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Sewers, Long Island Sound earmarked for $1B cleanup

Big investment also brings jobs

The proposed Connecticut state budget earmarks nearly $1 billion to clean up city sewers and Long Island Sound, the biggest two-year commitment since the turn of the century.

The $447 million scheduled in grants and loans for the fiscal year starting in July and the $550 million scheduled for the following year should help the state achieve its pollution reduction goals for Connecticut’s waterways and the Sound.

“We have to make up a lot of ground from when we lost funding from 2002 to 2007,” said Leah Schmalz, director of legislative and legal affairs for environmental nonprofit Save Our Sound. “Clean water wasn’t being talked about, and it fell behind other state priorities.”

The $997 million will be spent separating city sewers into sewage and stormwater systems, increasing capacity at wastewater treatment plants, improving wastewater technology to remove more nitrogen and phosphorous, and protecting plants against sea level rise.

“Those are Connecticut jobs… it is a very good economic benefit,” said Paul Brady, executive director of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Connecticut. “We’ve got to do this in order to maintain our economic future.”

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Separating combined sewer systems into separate stormwater and sewage system is particularly important, Schmalz said. When it rains, combined sewer systems just feed raw sewage into Connecticut’s waterways along with the stormwater.

“If you have a separate system, the sewage still makes it into the wastewater treatment plant,” Schmalz said. “You keep sewage from running into the waterbody.”

The funding harks back to a 2001 decision by Connecticut, New York, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to cap the level of nitrogen fed into Long Island Sound by the region’s stormwater runoff and sewers. The cap-and-trade program froze 2000 releases at 1990 levels, and the two states have sought to reduce the amount of Sound nitrogen by 58.5 percent by 2014.

By removing nitrogen from the water, local shellfish and fish populations should rise, Schmalz said, and Connecticut can avoid the stigma of having to shut down its public beaches because the bacteria from sewage in the water is too high.

“If tourists find out that the beaches on Long Island Sound are closed because of sewage, that doesn’t help the tourism industry,” Brady said.

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If Connecticut finishes its sewer upgrades and brings new wastewater treatment plants online, that should be enough to meet the 2014 goals, Schmalz said, although work still needs to be done.

Right after the goals were set in 2001, state funding for clean water fell off the table. In the state budget for 2005-2006, the entire program budget was cut to $20 million for the two years combined. Funding levels rose slightly in the next few years, totaling $199 million annually from 2007-2011.

When Gov. Dannel Malloy took office, he raised that spending to $658 million for the last two fiscal years, and his $997 million proposal is the highest since the program targets were made in 2001.

“Malloy realized that the investment you put into clean water yields thousands and thousands of jobs,” Schmalz said.

Malloy’s proposal split the funding for the program between revenue bonds against the various water district’s revenues and general operating bonds against the state budget.

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“The governor’s commitment to clean water is part of an overall plan to grow the economy and create good jobs in Connecticut. Reducing pollution in Connecticut waterways and Long Island Sound is certainly important from an environmental perspective—and it protects the more than $5 billion economy driven by aquaculture,” said Malloy spokeswoman Juliet Manalan. “This funding helps municipalities undertake the clean water projects they may otherwise delay, creates jobs in construction and engineering, and protects one of Connecticut’s most important natural resources.”

In awarding projects, the state will grant 20-30 percent of the cost to the applicant and provide a low-interest loan of 2 percent annually over 20 years to make up the difference.

Malloy’s proposal for the next two years puts forth $285 million in grants and $712 million in loans.

“This represents a strong and positive commitment to 21st century wastewater treatment and improved water quality in our state,” said Dennis Schain, spokesman for the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection.

The state water districts such as The Metropolitan District and The Mattabassett District can apply for these funds to make improvements in sewers and wastewater treatment plants. Assuming the General Assembly approves Malloy’s proposal by the end of June, DEEP will begin soliciting for projects in early fall.

Once projects are submitted, DEEP prioritizes them based on their impact in reducing nitrogen and phosphorous in Connecticut’s water and awards the money appropriately.

“It is actually a pretty good program,” Brady said. “There is a certain logic and objectivity to it.”

One project likely to get funding is Middletown’s proposed $2.5 million closure of its wastewater treatment plant, so the city can join The Mattabessett District.

With the closure of the plant, Middletown plans to develop that site into retail and living space along the Connecticut River. The proposal ranked No. 18 on DEEP’s list of clean water projects for 2012-2013 and seems poised to achieve funding under the $997 million proposal.

“That will create quite a bit of economic benefit for the city,” said Brian Armet, executive director of The Mattabassett District.

Even with Connecticut on target to meet its Sound nitrogen goals, the state still is only half the equation. New York must reduce its water pollution as well, and the state is behind for the 2014 plan, especially in Westchester County and New York City, said Schmalz.

“Organizations like mine are pushing for Westchester and New York City to push further ahead on upgrades,” Schmalz said.

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