The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Woodridge Lake sewer line meeting, hearing scheduled
TORRINGTON — The Woodridge Lake housing development has submitted a long-anticipated application to construct a sewer line that would connect to the Torrington system, setting further consideration of the idea by the city into motion.
Mayor Elinor Carbone announced last week that an informational meeting on the proposal is scheduled for Jan. 31, with a public hearing to follow on Feb. 20. Both events will take place at 6:30 p.m. in City Hall.
The Torrington portion of the line would run along Route 4, connecting to the existing system near Riverside Avenue, according to a letter from James Mersfelder, vice president of the Woodridge Lake Sewer District, submitted along with the application.
The existing sewer line has the capacity to handle the proposed flow rate of 110,000 gallons per day from the Goshen housing development, Mersfelder said. The project is estimated to cost $15.6 million, with construction lasting 18 to 24 months if the project is approved.
The informational meeting will allow “DEEP, the Department of Public Health, Woodridge Lake Sewer District, Torrington Water Company, Torrington Public Works Department, and the Torrington Water Pollution Control Department to provide vital information relative to the impacts this
request will have on our system,” Carbone said last week.
The Torrington Water Company sent a letter to customers voicing opposition to the proposed route in October 2016, saying a break in the line could discharge raw sewage into the watershed area and affect the Allen Dam Reservoir.
After an investigation, the state Department of Public Health found in August that the project would be “prejudicial to public health,” as it could potentially lead to the pollution of the reservoir, and issued a series of required conditions that the Woodridge Lake Sewer District would have to abide by for it to move forward.
These included requiring state approval of any inter-municipal agreement between Woodridge Lake and Torrington; the prohibition of sewer service along the force main in question; the submission of evidence of liability insurance for a potential spill; and allowing DPH inspection of the section of the pipeline that would run through the reservoir.
The project has been updated to incorporate these requirements, Mersfelder said.
The current Woodridge Lake sewer system has working to comply with a consent order from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to address its sewer system since 1989, when the amount of sewage allowed from the housing development was restricted from 200,000 gallons per day to 100,000.
“CT DEEP believes that failure to abide by the DEEP Consent Order could potentially impact the drinking water supply from the downstream aquifer in Litchfield,” said Mersfelder in the letter. “The proposed wastewater transmission system addresses and eliminates these concerns.”
According to the WLSD website, this included the exploration of various alternatives to the current ridge-and-furrow filter bed system, such as building a new on-site plant or sending the wastewater through the Torrington system.
At this time, DEEP has determined the proposal on the table “is the only practical solution,” Mersfelder said.
The Torrington Inlands and Wetlands Commission has approved the project, finding “there is no reasonable likelihood of adverse impact to the wetlands and watercourses from the regulated activities proposed,” according to the minutes for its Sept. 20, 2016 meeting.
The project requires approval from the City Council, acting as the Water Pollution Control Authority for the city of Torrington.