WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats have unveiled a $9 billion plan to prevent states from facing a cutoff of federal highway construction money as early as this summer.
Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., proposed the measure, which would raise taxes on heavy trucks as part of a plan to keep the U.S. highway fund solvent through the end of the year. Trucks over 97,000 pounds would pay $1,100 a year; the current cap is $550 for vehicles over 75,000 pounds. The measure also tightens reporting requirements for the mortgage interest deduction and toughens the rules for requiring payment of taxes when people under-report income from property sales. "I hope to see the committee take decisive bipartisan action and send a clear message that stabilizing the Highway Trust Fund is a priority now," Wyden said. "Failure to act now could lead to a transportation shutdown, leaving our roads in disrepair and putting thousands of hardworking Americans out of their jobs." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Earlier this month, Skanska USA and Stamford Health System executives held a topping out ceremony to mark the completion of structural steel framework of a new 11 story specialty building.
A topping out is a celebration of a major construction milestone which involves the installation of a building’s final piece of steel, marking its structural completion. The project, begun in 2012, is scheduled for completion in 2016. So far in the construction project, Skanska has recycled 599 tons or 96 percent of the material taken from the site for the project.
A topping out is a celebration of a major construction milestone which involves the installation of a building’s final piece of steel, marking its structural completion. The project, begun in 2012, is scheduled for completion in 2016. So far in the construction project, Skanska has recycled 599 tons or 96 percent of the material taken from the site for the project.
BRISTOL — There’s a growing chance that city voters will get to weigh in on the proposed Depot Square project.
Bristol Downtown Development Corp. officials said Tuesday municipal leaders are eyeing the prospect of a Nov. 4 referendum to determine whether residents are willing to use government money to help fund construction of the first piece of the proposed $280 million project to transform the city center. “If it goes to referendum, I don’t know what happens,” said Jennifer Arasimowicz, chairwoman of the nonprofit created to oversee the revitalization of the 15-acre former mall site across from City Hall. The agency unanimously agreed Tuesday to recommend that city councilors approve a new timetable for the project that Renaissance Downtowns has been working on for the past four years. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Be patient. It’s coming. That was the message from Mayor Erin Stewart about Costco, the warehouse club chain, and the 150,000-square-foot store it plans to build near Hartford Road.
The Costco issue has been argued and permits applied for and approved through the administrations of three New Britain mayors. “Last Friday, I signed final deeds signing over the last parcels of land from the city to the state in exchange for the land for the [Stanley Municipal] golf course holes,” Stewart said. Three holes will be moved to land in Newington that has been purchased by the City of New Britain. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
BERLIN — As the school year heads down the home stretch, the renovation of Berlin High School will begin to kick into high gear. The school, according to Roman Czuchta, the district’s business manager who also oversees its facilities, will be undergoing continued renovations in several areas this summer. Some of the work pertains to the removal of hazardous materials. “There are hazardous materials, including asbestos and PCBs, that have been identified and will be removed over the course of this summer in the renovation area,” he noted. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Hundreds of CT bridges rated deficient
Washington – The Walk Bridge in Norwalk is not the only bridge in Connecticut that has problems by far. The percentage of all bridges in poor condition has been climbing since 2006.
According to the Federal Highway Administration’s national bridge inventory, nearly one in every 10 bridges in the state has been deemed structurally deficient, meaning 413 of the state’s 4,218 bridges in the inventory were deficient in 2013. In addition, nearly one in four Connecticut bridges was deemed “functionally obsolete.” That means they are outdated and do not meet current standards required of new bridges. A structurally deficient bridge isn’t unsafe, but at least one or more of it’s major components are deemed to be in poor condition. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
PCB removal described
KENT — Northwest Corner residents turned out Tuesday evening to hear the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's latest plan for General Electric to remove PCB contamination from the Housatonic River. PCBs, a man-made substance classified as a carcinogen by the EPA, were legally dumped into the river by General Electric at its former transformer plant in Pittsfield, Mass., from 1932 to 1977, when they were outlawed. More than 30 residents turned out to hear about the proposed permit, which would involve removal of sediment and capping portions of the riverbed and banks in Massachusetts. No removal would be done along the river in Connecticut, only monitoring.
GE would be required to monitor both the sediment and the levels in the tissues of the fish. The entire project is expected to take 13 years and the estimated cost is $613 million. It is a long process that could be further delayed by appeals. "In general, it could be three to five years before any remediation could start," said Bob Cianciarulo, the EPA's Region 1 chief of the Massachusetts Superfund Section. Comments are being collected beginning today through Aug. 8. EPA speakers said they expect an extension will be requested. A hearing for the public has yet to be scheduled.
Several people asked about earlier proposals that were focused on keeping the sediment in place. It was later determined that the contaminated sediment needed to be removed and capped.
The risk assessment showed that it is safe to be in the water for passive recreation such as swimming and boating. However, there are areas in Massachusetts where direct contact with the polluted sediment is not safe, Dean Tagliaferro, EPA's project manager on the cleanup effort, said.
"Direct contact to floodplain soil is an unacceptable health risk," Tagliaferro said about areas in Massachusetts. Cianciarulo said that in general one foot of sediment is being removed in most places. The riverbed will then be capped with natural materials and a chemical isolation layer.
He said the EPA is trying to balance protection of wildlife with the restorative work that needs to happen. The levels of pollution in fish continue to remain too high for them to be eaten in either state.
However, data suggests that the PCB levels in fish has leveled off in Connecticut, Cianciarulo said.
"One of the big goals with this remediation is the increased consumption of fish," he said.
Kent resident Elaine LaBella of the Housatonic Valley Association said she was concerned that the EPA was not looking far enough into the future. "This is our one and only opportunity to get the PCBs out of the river," she said. "The plan seems very short-sighted."
All the documents and reports can be found at www.epa.gov/region1/ge/thesite/restofriver.html, and public comments can be submitted there.