Clinton Moves Toward Improved Wastewater Capacity Downtown
Recent work in the downtown area is part of efforts to address some of Clinton’s long-term waste water issues. If successful, the addition of improved wastewater treatment in the area could open avenues for development in the area.
According to Water Pollution Control Commission (WPCC) Chair Matt Kennedy, the commission ordered testing the downtown center area along West and East Main Street in September determine the ability of the soils on the select parcels to handle treated wastewater.
The project involves drilling, the collection of soil samples, and the installation of groundwater monitoring wells. This work is focused solely on solving wastewater problems downtown; addressing wastewater in the Rocky Ledge area is a separate, longstanding effort.
In the 1990s, the Town of Clinton and the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) entered into a consent order mandating that the town develop a wastewater facilities plan to evaluate and address existing and potential community pollution problems related to onsite wastewater disposal.
“On Oct. 31, 2017, the town received conceptual approval of the 2017 Wastewater Facilities Plan from the DEEP. The approval letter contained certain conditions that the state would require the town to address to demonstrate its progress toward implementing the plan. One of the conditions was the need for additional investigation of certain properties in town that were identified as possible ground recharge locations for community sewer systems,” said Kennedy.
Kennedy said that the downtown sites the engineers identified as having the potential to handle the desired volume of 10,000 gallons a day were currently being tested. The next steps in the project include gathering more data on the groundwater elevations and determining the capacity of the subsurface.
“This is the preliminary design-level engineering work that will pave the way for the construction of a modern treatment facility and a large subsurface recharge system for the treated wastewater to serve many downtown center properties, similar to other commercial and apartment developments along the shoreline,” Kennedy explained.
Kennedy said that not only is the work important for helping to protect the environment, but also to help with economic development.
“Existing property owners and developers considering the downtown area for development opportunities prefer some level of certainty that the land can support their proposed uses, but they also need to quantify the potential liabilities and expense of future compliance if the state was to place further mandates,” Kennedy said. “Solving this issue is just one of many parallel projects that the town is actively engaged in addressing, but it for many reasons is a project that has the notable potential to help economic development that benefits the entire town.”