The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Woodbridge Lake sewer plan is off
TORRINGTON — The City Council, acting as the Water Pollution Control Authority, revoked the Woodridge Lake Sewer District’s reservation of capacity in the Torrington sewer system Monday evening.
The WPCA assented to an application by the sewer district to connect to the city system in March 2018, but that approval was contingent on reaching an intermunicipal agreement between the city and the sewer district to govern the project, as well as the submission of final design plans.
Mayor Elinor Carbone said both steps were expected to be completed within a year, but neither has come to pass.
“As of right now, there is no longer an option of connecting to the Torrington system unless they reapply,” said Carbone.
Jim Mersfelder, vice president and treasurer of the Woodridge Lake Sewer District, said in an email that the group had sought, but not received, funding for the Torrington pipeline through the United States Department of Agriculture that was required to make the project economically feasible for residents.
He said the bids received for the project, as well as the negotiations with the city on an intermunicipal agreement, had increased the challenges of funding the project.
The pipeline was expected to cost approximately $15.6 million when the Woodridge Lake Sewer District submitted plans to the city in January 2018.
The sewer district said that “unanticipated engineering expenses, legal expenses, and additional measures to protect the watershed as required by the Department of Public Health have cost an estimated $2 million” in a February 2019 letter to residents and noted additional funding may be needed for it to move forward.
Mersfelder said the group is now seeking funding for the Torrington project through the Connecticut Clean Water Fund, as well as looking at a local option within the housing development and the possibility of connecting to the Litchfield sewer system.
The group will go back to the USDA to seek funding for the latter two projects, he said.
“At the moment we have open questions with the Litchfield WPCA, DEEP and the USDA which will need to be resolved before we are in a position to move forward. As such I would say the Torrington connection continues to be on hold,” said Mersfelder.
Woodridge Lake officials
have been seeking a way to handle the development’s sewer requirements for decades.
According to DPH, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection issued a consent order to the sewer district requiring it to “address its sanitary sewer collection and wastewater treatment and disposal needs” in June 1989, which Carbone said re
mains in effect.
A portion of the pipeline was to run through the watershed area for the Allen Dam reservoir, which is used by the Torrington Water Co. The 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 and affect the reservoir. In March 2018, residents packed a public hearing in Torrington to voice their opposition.