CT Construction Digest Thursday April 23, 2026

Submarine manufacturer Electric Boat breaks ground on 'magnificent' warehouse in North Stonington

Paul Schott

NORTH STONINGTON — Every day, thousands of drivers on Interstate 95 see General Dynamics Electric Boat’s shipyard in Groton as they take the Gold Star Memorial Bridge across the Thames River. Soon, the submarine manufacturer will have another landmark just off the highway, about 15 miles east. 

Electric Boat executives and local officials held a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday for the warehouse that the company is building off I-95, in North Stonington. The approximately 480,000-square-foot facility will store a massive amount of parts — freeing up space, reducing congestion and accelerating production at Electric Boat’s shipyards in Groton and Quonset Point, Rhode Island, during a period of striking growth for the business. 

“This magnificent warehouse represents far more than added capacity,” said Ken Jeanos, Electric Boat’s vice president of materials and chief supply chain officer. “It’s a critical element of our logistics strategy, giving us the scale, efficiency and flexibility we need, as the demands of our programs continue to grow. As our production tempo increases and our materials needs expand, our ability to move the right parts to the right place, at the right time, becomes even more essential.” 

The 55-acre site at 45 Frontage Road, which Electric Boat acquired last year for $5.5 million from a real-estate affiliate of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, is being prepared for the structural work. On Wednesday, bulldozers, excavators and dump trucks were digging and moving around materials, against a backdrop of towering mounds of earth. The building will take shape this summer, and it is expected to be completed in the summer of 2027, according to officials at Whiting-Turner, the project’s construction manager. About 30 to 50 people are expected to initially work at the hub, according to Electric Boat officials.   

Electric Boat already has a total of 17 warehouses at the shipyard in Groton and neighboring sites, but it needs even more storage to maximize its shipbuilding space. The USS Idaho, the 14th Virginia-class, fast-attack submarine that the company has delivered to the U.S. Navy, will be commissioned Saturday at the Navy’s submarine base in Groton. Electric Boat aims to, respectively, deliver another two Virginia-class ships, the future USS Utah and the future USS Arizona, by the end of this year and in 2028. At the same time, it is building the first group of the next generation of Columbia-class, ballistic-missile submarines. 

Company officials estimate that the new warehouse, which they call Building 828, will store at least hundreds of thousands of parts, and possibly millions of components, for its submarines. Those pieces will be of various sizes and for numerous purposes.  

“It’s not just about storage of material,” said Lucas Marland, Electric Boat’s senior manager of logistics. “It’s also about making the shipyards safer to work in. This is going to reduce the vehicle traffic at the yard (in Groton) by upwards of 80%.”

Electric Boat’s “decompression plan” for its shipyards also includes the acquisition last year of Crystal Mall in Waterford, a property that it will convert into a company facility with offices, laboratories and training space. It plans to open the new complex in mid-2027 at the earliest. 

“This is part of the same strategy to move support operations off the main campus, so that every inch of the waterfront can be dedicated to building submarines. In the case of this warehouse, not only are we removing the footprint, but we are removing all the congestion that goes around with it,” said Beth Rafferty, Electric Boat’s vice president of facilities and real estate. 

For small towns such as North Stonington — whose population totaled about 5,200 in 2024, according to the most-recent state data — large development projects can fuel worries among residents about congestion and environmental damage. But officials at Electric Boat, Whiting-Turner and the Town of North Stonington said that the warehouse is a sustainable project. It is being built on about half of the Frontage Road site's 55 acres, which was largely undeveloped, aside from a small garage facility that had been unused for a number of years, they said. 

“A few years ago, North Stonington actually put into place what’s called the Economic Development District, which is right here, along the higher-capacity roads in town, not in the middle of any private farmland,” said Susan Cullen, North Stonington’s planning, development and zoning official. “None of the traffic impacts the rural parts of our town, but it still brings jobs to our town, it still brings commerce to the town.” 

Electric Boat has long ranked as one of the largest private-sector employers in New England, with a total of more than 26,000 employees, including about 16,000 in Connecticut. It is doubling down on recruitment, with the goal of hiring 8,000 people this year. 

“There’s never been a social-service program that equates to a decent job. And that’s what you folks are doing here today,” said Tony Sheridan, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut. “The people who work at Electric Boat… build the best machine in the world. There’s nothing like it.” 

514 apartments, office building coming to Milford's Wheelers Farm Road, just off parkway

Mark Zaretsky

MILFORD — What for 40 years or so has been one of Milford's largest office complexes on Wheelers Farm Road will soon undergo big changes, as developers demolish three of the five office buildings and replace them with two types of apartments and a host of amenities.

The new complex will include 514 apartments, including a 150-unit "age targeted" section for people 55 and up and 364 multi-family apartments in seven buildings, along with 160,000 square feet of office space. The offices will be in two remodeled existing buildings, representatives of the developers said.

It will have 1,535 parking spaces. 

It also will have a central "town green" and various amenities, including a pool, an 8,750-square-foot clubhouse, restaurant, fitness area, yoga studio, outdoor pavilion, co-working spaces, a cinema, game room, golf simulator, outdoor fire tables, bocci courts, cornhole, badminton courts and a walking trail, according to a presentation this week.

The change was prompted in part by a significant drop in demand for office space which developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, an attorney for the developers told the Planning and Zoning Board Tuesday night.

Under a revised plan the PZB approved Tuesday, a joint venture of affiliates of Avery Capital, Greenview Equities and Continental Properties will convert the existing 47-acre office complex at 470-488 Wheelers Farm Road into a multi-use development with an "affordable housing" component.

The site is just off the Wilbur Cross Parkway and Milford Parkway connector.

The site, which overlooks a pond, is just south of the Wilbur Cross Parkway and east of the Milford Parkway. Its neighbor to the south is the Muse apartment development, also developed and owned by Continental Properties.

The plan presented Tuesday was similar to a preliminary plan approved in July 2024, when the board approved a zone change to a new Adaptive Reuse Design District to accommodate the changes requested by Wheelers Farm Partners LLC and Greenview Equities LLC. One major difference is that the seven proposed multi-family apartment buildings have been changed from five stories to four stories and made slightly longer, speakers said.

The age-targeted apartments will be in a two-story building, according to the plan.

In both the age-targeted apartments and the multi-family apartments, 15 percent of the units will be available at reduced, "affordable" rents for people or families who earn up to 80 percent of the Area Median Income, said Andrea Gomes, an attorney for the Hartford-based Hinckley Allen law firm.

The application was filed under the state's 8-30g affordable housing statute.

Wheelers Farms Developers LLC, a subsidiary of Continental, will develop and own the multi-family apartments at the western half of the development and Wheelers Farms Partners and Greenview will develop and own the two office buildings and the age-targeted apartments, according to the plan.

