Press Conference with Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty
TIME: Plan to arrive at 9:00am (Begins at 9:30 sharp)
DATE: Tuesday August 30, 2016
PLACE: I-84 Project, Waterbury
Congresswoman Esty is our Representative on the U.S. House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee!
I hope you can join us and show our support for continued attention to the Nation’s Infrastructure!
CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS
I-95 runoff concerns Norwalk Harbor Management Commission
NORWALK — The Harbor Management Commission isn’t giving up on its battle to keep contaminants from running off the Yankee Doodle Bridge.
The bridge carries Interstate 95 over the Norwalk Harbor and is home to 92 bridge deck drains, many of which dump water directly into the harbor.
To the commission’s dismay, the Connecticut Department of Transportation planned $30 million overhaul of the bridge won’t change that. As such, the commission plans to assemble evidence for the DOT to consider.
“If the DOT was not agreeable and we had to argue with them about the source of the contamination and the sediment, we thought we could do an evaluation of the pollutants that come off automobiles,” said Geoffrey Steadman, planning consultant for the commission. “We could say, there’s X amount of these pollutants that are generated each year on the I-95 bridge with the 150,000 cars that go over it” daily.
The commission initially planned to launch a $6,000 study that would have included a computer model analysis of pollutants entering the river from the bridge. After discussion at City Hall on Wednesday evening, the commission reduced the scope to identifying and analyzing best practices used elsewhere.
For example, offset deck drains and raised scuppers may be incorporated into bridge decks to “effectively collect and convey runoff from small to mid-sized bridge projects.” Swales, detention basins and sand filters can be used near bridge abutments, according to a report commissioned by the Transportation Research Board.
Steadman said the commission plans to engage Thomas Hart, principal investigator for the commission’s recent analysis of water quality data in the Norwalk River and watershed, in the forthcoming study.
“The first part is to identify the types of pollutants that are generated by automobiles,” Steadman said.
The commission believes those pollutants include oil, gasoline, asbestos, chromium, copper, nickel, rubber, zinc and lead. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Yard Goats League President: Finish Hartford Ballpark Or Lose Team
HARTFORD — A Minor League Baseball executive on Thursday raised the possibility that the league will move its team from Hartford if Dunkin' Donuts Park is not ready for the 2017 season.
"If the stadium is not done, we will not come to Hartford," Eastern League President Joe McEachern said, standing in front of the locked ballpark gates, where the Hartford Yard Goats were supposed to play this season. "The time is now. We have to have immediate action."
Irritated that work has not resumed on the still-unfinished stadium, McEachern said that at some point, "baseball is going to start making decisions."
McEachern said that Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball have required the Yard Goats owners and the Eastern League to come up with an alternative location to play the 2017 season in the event that the stadium is not ready for an April 13 home opener. Asked if a location had been identified, McEachern declined to elaborate. He also would not say what the deadline is.The Yard Goats played their entire inaugural season on the road this year because construction delays and cost overruns kept the stadium from opening. In June, all construction work ceased when the city fired the developers, Centerplan Construction Co. and DoNo Hartford.
This was the first time an entire home season for a league team fell through unscheduled, McEachern said, adding, "In my tenure in the Eastern League, it will never happen again."
McEachern's comments were echoed by team owner Josh Solomon and Hartford Stadium Authority Chairman I. Charles Mathews, who said that time is running out for Arch Insurance, the bonding surety guaranteeing completion of the 6,000-seat ballpark, to decide how to move forward so the project is completed in time to play ball in April.
Mathews said Arch has had eight weeks to determine what still needs to be done to make the stadium playable and how much it will cost. Now, he said, the company needs to step up and take over the project. The city and team have both requested that it be done without bringing Centerplan or DoNo back to work, Mathews said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Massachusetts Court Deals Blow To Regional Natural Gas Pipeline
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's hopes of expanding natural gas usage in Connecticut appeared to suffer another blow as a result of a ruling by the Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts that blocks a financing plan for a $3 billion regional gas pipeline.
The court decision last week bars Eversource and other Massachusetts utilities from charging electricity customers to pay for construction of the expanded pipeline. Eversource, which supplies energy in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, hoped to use similar financing to pay for pipeline costs in Connecticut.
