$8.8M earmarked for pollution cleanup
A look at which towns and cities across the state will benefit from federal environmental grants
Connecticut will receive $8.8 million in federal environmental grants to assess and cleanup brownfields sites across the state, it was announced Monday, funding boosted by the bipartisan infrastructure law backed by the U.S. Congress and signed by the president in 2021.
Six communities in Connecticut will share in $5.8 million and were selected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a competitive program aimed at tackling specific brownfield projects. In addition, another $3 million in non-competitive funding was awarded to the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments for a revolving loan fund that has been active in funding 22 cleanup projects either completed or now underway.
Separately, the University of
Connecticut has been awarded $5 million to provide training and technical assistance to communities across the state under Uconn’s Technical Assistance to Brownfields Communities Program. The funding is drawn exclusively from the federal infrastructure law.
The town and city recipients who successfully competed for funding include:
$2 million to the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency to clean-up a contaminated lot on Martin Luther King Drive and other initiatives.
$1 million to New London to redeveloped blighted sections of the city’s downtown to promote more affordable housing and storefronts.
$1 million to Waterbury to cleanup the Brass City Food Hub site on South Main Street.
$800,000 to Killingly to focus on three properties within the city’s “enterprise corridor” zone.
$500,000 for the Connecticut Metropolitan Council of Governments to assess and develop projects in Bridgeport, Easton, Fairfield, Monroe, Stratford and Trumbull. The sties include vacant lots, a former theater, storage facilities, a metal packing plant and an illegal landfill.
$500,000 to East Hampton to focus on Summit Thread mill sites and the former East Hampton Bell Co. factory.
Connecticut’s long industrial history has left the state with a large inventory of brownfield properties. Without grants and other low-cost funding to clean them up, it makes its economically difficult to redevelop, experts have said.
“Brownfields threaten our
“We followed it and we exceeded it. We held in excess of six public community forums to hear from the community, to respond to the community. The support (for the school) has been and continues to be overwhelming. … So we stand here today wondering how a school that followed the process that has been dictated by the state of Connecticut… when it was time to vote to grant us a charter, for some reason still unbeknownst to us, the decision was let’s hold on voting for this school, not for the others that had also gone through the exact same process as us,” she said.
State Sen. Doug Mccrory, who has been a supporter of Capital Prep Middletown, said that he has been crying out for the last 30 years that there is a problem in the state. He said the state has not figured out a solution on how to properly educate Black, brown, and poor children.
“What is very disappointing is that our parents and children are required to go to the schools in their neighborhood where they know their opportunities, at the end of the day, are going to be bad for their children. Our children do not have choice,” he said. “In Connecticut, where you live matters. It matters what type of education you’re going to get, what type of healthcare you are gonna receive, what kind of housing you are gonna receive, what type of employment you are going to receive…those cards that citizens in Middletown, New Haven, and Hartford have been dealt…”
As an educator for 35 years and chair of the Education Committee, he said he knows what needs to be done to solve this issue.
“I know the facts are, I know what needs to be done. We are not doing it, because we don’t have the political will or do we just not care? I’m an economics major. I forecast. I look at what this future will look like and what kind of products are coming out of our public school system, if you’re not alarmed as a citizen in this state – you have a problem,” he said. “When only four school districts in the state have 80% of their children reading on grade level by third grade…this is not just an urban problem, a Black problem, a white problem. This is a state problem. This is an economic issue.”
He said he encourages Middletown residents not to give up and to continue to fight for Capital Prep Middletown to become a charter in the city.
“This is your fight, this is your civil rights fight. Keep fighting. Push this party, this part, this Democratic party, force them to have a conversation. Let’s have this conversation about education. If you wait for us to, it’s not gonna happen. Keep going, keep putting the pressure on. Make the politicians work for you,” he said.
Scot X. Esdaile, president of the NAACP Connecticut State Conference, said they are in full support of Capital Prep Middletown, especially as the founder of Capital Prep schools, Steve Perry, is a native of the city.
Esdaile said while he understands the political games of the past and present, he recommends they stop and the community should consider legal action, if they are unable to get satisfaction from the legislature.
“Now, the question is this: Is this a fair process? Did the community of Middletown go through the process and do everything correctly? And if they did everything correctly, why are they doing this to us?,” he said.
He also questions whether taking away funding from Capital Prep Middletown is an act of discrimination.
“So I think that we should take this to the national office of the NAACP and sit down with the best attorneys across the country and see if we can take this to court, because I don’t think this is fair and I know many individuals in the Middletown area don’t think it’s fair,” he said.
Perry said he would be lying if he said he was stunned by this situation, noting 69 percent of the white children in Middletown can read at grade level, compared to 26% of Black children in Middletown.
Perry also said Middletown has one of the large achievement gaps in Connecticut, which has the largest achievement gap in the country.
“All you have to do is be Black in Middletown and you’re significantly more likely to be suspended, expelled or disciplined, significantly more likely to fail, drop out and not read at grade level,” he said.
Perry said that he chooses not to focus on people looking to hinder the process, but wants to commend the community for fighting for Capital Prep Middletown to come to the city.
“Our community has come out deep. Black folks have risen up. They have said enough is a d— enough. We’re tired. Pastors have said ‘we’re tired of having to go down to the schools to fuss and fight.’ Moms have come together. It’s ecumenical. It’s multicultural. People have said I’m done with this thing. I’m not doing this anymore. I’m not going to keep taking crumbs and trying to mash them in to make a sandwich. We’re not doing that,” he said.
Perry said he believes state Sens. Matt Lesser and Jan Hochadel should support Capital Prep Middletown funding in the budget and voters will pay attention to it when it comes to the next election season.
Hochadel could not be reached for comment and Lesser sent The Hartford Courant a letter from The Middletown Racial Justice Coalition, which states that they do not support reallocating funding for Middletown Public Schools, or any other city, to Capital Prep Middletown, but would prefer funding anti-racist initiatives within public schools.