The application was approved by a 6-1 vote, with PZB members Joseph Alling, Bryan Anderson, Scott Firmender, John Mortimer, Marc Zahariades and Vice Chairman C. Robert Satti voting in favor and member John Agnese voting against it.

Gomes introduced the application. She was joined by five colleagues who presented aspects of it, including Patrick O'Leary, professional engineer and vice president-development for Continental Properties; engineer Derek Overton of SLR Consulting; landscape architect Jason Williams of SLR Consulting, and architect Michael Stein of Stein|Troost Architecture.

"We're very excited about it and we hope the community is equally excited about it," said O'Leary. "...We believe this plan is very consistent with the original plan."

At Anderson's suggestion, a condition was added to the approval that the developer must file a specific "affordability plan" to specify exactly how many units would be in the "affordable" component. O'Leary said the developer planned to but generally wouldn't do it until later in the process when numbers are clearer.

Gomes said such a filing is required under 8-30g.

The office park was built in the early 1980s, but "during the pandemic, office use significantly declined," Gomes said. "As of 2024, the property was distressed and severely underutilized," and new owners bought it with the idea to redevelop it, she said.

The plan previously was approved by the Inland Wetlands Agency, Sewer Commission, Fire Marshal's Office and Police Department. A review by the Office of State Traffic Authority is in process.

Rejected: Large industrial, retail and hotel plan near I-84 in central CT

Don Stacom

A prominent Connecticut developer who proposed building a 114-room hotel, big-box retail store and 100,000-square-foot industrial building in a Southington woodlands lost his bid for a zone change on Tuesday.

Domenic Carpionato’s Southington 2 LLC told the town that in conjunction with an already-approved 283,000-square-foot warehouse and other buildings, the project could bring $2.1 million a year in new tax revenue to the town while creating 360 jobs.

But neighboring homeowners were skeptical about any upside for the town, and hammered away at two public hearings on their concerns of worsened traffic and noise coupled with new demands on Southington’s public works and police departments. Opponents also said it would be a mistake to lose dozens of acres of space intended for industrial development in favor of adding more retail.

The Planning and Zoning Commission agreed, voting down the zone change after the last hearing late Tuesday night.

Engineer Kevin Solli spoke on behalf of Southington 2 LLC, saying the developer would bring nearly $15 million of infrastructure improvements to the sprawling parcel that’s just west of I-84 near Exit 31.

The company wanted to subdivide the sprawling tract of more than 100 acres into six parcels, even though most would not be part of the immediate development plan.

Solli called the project “the catalyst for something that could create considerable economic investment and be the impetus for any of these parcels to be developed.”

Carpionato is well-acquainted with large-scale construction work: He recently won approval to build 266 apartments in Newington, and is a partner in the Heritage Park mega-development at the former UConn campus in West Hartford.

His Southington 2 LLC had arranged purchase agreements for a large tract of the woodland between I-84 and Route 229. The property is currently zoned industrial, but the company told commissioners that elevation drops, wetlands, absence of utilities and extremely limited road frontage make purely industrial development impractical.

“Development will require significant infrastructure improvements, including construction of a new access roadway and extension of utility services. The cost associated with these improvements is substantial and cannot be reasonably supported by industrial uses alone,” the company said in its application.

Preliminary plans showed a 114-room hotel, a 170,000-square-foot retail center with nearly 700 parking spaces, and a 100,000-square-foot industrial building with 225 parking spaces and just four loading docks. Additionally, there was a provision for a 20-pump gas station.

But homeowners from nearby Curtiss Street have been objecting since the proposal became public, and some residents from other parts of town also opposed the zone change.

“The West Street corridor simply cannot handle the traffic impact of this proposal. Currently the exit ramps at peak hours take two to four light cycles to gain access off of I-84 onto West Street,” wrote Amy Cooper, a Brothers Way resident. “Impatient and frustrated drivers frequently run red lights several seconds after the light is red.”

One Curtiss Road resident said he supported the zone change because of the prospect for new tax revenue to help hold down taxes. And Kurt Holyst of Saw Mill Lane cautioned that voting down the Southington 2 proposal would be a risk.

“We have a bird in the hand. What could come in an I-2 zone could be much more impactful, it could be much worse,” he told the commission. “If this is denied you may see a plan that impacts these people who complain much more.”

Juniper Road homeowner Cody Fongemie disagreed that making improvements at the Curtiss Street intersection with Route 229 would be a net gain.

“I fail to see how adding several small improvements while adding a throughway, a shopping center and warehouses is going to improve the traffic,” he said.

Lamont needs to resolve museum bridge issue

The Day Editorial Board

We understand the public’s frustration. There is much to be disappointed about when it comes to the construction of the National Coast Guard Museum. It is many years behind schedule. Original plans called for the project to be largely funded by private donations. Instead, the federal government is the primary funder.

Yet completion is now, literally, in sight. Construction of the 89,000-square-foot, six-story museum is well underway on the New London waterfront. As a major tourist destination, the museum will be transformative for the city and its downtown. Most importantly, it will duly honor and recognize the heroic service of the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard.

But the plan to build a pedestrian bridge to ensure visitors travel to and from the museum safely and efficiently is stalled.

Back in 2014, during the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, the state set aside $20 million to build a 400-foot, glass-enclosed bridge to carry pedestrians from the Water Street parking garage, over the street and railroad tracks, to the museum. Unsurprisingly, a dozen years later that expenditure will not cover the cost. In October, only one company submitted a bid for the project, and it exceeded the available budget.

Federal aid for the project includes $80 million for exhibit development, $20 million to renovate and expand the Water Street Garage, and nearly $7 million to homeport the Coast Guard barque Eagle adjacent to the museum. Another $58 million has been raised in private donations.

Now Connecticut needs to honor its commitment to be a partner in completing this important project. That means the administration of Gov. Ned Lamont must either commit to providing additional funding to build the bridge as planned — which would be subject to a new round of competitive bidding — or to suggest an alternative way of getting visitors to the site.

Frustration is growing that the governor’s office is displaying no sense of urgency in getting the issue resolved. Other elected leaders have grown frustrated that their behind-the-scenes efforts to get Lamont to take a position have failed. Last week they went public with their annoyance, holding a virtual press conference to turn up the pressure on the governor.

“We cannot take no for an answer — everyone else has met their obligations,” said Sen. Chris Murphy. Also in attendance was Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who used a more diplomatic tone, calling for the need “to present a consensus to the governor.”

Also in attendance for the virtual presentation were several local state legislators, New London Mayor Michael Passero and National Coast Guard Museum Association President Wes Pulver.