Eversource officials this week withdrew their petitions for long-term Massachusetts contracts to buy gas from the Access Northeast pipeline project that was intended to expand natural gas supplies for Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
"This is not a reflection upon our commitment to Access Northeast, as we are a partner in the development of the project," Eversource spokeswoman Caroline Pretyman said in a company statement. We, along with our partners Spectra and National Grid, remain firmly committed to our part in solving New England's energy challenge," Pretyman said. "The court's decision provides no solution to the energy cost, reliability and environmental challenges that the New England region faces today. One thing is certain, the status quo is not sustainable." Malloy and his administration, along with other New England governors, have been pushing expanded use of natural gas as a cleaner, less expensive alternative to fossil fuels like coal and oil.
"We've acknowledged that New England has a problem with inadequate gas pipeline infrastructure," said Katie Dykes, the Malloy administration's deputy commissioner in charge of energy policy. She said the administration is continuing to evaluate proposals for solving that issue.
"We're still evaluating what impact the Massachusetts Supreme Court decision will have on that process," Dykes said. She said her agency will have no comment on individual projects like Access Northeast.
Claire Miller, of the environmental group Toxics Action Center, said the court ruling and the action by Eversource to pull back on its proposed Massachusetts contracts is "absolutely a blow" to plans to expand natural gas pipelines in Connecticut.
"When [Massachusetts] pulls out, that's a pretty big dent in attempts for public subsidies for new gas infrastructure," Miller said. She added that Massachusetts consumers represent about half of all expected consumption of power generated by gas from the proposed pipeline. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Northeast Rockbusters Gather at Gluck's Farm in Connecticut for Annual Show
Filling the vast acreage of Mark Gluck's Farm at 159 Packerville Road in Plainfield, Conn., the Northeast Rockbusters lived up to their name Aug. 5 to 7 with a great show and display of antique construction equipment.
The Northeast Club is a chapter of the national Historical Construction Equipment Association, representing the six New England states. Kevin Maguire of New Hampshire is current president, ably assisted around New England by show coordinators Bill Weston, Joe Turco, Dave Benn, Bob Rooks, Paul Jenkins and farmer Gluck himself.
“I first went to their national show held in Washington County, Rhode Island. Then, I went to a meeting,” said Gluck. “They said they needed to have a spot to have a show. I thought it would be a great thing to do. There is a lot of work to do here and you can leave machines here to do it. Plus, that would be a big help to me.”
Maguire said it isn't easy finding the right open areas to host his six regional events each year. “It's hard to get places to do it and Mark Gluck has over 100 acres here,” said Maguire. “He volunteered this area. This is our second year here.”
Maguire said that after the August show, his shows will likely return to Wilton, N.H., and Rhode Island for future events.
NE Rockbusters, one of 17 chapters in the H.C.E.A., has 400 active members and tries to recruit constantly; most effectively with displays like this one.
The hope for the next generation of members likely will come from the children playing in the show's sand boxes with Tonka trucks.
Take Zackary Jemlich, 3, of Ipswich, N.H., who can't wait to drive farm equipment. His father, Alan Jemlich, whose family works for Mirra Construction of Georgetown, Mass., said his son's third word, was “tractor.”
“If you ask him what year John Deere was founded or in what state, he'll tell you,” said his Dad. “His uncle takes him on his lap and teaches him. All he wants to do in this life is drive a tractor.”
“That's where the new members will come from,” said Maguire. “From the sons of sons who grew up with the heavy iron they love.”
Like the featured machine at this event, a 1947 Link-Belt speeder, featuring a Denis Yaworski LS-85 shovel. Usually housed in a local antique museum nearby, the magnificent machine was bought by 90-year-old Clifford Williams when he was just 18.
Williams, Maguire said, put $18,000 into restoring it and it, ironically, has 18,000 hours on it. According to local legend, Williams sandblasted the beast, painted it in vintage colors, and made the pads by hand one winter out of solid steel plates. A true labor of love, it took him several weeks just to get the Link-Belt to the field. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE