are figurative dinosaurs," said Sylvia Broude, a community organizer with Toxics Action. "Their business practices have not changed with the times."

The group cited the Olin Corp., former owner of the Winchester Repeating Arms company, whose toxic wastes wound up in fill under hundreds of homes, a school and public parks in Hamden. The contamination forced the town to move its middle school in 2006.

Also on the list are the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority in Hartford and the Millstone nuclear power plant in Waterford, owned by Dominion Resources.

The nine other "honorees" include nuclear plants, companies and trash disposal operations in the five other New England states. The group also cited the TruGreen ChemLawn Corp. for "blazing a new toxic path for chemical use" and urged the company to adopt environmentally friendly lawn care practices.

Toxics Action used the latest "awards" to point to solutions for some of the most nagging environmental problems.

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Suit Filed Over Oil Leaks in Farmington, CT

October 25, 2007 - A couple on Paper Chase Drive who contend that leaking oil from two buried fuel tanks is fouling their property is suing the town, an oil company, an excavating firm and a heating company.

The lawsuit was filed last month in Superior Court in Hartford on behalf of James and Sharon Geanuracous. Their lawyer, Jeffrey Martin of Hartford, declined to comment Wednesday.

According to the suit, the contamination is caused by the improper closing and abandonment in 1991 of a community oil distribution system for the Walnut Farms neighborhood. It alleges the system is on town property and that town employees did not properly supervise the decommissioning of the system, which included two 10,000-gallon tanks.

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Residents concerned about cleanup plan in Hamden, CT neighborhood

October 11, 2007 - "It’s a waste of time. It’s the same old thing in a new bottle," he says, comparing the new cleanup plan with the DEP proposal presented in August 2006. "Just the labels have been changed." Hamid’s Augur Street home is one of 226 on the DEP’s cleanup list. Another 22 properties need "further evaluation," says Dennis Schain, DEP spokesman. (The contamination of lead and waste byproducts was discovered in 2000.)

The final plan is similar to the ’06 proposal. The top four feet of contaminated dirt around the houses would be replaced with clean topsoil. According to a 2003 consent order, Olin Corp. (which absorbed the Winchester gun factory that had used the neighborhood as a dumping ground) and the state are financially on the hook for the residential portion, the town of Hamden is responsible for two parks, and the Regional Water Authority for the old middle school on Newhall Street. The total package rings in around $70 million, says Schain, who estimated $60 million would go to the 226-plus homes.

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Residents want toxic waste out of Stratford, CT

September 22, 2007 - Sara and Ed Nichols are expecting their first child in early November.

But the Plymouth Avenue couple have more than the usual anxiety and anticipation of providing late-night bottles and diaper changes.

They fear their expectant child's health could be seriously endangered over the next few years if a plan being considered by the federal Environmental Protection Agency for a major "toxic dump site" at the former Raybestos ballfield not far from their home is approved later this year.

So, along with hundreds of others in town, they're fighting back.

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Westport, CT Ball Field Closed to Test for Contamination

September 20, 2007 - Westport officials responded to a request by the Westport Weston Health District to close the Town Hall South baseball field in order for soil testing to be done to determine whether or not contaminants were present on the ball field.

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Contamination Catches New Residents by Surprise in Stratford, CT

This situation in Stratford, CT is yet another example of homebuyers not being told about well-known contamination.

September 21, 2007 - Warner, of Woodlawn Avenue, said his relatives advised him to sell his house, pack up and move out of Stratford as soon as he could.

He rejected that advice. He and his wife chose to buy a house in Stratford because they liked the town, and they still do. But Warner said he definitely is concerned about the potential risk to his children's health and the effect the contamination might have on his property values.

Paul Rohaly, a member of the Raymark Advisory Committee (RAC), said he has spoken with many other residents who moved into town in recent years without knowing about "these troubles."

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Outraged in Connecticut

August 14, 2007 - STRATFORD — For seven years members of the Raymark Advisory Committee sat around a table just about every month battling the federal Environmental Protection Agency over the best way to clean up toxic waste at 26 remaining contaminated properties.

Residents hardly ever showed, leaving committee members to wage the battle against creating large consolidation sites in Stratford.

But ever since the EPA started presenting potential cleanup plans to the public two weeks ago, residents started showing up — in droves.

Nearly 100 people crammed into a small room at the Birdseye Municipal Complex Tuesday night at a regular Raymark Advisory Committee meeting to voice their objections for the third time in two weeks about the prospect of digging up Raymark waste, which consists of asbestos, lead and PCBs, and hauling the materials to one major consolidation site in town.

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Waste Site Plan Angers Connecticut Residents

July 25, 2007 - When 27-year-old Meredith Gabris bought her ranch-style house five years ago on Patterson Avenue that abuts the former Raybestos Memorial ballfield, the lifelong Stratford resident wasn't too concerned about living so close to one of New England's most massive toxic Superfund sites.

While she made concessions, such as not planting tomatoes and other vegetables in her backyard because, "I didn't want to end up with these gigantic, toxic vegetables that could give me cancer in 10 years," Gabris said she figured with the ballfield capped there wasn't much else to worry about.

Now, she's worried.

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After more than 10 years Connecticut residents finally hear cleanup options for nearby Superfund site

July 18, 2007 - More than a decade after one of New England's most massive Superfund sites was discovered at the former Raybestos factory, residents will finally get the chance to learn about potential options for remediating much of the remaining toxic waste scattered across 26 commercial properties.

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Mercury Contamination in Killingly Connecticut

(Killingly, Conn. - March 30, 2007) – The Northeast District Department of Health (NDDH) continues to work closely with the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding mercury contamination discovered on Putnam Road in Killingly.

“Our involvement is to monitor the situation for any potential public health implications,” reported Linda J. Colangelo, Public Information Officer for NDDH. “At this time, we have not received any reports of illness associated with the contamination. The investigation is on-going and the EPA and DEP are currently conducting air monitoring tests and analyzing surface water samples and soil data in the affected area.”

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A River of Mercury in CT

(Killingly-WTNH) _ The giant mercury spill was discovered in Killingly this past weekend on Putnam Road.

As soon as the spill was discovered, the DEP got to work, cleaning up the 50-pounds of mercury. When crews returned a few days later, they found that the contamination had continued.

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