Whether this intraparty squabble will speed up or delay a resolution is unclear. Lamont and the senators are all Democrats, as is the mayor. But placing politics and personalities aside, funding the pedestrian bridge construction — even if it costs significantly more than originally estimated — makes a lot of sense.

The bridge would serve more than museum visitors. It would also provide a safer way for passengers to come and go from the Cross Sound Ferry terminal and the Union Station train terminal. The best state investments help increase commerce. The pedestrian bridge project would do so by improving convenience and boosting activity as visitors converge at what promises to become a bustling waterfront.

We placed a call to the governor’s office to ask about the passenger bridge issue and were told to put questions in writing. We received no response to our emailed questions.

Silence is not leadership. Governor, do you want the state and your administration to be a partner in getting this important project completed? If so, then please explain how. We agree with Sen. Murphy that no is an unacceptable answer. Not at this late stage.

CT Construction Digest Wednesday April 22, 2026

Lamont meets with Brookfield first selectman about Iroquois project

John Moritz

Gov. Ned Lamont met with the first selectman of Brookfield on Monday to discuss a controversial natural gas expansion project that has stirred deep opposition in the town at the edge of Fairfield County.

First Selectman Steve Dunn, a Democrat, is part of a group of local officials leading the campaign against the “Enhancement by Compression” project, which would add a pair of gas-fired compressors to an existing station in Brookfield capable of pumping an additional 125 million cubic feet of gas through the Iroquois pipeline each day.

Critics of the project say the new compressors would spew air-polluting emissions in a region that has notoriously struggled to meet federal air quality standards. And environmental groups say it represents a doubling down on fossil fuels that many leaders, including Lamont, have pledged to wean the state off of.

Iroquois’ owners are currently awaiting a final decision from the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protect on the project’s air quality permits. Last July, the agency issued a pair of draft decisions signaling its intention to approve the permits.

DEEP had been expected to announce a final decision on April 13, but that deadline was pushed back to allow the agency more time to review and respond to public comments.

Dunn met with Lamont on Monday afternoon in the governor’s office at the state Capitol. As he left the meeting, he told the Connecticut Mirror that he’d been encouraged by the conversation, in which he said the governor expressed support for an alternative Dunn favors — using electric compressors rather than gas-powered turbines to pump the additional gas.

Dunn clarified that the governor hadn’t pledged to take any specific actions, for or against the project.

“He said he was going to help us, and I believe him,” Dunn said.

Emerging from his office a short while later, Lamont offered praise for the “constructive alternative” presented by Dunn. However, he said he didn’t plan on discussing the project with DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes.

“He’s come up with an alternative and I hope, you know, DEEP considers it,” Lamont said. “But I’m not supposed to weigh in, so I won’t.”

Cathryn Vaulman, a spokesperson in Lamont’s office, later provided a statement about the meeting to CT Mirror.

“Governor Lamont had a productive meeting with First Selectman Steve Dunn today regarding the Iroquois Natural Gas Compressor station,” Vaulman said. “The Governor listened to the concerns Brookfield residents have about the project, and he encourages the Iroquois Gas Transmission System to use the best available technology at this station and commission an air quality test as an olive branch to the town.”

A spokesperson for Iroquois declined to comment on the meeting.

Iroquois officials have opposed calls to use electric turbines, which they argue would add between $45 million and $50 million to the project’s $272 million cost.

The Iroquois pipeline runs from upstate New York, across Connecticut and underneath Long Island Sound before terminating in New York City. The pipeline’s owners have said they plan to use the additional capacity to sell gas to utilities in New York, leading to charges from local residents that the project will not benefit Connecticut.

In a statement provided to CT Mirror earlier this year, however, Iroquois spokeswoman Ruth Parkins said the project “will enhance the reliability and availability of natural gas supplies for Connecticut’s natural gas consumers and power generation fleet since additional quantities of natural gas will be flowing into and through the state, and available for consumption within the state on a majority of the days throughout the year.”

Lamont has also pushed for the development of new natural gas supplies into New England, which faces occasional shortages during the winter heating season that can cause energy prices to spike.

Lamont met with Trump administration officials in Washington, D.C., last year to discuss the region’s energy issues including federal permitting for nuclear and natural gas infrastructure.

Vaulman said Monday that Lamont had yet to meet with Iroquois to discuss the project.

When asked if the governor would be open to a meeting with the project’s developers, Vaulman said, “Certainly if they were willing to come to the table and make upgrades that would benefit the people of Brookfield, that is something we’d be be willing to work with them on.”

In November, nine activists were arrested after staging a sit-in at Lamont’s office, urging him to reject the project’s permits. The protesters did not meet with Lamont at that time.

Killingly residents protest warehouses as Amazon announces plans for new fulfillment center

Allison Cross

Killingly — The developers behind a controversial 1.3-million-square-foot distribution center project off Interstate 395 this week announced Amazon as the prospective facility's tenant.

Amazon Economic Development Director Brad Griggs said the fulfillment center at 228 Westcott Road — better known as "Project Husky" — would operate 24/7, employ roughly 500 people and serve as the company’s “most advanced robotics facility” in Connecticut.

The announcement before a packed house at Monday’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting followed a “Water Not Warehouses” protest led by more than three dozen residents outside Town Hall.

Carrying signs like “Keep Killingly rural,” “Save the Last Green Valley” and “Keep our Quiet Corner quiet,” the group of protesters called on town leaders to protect local aquifers and reject Project Husky and a separate pending proposal for a pair of 178,750-square-foot and 297,500-square-foot warehouses at 90 Putnam Pike.

“I hope they listen to us, and they make the right decision,” protest organizer Jennifer St. Vincent, whose home directly abuts the proposed Putnam Pike construction site, said. “The community is saying no, … but we’re not even sure they’ve been listening to us.”

At the protest and zoning meeting, residents shared concerns that dynamite blasts during construction would crack foundations and damage homes. They also said the warehouses would destroy green space, including woodlands, wetlands and other natural habitats, and lead to increased truck traffic, pollution, noise and fire risks. Their greatest concern was that the developments — and the private wastewater treatment systems proposed for the sites — could pollute the groundwater that feed local wells.

After state officials recently identified 78 private wells contaminated with toxic PFAS chemicals in the Rogers section of town, Wayland Leonard said he and other residents are “very concerned about clean water.”

Leonard, who came to the protest with his 4-year-old son, Ruairi, said the town needs to “take a long, hard think about” these projects that slated for construction on sites with clean water.

“We only have so much (clean water). And for my son’s future, I’d like to preserve as much of those resources as possible,” Leonard said.

Other residents argued that projects of this size do not belong in town.

“This is not progress,” Diana Webber said. “This is destruction, and this is really, really bad for Killingly.

