Environmentalist Named To HVA Board

Leendert “Len” DeJong of Newtown has been elected secretary of the Housatonic Valley Association (HVA) Board of Directors.

Mr DeJong is manager of Aquarion Water Company’s Watershed and Environmental Management Office. He has extensive experience in environmental conservation through his responsibilities at Aquarion and also through volunteer work with the American Water Works Association, which he has served as international director and as past chairman of the Connecticut chapter. He also is a past board director of Water For People and past chairman of the Roxbury Inland Wetlands Commission. He has been involved with environmental initiatives in the Housatonic Valley for more than two decades.

The HVA, a tri-state nonprofit citizens’ group, has worked to protect and restore the natural character and environmental health of the Housatonic River and its watershed for 67 years. Its volunteers monitor water quality, conduct clean-up projects along the river and the streams that feed it; and add sections to the Housatonic RiverBelt Greenway, linking preserved space along the river with hiking and biking trails.

Aquarion Water Company, headquartered in Bridgeport, is a public water supply company serving 680,000 people in 36 communities throughout Connecticut, including much of Fairfield County. It is among the seven largest investor-owned water utility companies in the United States.