03-03-2005, 11:38 PM
quote:
CLINTON -- The town is scrambling to find local beauty product maker, Unilever Home and Personal Care, another spot to discharge its treated waste and prevent the company from piping it into the Hammonasset River.
The town's quest to protect the Hammonasset holds promise for Long Island Sound, as the town moves forward on an ambitious and long-promised plan to handle Unilever's waste, as well as its own sewage and runoff water. The Hammonasset empties into three town beaches and Hammonasset Beach State Park.
Clinton has two weeks to show the Department of Environmental Protection it has a viable solution. If not, Unilever will run a pipe down Route 1 into the Hammonasset. The showdown comes as the town pushes to upgrade the river to drinking-water status, to revive its failed oyster beds and improve its beaches' water quality.
The push to restore the Hammonasset received a boost last month when the board of selectmen voted unanimously to ban waste discharge into the Hammonasset, except as a last resort. If the DEP allows Unilever, the second-largest taxpayer in Clinton, to discharge into the Hammonasset, local residents worry a precedent would be set.
"We want to do nothing to degrade the river," said Ron Nash, an engineer who sits on the Clinton water pollution control commission.
The state has pressured Clinton, Westbrook and Old Saybrook for decades to build sewer plants to reduce sewage flowing into Long Island Sound. The towns have been slow to act.
Clinton has been under a consent order since 1997 to fix its pollution problems. State Environmental Protection Commissioner Arthur Rocque Jr. recently referred the case to the attorney general, in an effort to force the town into compliance.
The town's concern for the Hammonasset is a recent phenomenon, Rocque said. Clinton originally identified the Hammonasset as a site for a potential sewer plant, but later backed away from the idea.
Recently, Rocque found himself at the center of controversy over a memo he received from a Unilever lawyer. In the October letter, Unilever thanked the commissioner for helping to "find a way to make the direct discharge into the Hammonasset River administratively possible." The memo was forwarded to Clinton officials, who were furious at Rocque's position.
Rocque defended his actions. "We don't want to see them held hostage because the town refuses to move," he said.
He denied accusations from some town residents that the DEP wants to keep the Hammonasset a second-class stream, to maintain it as a discharge area. "We're in the business of cleaning up Long Island Sound's troubles, not making them worse," Rocque said.
If Unilever does divert its discharge into the Hammonasset, the quantity would be small enough that it would not pose any risk to swimmers, he added.
Some residents disagree, saying allowing the discharge would load nutrients into the river, harming wildlife and posing a danger to swimmers. Residents believe this will pose long-term damage because allowing Unilever to dump into the Hammonasset would set a precedent for other companies.
Clinton wants to build a small treatment plant for waste from Unilever and other troubled spots in town. The treated waste would then be discharged into a giant leaching field.
It could take years, though, to complete the project, and Unilever has only until January 2005 to find an alternative discharge area to Hayden Creek, which feeds the Hammonasset. The state says the tidal creek is too small to absorb 16,000 gallons of wastewater a day.
The water pollution control commission plans to ask the DEP to extend Unilever's permit while it designs a system. Unilever is cautiously backing Clinton's plan. "We're open to cost-effective solutions," plant manager Larry Gibson said. The DEP says it also will support a plan that works.
Unilever employs 550 people locally. It makes Dove face cream, Ponds cold cream, Vaseline petroleum jelly and hair spray. Sanitary waste and industrial waste - from washing tanks - are byproducts.
River In Line For Waste
Town Has 2 Weeks To Find Plan For Treated Discharge
February 16, 2004
By KIM MARTINEAU, Courant Staff Writer
ctfisherman.]
[signature]
CLINTON -- The town is scrambling to find local beauty product maker, Unilever Home and Personal Care, another spot to discharge its treated waste and prevent the company from piping it into the Hammonasset River.
The town's quest to protect the Hammonasset holds promise for Long Island Sound, as the town moves forward on an ambitious and long-promised plan to handle Unilever's waste, as well as its own sewage and runoff water. The Hammonasset empties into three town beaches and Hammonasset Beach State Park.
Clinton has two weeks to show the Department of Environmental Protection it has a viable solution. If not, Unilever will run a pipe down Route 1 into the Hammonasset. The showdown comes as the town pushes to upgrade the river to drinking-water status, to revive its failed oyster beds and improve its beaches' water quality.
The push to restore the Hammonasset received a boost last month when the board of selectmen voted unanimously to ban waste discharge into the Hammonasset, except as a last resort. If the DEP allows Unilever, the second-largest taxpayer in Clinton, to discharge into the Hammonasset, local residents worry a precedent would be set.
"We want to do nothing to degrade the river," said Ron Nash, an engineer who sits on the Clinton water pollution control commission.
The state has pressured Clinton, Westbrook and Old Saybrook for decades to build sewer plants to reduce sewage flowing into Long Island Sound. The towns have been slow to act.
Clinton has been under a consent order since 1997 to fix its pollution problems. State Environmental Protection Commissioner Arthur Rocque Jr. recently referred the case to the attorney general, in an effort to force the town into compliance.
The town's concern for the Hammonasset is a recent phenomenon, Rocque said. Clinton originally identified the Hammonasset as a site for a potential sewer plant, but later backed away from the idea.
Recently, Rocque found himself at the center of controversy over a memo he received from a Unilever lawyer. In the October letter, Unilever thanked the commissioner for helping to "find a way to make the direct discharge into the Hammonasset River administratively possible." The memo was forwarded to Clinton officials, who were furious at Rocque's position.
Rocque defended his actions. "We don't want to see them held hostage because the town refuses to move," he said.
He denied accusations from some town residents that the DEP wants to keep the Hammonasset a second-class stream, to maintain it as a discharge area. "We're in the business of cleaning up Long Island Sound's troubles, not making them worse," Rocque said.
If Unilever does divert its discharge into the Hammonasset, the quantity would be small enough that it would not pose any risk to swimmers, he added.
Some residents disagree, saying allowing the discharge would load nutrients into the river, harming wildlife and posing a danger to swimmers. Residents believe this will pose long-term damage because allowing Unilever to dump into the Hammonasset would set a precedent for other companies.
Clinton wants to build a small treatment plant for waste from Unilever and other troubled spots in town. The treated waste would then be discharged into a giant leaching field.
It could take years, though, to complete the project, and Unilever has only until January 2005 to find an alternative discharge area to Hayden Creek, which feeds the Hammonasset. The state says the tidal creek is too small to absorb 16,000 gallons of wastewater a day.
The water pollution control commission plans to ask the DEP to extend Unilever's permit while it designs a system. Unilever is cautiously backing Clinton's plan. "We're open to cost-effective solutions," plant manager Larry Gibson said. The DEP says it also will support a plan that works.
Unilever employs 550 people locally. It makes Dove face cream, Ponds cold cream, Vaseline petroleum jelly and hair spray. Sanitary waste and industrial waste - from washing tanks - are byproducts.
River In Line For Waste
Town Has 2 Weeks To Find Plan For Treated Discharge
February 16, 2004
By KIM MARTINEAU, Courant Staff Writer
ctfisherman.]
[signature]