Moratorium proposal moves along

The zoning commissioners voted unanimously Monday to continue discussing a request by leaders of the Keep Killingly Rural coalition to impose a one-year moratorium on certain warehouses and distribution centers.

The proposed moratorium, submitted by former Town Councilwoman Michelle Murphy and resident Lisa Danberg, would pause new applications for distribution centers and warehouses that exceed 100,000 square feet to allow the zoning commission to review and revise its regulations.

Town Attorney Kenneth Slater said the town will work with Murphy and Danberg to tighten the language in their proposal. The commission is scheduled to receive the updated language at its May 18 meeting, as well as discuss the moratorium and set a public hearing for June 15.

During the discussion, Commissioner John Sarantopoulos said, “There’s a lot of people in town that probably think we should leave it (the regulations) as is.”

“Everybody should have a chance to come in here … state what they feel and we could go forward,” Sarantopoulos said.

Commissioners noted that the town previously imposed a moratorium on subdivisions in order to rewrite the town's regulations regarding those developments. Any future rewrites of the warehouse regulations would require additional public hearings as part of a separate amendment process.

While the moratorium would stall new warehouse proposals, it would not impact the existing proposals for the Amazon fulfillment center and the warehouses on Putnam Pike.

Town attorney offers legal guidance

Given that the project site for the proposed Amazon warehouse sits on 360 acres within the town’s business park, the development only needs to pass a site plan review to receive approval from the commission.

Slater explained that site plan reviews leave commissioners with little to no discretion when deciding whether to approve a permit.

“Generally speaking, a site plan review is not discretionary," Slater said. “It’s just making sure all the boxes are checked, I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed. And if they are, your commission’s obligated to issue an approval."

“It’s not a popularity contest,” Slater later added. “If it’s completely compliant with the regulations, it doesn’t matter if you have a thousand people against it. If it’s not in compliance with the regulation, it doesn’t matter if you have a thousand people for it. … You have to apply the regulations the way that they’re drafted.”

During the meeting, Alternate Commissioner Lorraine LaGarde argued that the commission has the power to deny applications that impact the health and safety of the town.

“I think we have to look at the whole picture because we are here to make the town better and that’s our obligation,” LaGarde said.

Slater said that while that principle should guide commission members when drafting regulations and rule changes, when it comes to approving or denying proposed developments, “there’s no principle that you can override what your regulations say because you don’t believe it’s good for the town” because it is assumed that “health and safety is built into” the existing regulations.

To illustrate his point, Slater said that if an application for a fast food restaurant fits all the zoning criteria, commissioners could not reject the project because they believed more access to fast food would increase obesity in town.

LaGarde and other residents criticized Slater for the statement, which they described as a “sad comparison” to the situation at hand.

Councilwoman Ulla Tiik-Barclay argued that Slater’s legal judgment should be treated as an opinion, not as fact. “Attorneys make opinions," Barclay said. "One attorney may have another opinion from another attorney. Just like the Supreme Court justices make opinions and each one’s opinion may vary."

“The people are at the top of the chain of command in Killingly," she added. “Commissioners are appointed by the town council. They are here to do the will of the people. The people are at the top."

Slater’s comments suggested that residents' opinions could have greater sway with the 90 Putnam Pike application, which requires a special permit to move forward.

Slater said that the commission has more administrative discretion over those types of applications.

He said that state law recognizes that certain classes of land use can be considered on a case-by-case basis within a zone. In those cases, Slater said the commission can apply a “more discretionary set of standards” that considers surrounding land uses, property values, traffic patterns and other neighborhood impacts before approving or denying an application.

Slater said special permits also require a public hearing where “members of the public should be heard about whether that particular location is appropriate.”

“You’re not making up the rules, … you’re applying the rules, but by their nature, the special permit rules have more discretion built into them,” he said.

Earlier this month, the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission voted 3-2 to approve the wetlands proposal for the 90 Putnam Pike development.

On Monday, the Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously to hire a third-party to review the application. A public hearing is tentatively scheduled for May 18. 

Middletown pivots stalled Riverside project to focus on downtown parking

Cassandra Day

MIDDLETOWN — The city is not letting the uncertainty about a complicated project stop them from trying to solve an immediate need. Namely: public parking. 

At the urging of the downtown business community, the city is moving ahead with the municipal parking component of the Village at Riverside site even thought the larger --"more ambitious development” — is in limbo. 

The initial, mixed-use project proposed by Spectra Construction & Development Corp. in 2022 called for a block-sized, multilevel housing and retail complex that would include a public square and pedestrian walkways in full view of the Connecticut River.

The site is located between deKoven Drive and Main Street, behind police headquarters.  

The Village at Riverside was initially billed as a public-private partnership. 

“The city’s vision has evolved in light of the delays we have experienced in trying to bring the arcade project to life,” General Counsel Brig Smith said Monday.

The priority now, Smith added, is to realize a “more limited vision that could still allow for future private development on, or adjacent to, the site, but that would require the developer to provide its own parking.” 

The former, multilevel arcade lot was demolished in late 2018 after crumbling concrete and other hazards necessitated its closure.

In late 2024, the city paid $3 million for the Attention to Detail property at 195 Dekoven Drive, which abuts the city-owned property at 60 Dingwall Drive and 222 Main St.

The deal included ATD leasing the property for $1 a month for 18 months, which will be up in June, according to Director of Economic and Community Development Christine Marques.

The city now owns the property from the back of the police station on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way all the way to deKoven Drive, she said.

Demolition of the ATD building, slated for later this summer, Smith said, would provide more public parking in the short term “while our other, longer-term parking initiatives take hold.”

The full project has “slowed down” due to multiple factors, according to Mayor Gene Nocera, including the economy at the local, state and national levels. 

Instead of proceeding with the larger vision, he said, “we’re looking to reverse the plan and start with option C, to just develop the arcade with the full potential to further expand upon it, which to us, makes perfect sense now.”

It may or may not include Spectra, Nocera added: “It depends on the CEO of that company.”

Local business owners are eager to move ahead with the arcade, Smith said. 

“We have listened to feedback from the downtown business community, and the prevailing sentiment is that addressing downtown parking needs in the near future is a higher priority than continuing to piece together a more ambitious development,” Smith said. 

“The feedback we have received is that the perfect should not be the enemy of the good,” he continued.

Eventually, the city would also like to have a housing/retail component, Marques said.

The cost for the parking garage would be “substantially reduced,” Smith said, because it would no longer need to be built to support the load of a development atop it. 

The city is still working on concepts and costs for a garage, he added.

“I’ve supported this for some time, but if we’re stymied by the comprehensive plan, let’s reverse it and move it in phases. That is achievable,” Nocera said.

Also in response to community feedback, officials are looking into adding a second-floor deck to the Melilli Plaza lot to increase its capacity, Smith said. 

