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Fortuna Appointed to MIRA Board of Directors

Old Saybrook First Selectman Carl P. Fortuna, Jr., has been appointed to the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority (MIRA) Board of Directors. MIRA owns and operates the Connecticut Solid Waste System, a hub-and-spoke system that serves the needs of approximately 70 municipalities throughout the state. The hub of the system includes a single-stream recycling facility and a resource recovery facility, both located in the South Meadows section of Hartford. Transfer stations in Essex, Torrington, and Watertown provide points of entry into the system for municipalities and haulers outside the immediate Hartford region.

MIRA, whose powers are vested in and exercised by a Board of Directors, has a mission to work for and in the best interests of the state’s municipalities and residents in developing and implementing environmentally sound solutions and best practices for solid waste disposal and recycling management on behalf of MIRA’s constituents. The MIRA Board consists of 11 members selected and appointed by the governor and legislative leaders for their energy or environmental expertise; their experience in finance, business, or industry; or their municipal leadership.

“Connecticut has a garbage problem and we cannot continue to ignore this issue,” Fortuna said. “I look forward to working with MIRA’s Board of Directors and its member municipalities to arrive at a sustainable solution for our towns and for our State.”

MIRA is a quasi-public entity created as a successor authority to the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority as a public instrumentality and political subdivision of the State of Connecticut. MIRA has the responsibility for the planning, design, construction, financing, management, operation, and maintenance of solid waste disposal, volume reduction, resource recovery, and related facilities considered to be necessary, desirable, convenient, or appropriate in carrying out the provisions of the state solid waste management plan.

First Selectman Carl P. Fortune, Jr. (R) is seeking re-election in the November elections.