It would be located at the north side of the lot, which faces Washington Street, Marques said, and create an additional 87 or so spots. Right now, the lot has 250 spaces.

The city is not looking for a new developer at this point for the rest of the project, Smith said. 

“We are currently focused on the public infrastructure components — (parking and demolition) — before determining the next steps,” he said.

Developer proposes solar facility over Bradley Airport employee parking lot

Joseph Villanova

WINDSOR LOCKS — A solar developer has proposed a new "carport" facility on top of an existing parking lot at Bradley International Airport.

West Hartford-based solar developer Verogy, through its subsidiary Windsor Locks Solar One LLC, has filed a petition with the Connecticut Siting Council seeking a declaratory ruling to allow construction of a 3-megawatt solar photovoltaic electric generating facility at Bradley International Airport. Plans filed with the Siting Council on Friday show 8,064 solar panels to be installed on canopy structures over Parking Lot 5C, a 0.32-acre employee parking lot owned by the Connecticut Airport Authority that is accessed from Light Lane and borders Ella Grasso Turnpike/Route 75.

The petition, filed on Friday, comes not long after Bradley finished a $250 million overhaul of the airport that began three years ago.

Verogy representatives said in a narrative included with the petition that, if approved, the project would begin construction in spring 2027 and take approximately six months to complete, with construction activities occurring between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Sunday. Construction would be phased, allowing employees to use the parking lot throughout the process.

The Siting Council will accept comments on the plan from state agencies, municipal governments, and the general public until May 17. The council's current deadline to approve a final decision is Oct. 14.

A fact sheet for the project from Verogy's website states that the "zero pollution" solar facility would generate some 4.6 million kilowatt-hours per year, enough to power 461 homes annually, in addition to offsetting the equivalent of 3,099 metric tons of carbon dioxide every year.

The narrative states that the project was selected for a tariff agreement as part of the state's Shared Clean Energy Facility program, and completion of the facility would result in credits for participating customers including low- and moderate-income households, municipal governments and small businesses.

Verogy said other benefits of the project include increasing Connecticut's solar capacity without disrupting prime farmland, reducing costs for customers across the state by reducing energy demand during peak usage, providing covered parking, and increasing municipal tax revenue with no burden on services.

Verogy said in its narrative that the planned facility's solar panels and inverters have an anticipated service life of 35 years, after which it would be decomissioned.

State Demands, Snarled Traffic in Old Lyme Debated, as Private Beaches Move Ahead with Sewers

Charlotte Harvey, 

OLD LYME — As sewer construction moves ahead in three of the town’s private beach communities, likely snarling summer traffic along Shore Road, local officials reached for alternatives to satisfy a roughly decade-old state demand to replace about 200 septic systems in Sound View and neighboring properties.

At a meeting Tuesday, the town’s Water Pollution Control Authority again debated possible ways to unwind agreements with the Old Colony, Miami Beach and Old Lyme Shores Beach Associations — and with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection which has warned Old Lyme officials that the agency would not back away from demands for sewers.

The effort comes after turnover, unfilled vacancies and a wave of resignations in February from the town authority as local officials abandoned the town’s portion of the project in the face of soaring costs and broad opposition to the state’s demands for installing sewers.

Tuesday’s meeting opened with two officials from Ledge Light Health District outlining the regional health department’s role in enforcing health codes for the neighborhood’s septic systems — speaking as if the sewer project would proceed as planned.

“We have to enforce the Connecticut public health code and the applicable technical standards,” said Jen Maggio, Ledge Light’s director of health. “And those provide us with some kind of guardrails around where we can make limited exceptions when sewer projects are coming online and when we can’t.”

But members of the town’s Water Pollution Control Authority reiterated that they were opposed to installing sewers and would make efforts to convince state environmental officials to allow the town to pursue alternatives to sewering Sound View.

Vice Chair Dennis Melluzzo pushed back that neighboring states had approved alternative and advanced septic systems with success and, he said, “have seen a lot less pollution.”

The Ledge Light officials acknowledged positives and negatives with those systems, but said that current legislation did not allow for “alternative technologies.”

After those health officials departed, members of the town’s Water Pollution Control Authority discussed a Monday meeting of the private beach association WPCAs, which for the first time was open to the public.

“It’s a very important step because that’s huge for us that those meetings are now open to the public,” Authority Chair Mary Daley said. “It really is.”

With the meetings now open to the public, town authority members said they were able to attend and get a clearer picture of the associations’ work and the progress of the sewer project. 

Laura Parent, the authority’s treasurer, told members that during the meeting Old Colony Beach Association Chairman Doug Whalen expressed his wish for Old Lyme to be part of the project.

Daley reiterated that the results of the December referendum — when over 70 percent of voters rejected plans to increase borrowing to pay for higher-than-anticipated costs — sent a clear message that residents did not want to move ahead with the town’s portion of the project.

“The town said no. They said no,” Daley said. “So now it’s between the town and DEEP to say, ‘listen, will you talk with us and what else could we possibly do at this point.’”

Parent said the cost-sharing agreement for shared sewer infrastructure — which the town signed in 2020 — was also raised at the meeting.

Daley said the town was currently evaluating the agreement to see whether it was legally binding. 

Construction slated to take place this summer along Shore Road (Route 156) was also a hot-button topic as seasonal residents and renters have begun to return.

“That is going to be chaos for the town,” WPCA member Bill Reynolds warned. “I am just baffled by that.”

Discussion turned toward the town’s selectmen having a voice in the matter.

“I think the selectmen should try to get involved in this because as soon as Memorial Day, the traffic is going to be increased,” Melluzzo said. “And also, they don’t have enough policemen now to handle what they have, never mind hiring flaggers and stuff like that.”

But First Selectman Martha Shoemaker, who attended the meeting, told the group that there was nothing she could do.

“It’ll be a little tight,” she said. “And you won’t want to take that scenic route home, but you’ll find some cut-throughs.”

CT Construction Digest Tuesday April 21, 2026

Massive $315M electrical project to bring weeks of detours to CT community’s well-traveled route

 Kenneth R. Gosselin

An already congested thoroughfare — and well-traveled commuter route from suburbs to the west — is expected to worsen this summer as a major leg of $315 million underground electric transmission cable upgrade will lead to lane closures, partly shut down streets and lengthy detours.

The epicenter of the construction along Asylum Avenue in Hartford is at the intersection of Scarborough and Whitney streets in the West End with work tentatively beginning on May 4 and stretching between eight and 12 weeks, according to a project update provided to local property owners by Eversource Energy.

For years, traffic congestion on Asylum Avenue — stretching from Asylum Hill through the West End — has been a concern for the city, with proposals aired in recent years to ease congestion. The concern is so great that West End residents complained at a hearing on a neighborhood development proposal in late 2024 that they were forced to take longer, alternate routes just to avoid the near-constant gridlock.

Eversource, the state’s largest utility, won state approval to replace nearly 7 miles of aging, underground transmission lines in Hartford — installed in 1974 — with more advanced cables. The work along Asylum Avenue is a slice of a 3-year project, which didn’t need local approvals.

The cables “will enhance the safety and reliability of the electric system, increase its capacity to meet current and future energy demand in the Hartford area, and reduce the risk for fluid leaks or environmental hazards,” Tricia Modifica, an Eversource spokeswoman, said, in a statement.

The overall project in Hartford launched a year ago and construction is expected to be completed in mid-2027. The project involves replacing two transmission lines that are considered critical to the city’s power grid.

Modifica said the utility has been in touch with property owners and businesses since June 2023.

“As we continue to receive and review feedback from community members, businesses and city partners regarding construction phases and traffic impacts in the area, we are evaluating ways to safely expedite project work to help minimize impacts to the neighborhood and balance concerns,” Modifica said.

The city of Hartford is not involved with the project itself but did consult with Eversource on its plans for lane closures and detours.

Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said the timing was unfortunately heading into the summer when the city wants to attract more visitors to events.

“Certainly it makes it more difficult, but we don’t have control over the work being done,” Arulampalam said. “But we’re doing everything we can to try to minimize the impact.”

Some components of the project in and around Asylum Avenue are:

Intersection of Asylum and Scarborough and Whitney streets: Beginning May 4, the northbound lane of Scarborough will be closed. Construction will take place on the east side of the intersection, where Asylum Avenue will be fully closed. Traffic will still be able to travel north on Whitney Street and turn west onto Asylum. In addition, motorists also will be able to travel east on Asylum and turn south onto Whitney. Both, however, will require following detours.

The east side of the intersection and the northbound lane of Scarborough will remain closed 24/7 for the duration of the construction, about eight to 12 weeks.

This map shows the detour route for southbound lane travel during replacement of underground electric transmission cables in Hartford's West End. (Eversource Energy)

Scarborough Street at Albany Avenue: As of Monday, the southbound lane of Scarborough Street will be closed 24/7 for up to 3 weeks. The excavation required for the work is such that roadway plates cannot be safely put in place overnight. All residents of Scarborough will have access to their homes.

Once this work is complete, the Scarborough’s southbound lane will reopen and work will begin on the northbound lane, about the same time as work begins at the Asylum street intersection.

The overall project includes replacing two transmission lines.

One, the 1722 line runs nearly three miles from the Northwest Hartford Substation on Albany Avenue to the Southwest Hartford Substation on New Park Avenue. The other, the 1704 Line, stretches about four miles from Southwest Hartford Substation to South Meadows Substation on Reserve Road.

$25M Naugatuck projects plan goes to voters with no tax hike, mayor says

Sloan Brewster

NAUGATUCK — Voters are being asked to approve a $25 million spending plan that officials say won’t raise taxes.

On April 28, the borough will hold a referendum on capital projects that includes designing a new regional animal control facility, building a new dispatch center at the police station and $10 million in roadwork.

How to pay for it all

Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess III said bonding for the projects will not impact the tax rate.

“This is probably, I mean to me, the best part of the story,” he said. “Basically, we’re making all of these improvements without impacting the mill rate.”

The way Naugatuck officials will accomplish this and still get the money and start the work right away is by reconstructing the debt so it won’t be due for six years, Hess said. By then, $5 or $6 million in revenue from an Amazon facility being constructed in town will start rolling in as that’s when tax incentives for the project run out.

That same year, the town will stop paying on old pension debt, saving it about $4 million.

“So in six years from today, the town is $10 million better off than we are today,” Hess said. “The benefit comes to us now without impacting the mill rate. Get everything done now, make our town better now and not affect the mill rate.”

Creating a regional facility

The town wants to replace the animal control building on Cherry Street Extension beside the wastewater treatment plant with a new facility on land behind the police station.

“Our current animal control facility is woefully inadequate and requires a complete replacement,” Hess said.

The first steps -- drafting a design, surveying the land, preparing a site plan and getting utilities to the site -- would be covered by $500,000 to be borrowed if the referendum passes. 

The borough is also working with the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments to apply for a state grant to build the state-of-the-art facility, Hess added. The plan is for Prospect to join in the regional facility.

Officials are also hoping other towns will also hop on board.

The remote land behind the police station, which the town already owns, is large enough to accommodate a regional facility, the mayor said. The first-class facility would have up-to-date temperature control, which is now required by law.

The town has been talking about the project for about a year, Hess added.

If the state does not come through with a grant for the construction, the town will look into alternative funding.

“We want to get the state to pay as much as we can get, but we’re definitely going to be doing a new facility,” Hess said.

Improving cell coverage

The list also includes a $7.5 million public safety project to improve emergency service coverage, Hess said. The town will work with the state on a system that will eliminate dead zones and provide town-wide coverage.

“We have some spots in town with no cell coverage or emergency communication,” he said. Police, fire, emergency medical services “will all be able to communication with each other in emergencies.”

The plan includes building a new dispatch center in the police station and acquiring land for additional parking.

The biggest price tag: roads

The item with the highest price tag is $10 million for repairs, reconstruction and repaving of various roads in the borough. The list includes approximately 150 roads, encompassing every one in town that hasn’t been paved in the current paving plan and micro-paving some additional roads, Hess said. The plan is to complete the work over the next two years.

The end result? “Taking horrible roads, making them excellent,” he said.

What voters need to know

So what will residents actually have to decide on come the April 28 referendum?

The full list that will be before voters is:

$10 million in repairs, reconstruction and repaving of various borough roads;

$7.5 million for a public safety dispatch center radio tower and radios;

$1 million for land acquisition;

$560,000 for improvements to school buildings; 

$400,000 for Tuttle House renovations;

$200,000 for senior center renovations; 

$170,000 for designs for a pedestrian bridge;

$150,000 for Salem Park improvements;

$500,000 for Animal Control Facility design and site work;

$100,000 for Maple Street Bridge lighting repair;

$300,000 for a roundabout design for the Tuttle building;

$400,000 for a Department of Public Works storage building;

$800,000 for Hillside Avenue improvements;

$800,000 for Rubber Avenue corridor upgrades;

$550,000 for Hop Brook Park improvements;

$400,000 for upgrades to courts and parking lots at Baummer’s Park;

$420,000 for lighting for fields at City Hill and Maple Hill;

$500,000 for stormwater and infrastructure improvements;

and $250,000 for a feasibility study for Salem School.

The referendum will take place from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Naugatuck Park & Recreation, 607 Rubber Ave. 

Local Donation Powers UConn Construction Engineering Programs

Claire Galvin

Construction engineering students will be able to round out their theoretical education with hands-on heavy equipment experience, courtesy of a large donation by a local equipment retailer. 

Tyler Equipment Corporation will gift the UConn College of Engineering with a Volvo Electric L20 Wheel Loader for UConn’s construction engineering and management (CEM) program. 

“We are incredibly grateful to Tyler Equipment for this impactful donation,” said School of Civil and Environmental Engineering director Kay Wille. “We want our students to be educated on the latest industry trends and technologies. Through generous partners, we can ensure our students are ready to make positive contributions to the engineering and construction fields.”

The wheel loader will be used in an operator’s course offered to UConn’s CEM minor students. 

“As the construction industry continues to evolve toward more sustainable and technologically advanced solutions, it’s critical that students gain hands-on experience with the equipment shaping the future of the field,” says Tyler Equipment marketing coordinator Courtney Rush. “We’re excited to partner with UConn to help prepare the next wave of engineers and construction professionals.” 

Connecticut’s Local 478 Operator’s Union will aid in course construction, and provide a simulator. Students will become familiarized with machine operations as well as innovations in construction equipment, including electronic equipment and on-board intelligent systems. 

“As the construction industry continues to evolve with new technologies—such as automation, digital controls, and data-driven job site management—our training programs ensure that members stay ahead of the curve,” says Local 478 Director of Training and Fund Administrator Gregg Strede. “By combining proven instructional methods with innovative simulation tools, we prepare a highly skilled workforce capable of meeting the demands of modern construction.” 

There are approximately 40 students in the CEM program currently, and enrollment is continuously growing. 

According to Kay, through this donation, students will better understand how real machinery operators might work on construction sites. Students will learn about vehicle safety, and after being trained on the simulator, will learn how to drive and steer. 

The electric vehicle is a quiet, efficient, and sustainable option for construction sites. 

Currently, students can select the CEM minor. Engineering leadership are hopeful a new bachelor of science degree in construction engineering, management and intelligent systems (CEMI) will be approved and instated in the future. 

The major will emphasize fundamentals in construction engineering and construction management, combined with modern tools in data capturing, data analytics, and artificial intelligence. Advisory input and internships will keep coursework aligned with active practices in the state and national construction sector. 

“Nationwide, the industry must attract hundreds of thousands of additional workers in the next few years to meet increasing construction demand,” Wille said. “As a school, we can scale collaboration with contractors and owners; align coursework with real project requirements; and expand internships and senior design projects that integrate design, sustainability, and delivery constraints.” 

The degree will be designed to produce practice-ready graduates by emphasizing construction means and methods; project and safety management; structural analysis and design for construction, building, and infrastructure systems; as well as horizontal and vertical construction. 

Plainfield lawmakers resurrect proposal that would grant residents veto power over trash plant

Alison Cross

Plainfield — An upcoming meeting on the controversial plan to build a trash plant on Route 12 is expected to bring more community opposition.

SMART Technology Systems LLC will be presenting draft plans for the trash-to-energy facility on April 9 at 7 p.m. on Zoom via the link https://pullcom.zoom.us/s/83057839771. The virtual presentation will include a public comment period that will allow up to three minutes per speaker.

Thursday's meeting is the latest step in a long regulatory process for the proposed trash plant, which would accept 1,800 tons of municipal solid waste each day.

The plant would convert the waste into 45 megawatts of electric power and renewable natural gas through a multi-step process that includes material separation, gasification, power generation, anaerobic digestion and carbon capture.

SMART has published more than 1,500 pages of application materials for the trash plant, which SMART said would be the first of its kind in the United States. Here is a snapshot of what SMART has disclosed about the project and how changing federal regulations could impact emission standards.

Where is the trash plant located?

The SMART facility would be constructed on 81 acres within a larger 506-acre property near the intersection of Norwich Road and Black Hill Road. The land is currently zoned residential, according to the chairwoman of the town's Planning and Zoning Commission.

SMART said the plant would be built within the existing gravel pit owned by O&G Industries, which operates Rawson Materials. The remaining acreage, which is largely wooded, would remain undeveloped.

The trash plant would operate next to more than 130 homes on Black Hill Road, School Street Extension, Bedard Road, Sugar Brook Road, Philmar Drive, Jackson Road, Picket Road, Deibler Lane and Karin Drive.

Two schools, nursing homes, Backus Hospital Plainfield Emergency Care Center, Lion’s Park and the town hall are all within 1.5 miles of the project site.

The property is also near Sugar Brook, a Class A water source, which would receive runoff from the trash plant during a greater than 100-year storm event, according to SMART’s permit applications.

What would the trash plant look like?

The site would consist of an an enclosed "tipping building" where trucks would dump an average of 1,800 tons of trash each day into a recessed waste pit. From there, facility staff would remove bulky waste items like furniture and appliances and store them at a "Special Waste Exclusion Building" for disposal at an off-site facility.

Remaining materials are sorted using artificial intelligence-powered machines. Glass and metals are separated and stored for off-site recycling. Electronics and hazardous household waste like paint, batteries and solvents would be sent to the "Special Waste Exclusion Building."

The leftover material would be sized, shredded and assigned to two waste streams. One creates refuse-derived fuel that will be heated and turned to gas for on-site power generation and residual ash collection. The other creates an organic-rich biomass fuel that will be refined into renewable natural gas and liquefied carbon dioxide for the food and beverage industry.

The facility would include a boiler, gasifier, steam turbine generator, substation, anaerobic digester, biogas upgrader, gas storage bladder, carbon capture and refining system and cooling towers.

SMART said the tallest structure on the site would be a boiler stack that would rise approximately 18 stories high. SMART said the technology in the structure is designed to "avoid the visual impact of a winter vapor plume" common in other cooling towers, which can create plumes that are visible from miles away.

At a distance of 1,500 feet from the nearest public roadway, SMART said, noise, lighting and visual impacts would be "well buffered by vegetation and by distance (including trees)."

How would the SMART facility make money?

SMART said the trash plant is designed to "maximize benefits of the circular economy," in which "waste becomes a valuable resource."

The facility would collect a tipping fee for each ton of municipal solid waste that is dumped at the site. A former trash-to-energy facility in Hartford, known as MIRA, charged roughly $110 per ton for disposal until it ceased operations in 2022. If SMART adopted the same rate, its trash plant would collect $51,480,000 a year in tipping fees alone.

The site also has the capacity to generate 45 megawatts of energy, which would be sold back to the electric grid. If the facility operated at that capacity continuously, it would create enough electricity to power more than 50,000 Connecticut homes a day, according to average energy consumption estimates for the state in 2025.

SMART said its facility would produce up to 327 standard cubic feet per minute of renewable natural gas that would be sold and directed into the local utility pipeline. Operating at full capacity, this commodity, which is equivalent to conventional natural gas, could fuel roughly 2,700 homes per day, based on the daily consumption estimates for the average U.S. home.

Additionally the SMART plant would refine, compress and liquify carbon dioxide at the site, which will be "stored, trucked out and sold to the food industry or for other industrial processes," according to SMART's application materials.

Why does the state need a trash plant?

Connecticut has a trash problem.

According to a 2025 report from DEEP, just 58% of Connecticut’s waste is disposed of in-state. In 2023, Connecticut paid millions of dollars to ship 940,000 tons of trash to out-of-state facilities in Alabama, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Nearly 90% of this exported trash ended up in landfills, according to the report.

The proposed SMART facility would cut Connecticut’s self-sufficiency deficit in half by processing an estimated 468,000 tons of waste each year.

The trash plant would be the second-largest processor of waste in the state, surpassed only by WIN Waste Innovations, formerly known as Wheelabrator Bridgeport, which received more than 727,000 tons of waste in 2022.

Where would the trash come from?

During the first three years of operations the SMART facility would process a 50-50 mix of trash from municipal and private sources — including out-of-state waste — according to the company’s solid waste permit application.

SMART said local government agencies would receive preferential treatment for contracts, and by year five, 100% of the waste processed at the site would come from municipalities.

In traffic study documents, SMART said it anticipates “increased” deliveries from Hartford-area communities that were previously served by the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority, the Hartford trash-to-energy plant that closed in 2023.

How would the plant impact traffic?

Roughly 130 dump trucks would enter and leave the facility each day, according to SMART’s traffic study. Approximately 120 of these trucks would carry in municipal waste, and another 10 would collect and remove more than 100 tons of residual ash from the site.

Roughly 150 employees would commute to and from the plant across three shifts.

All vehicles would access the facility via Route 12, at the site of Rawson Materials' current driveway at 349 Norwich Road. An emergency-access-only driveway would connect the site to Route 14 on Black Hill Road.

SMART said all trash deliveries would take place between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays.

How will the trash plant impact air quality?

Annual proposed emissions from the SMART facility would produce the same warming effect as 493,483 tons of carbon dioxide, according to the SMART’s air permit application. That is more than the annual emissions of 107,000 cars, according to estimates from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Annual proposed emissions from the site would include more than 162 tons of nitrous oxides, 59 tons of sulfur dioxide, 48 tons of carbon monoxide and 19 tons of volatile organic compounds.

Each year, the proposal would also allow the facility to emit 40 pounds of lead particles and 1,840 pounds of Hazardous Air Pollutants — a class of 188 toxic chemicals, heavy metals and other compounds that increase the risk of cancer, infertility, birth defects, immunocompromisation, developmental delays and respiratory issues.

While nearly all of the pollutants would be emitted directly into the atmosphere, SMART estimates that 31.75 tons of particulate matter could end up on the roads as “fugitive dust” from vehicles.

According to the EPA, these small, inhalable particles can bury themselves deep within the lungs and even enter the bloodstream. The EPA said numerous studies link particulate matter exposure to heart attack, asthma, decreased lung function and irregular heartbeat, as well as premature death in individuals with heart or lung disease.

In the addendum to the facility’s environmental justice plan, SMART said its proposal is “structured ... to minimize adverse health impacts or environmental impacts to natural resources in CT.” SMART added that the facility “could not be approved in CT if doing so would threaten adverse environmental or health risks to anyone.”

What is the worst-case scenario modeling?

Under 100% boiler load conditions, an air quality analysis by TRC Environmental Corp. for SMART predicted that the plant could produce higher-than-significant levels of nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide — pollutants that can cause difficulty breathing and contribute to asthma, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Under worst-case scenario modeling, TRC said nitrogen dioxide concentrations that exceed significant impact levels could occur in pockets more than 6 miles from the plant. TRC projected that “the overall maximum impact” — 22.1 micrograms of nitrogen dioxide per cubic meter of air for one hour — would be concentrated roughly half a mile west of the plant.

The same modeling predicted that sulfur dioxide levels of up to 22.1 micrograms per cubic meter of air for one hour could extend 1.5 miles from the plant, with the maximum impact concentrated a third of a mile east of the facility.

According to the state’s Ambient Impact Analysis Guide, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide concentrations are considered significant once one-hour concentrations exceed 7.5 and 7.8 micrograms per cubic meter of air. Pollution levels are considered “adverse” once they cross a threshold of 23 and 25 micrograms per cubic meter for one hour.

Why does SMART say the trash plant has environmental benefits?

By reducing Connecticut’s need to ship trash out of state, SMART said the trash plant will decrease greenhouse gas emissions associated with waste transportation.

SMART said the facility will reduce the amount of trash going to landfills by recovering recyclable materials, converting organic waste into renewable natural gas, generating electricity from refuse-derived fuel, and capturing food-grade carbon dioxide for carbonated beverages.

SMART has also said that the emissions from the plant would amount to just a fraction of those released by any of Connecticut’s existing trash-to-energy facilities in Bridgeport, Bristol, Lisbon and Preston — all of which are more than 30 years old.

Will loosened federal standards impact regulatory policies?

In February, the Trump administration repealed the EPA’s endangerment finding that recognized greenhouse gases as a threat to human health and served as the legal basis for most U.S. climate regulations.

The repeal of the doctrine eliminated the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles, and legal experts said fossil fuel-fired power plants and other emitters could soon follow. However, the EPA said it can still regulate “traditional air pollutants” under the Clean Air Act.

Amid this deregulation, the EPA actually tightened emission standards for waste combustion facilities in March. After 20 years of no changes, new and existing trash-to-energy facilities will now need to adapt to stricter limits on nine pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, mercury and lead.

In application materials, SMART has said its “proposed facility will be the lowest emitting MSW-to-energy facility constructed in the US to-date.” SMART specifically designed its plant to match the unofficial emission standards proposed by the EPA in 2024. The finalized emission standards in the 2026 rule — which all new waste-to-energy facilities must adhere to — either match or are slightly more lenient than the levels in the 2024 proposal, depending on the pollutant.

Existing plants, including those in Connecticut, must reduce their emissions within the next five years to meet the new standards.

During a public presentation in August, Jaimeson Sinclair, the division director of air engineering at DEEP, said any permit granted by the state agency is a living document that requires continuous compliance and monitoring.

Sinclair said there have been cases where DEEP has loosened certain permit standards after the EPA loosened select regulations. However, Sinclair said DEEP will “hold fast” to the standards for which they have discretion.