Pollution Hazards Prompt P&Z

To Reject Subdivision

By Andrew Gorosko

Citing potential health hazards posed by the presence of chemically contaminated groundwater in the area, P&Z members have rejected a Stratford developer’s proposal to create a four-lot residential subdivision on a strip of land along Mile Hill Road South.

On June 15, P&Z members rejected developer Jack Samowitz’s proposal to create four building lots for single-family houses on a 41-acre site at 40 and 50 Mile Hill Road South. 

The narrow, hilly, winding north-south Mile Hill Road South links Wasserman Way to Turkey Hill Road. The development site lies on the west side of Mile Hill Road South, situated between that road and Housatonic Railroad’s rail freight line. P&Z had held an April 20 public hearing on the subdivision application.

On June 15, P&Z Chairman William O’Neil urged P&Z members to reject the development application. The applicant never informed the P&Z that the site faces contamination issues, Mr O’Neil said. P&Z members discovered that problem on their own while researching the application, Mr O’Neil said.

The developer never offered the P&Z any professional information regarding those contamination issues, the P&Z chairman added.

It is significant that the applicant did not inform the P&Z of such contamination problems, Mr O’Neil said.

P&Z member Jane Brymer said new construction on the site could act to worsen existing contamination problems in that area.

Rejection Rationale

In rejecting the application, P&Z members decided that the proposed subdivision of land does not meet the zoning regulations concerning building-lot sizes and road frontages, nor does it meet the regulations concerning open space. Also, the development proposal violates regulations concerning the creation of rear building lots. The site has sufficient road frontage for four lots, so the proposal to create rear building lots on the site is an invalid one, the P&Z decided.

The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has informed P&Z that the site “is known to have been impacted by contamination migrating from the former Noranda facility.” The former Noranda Metal Industries factory on Prospect Drive is believed to have been a hazardous waste contamination source in that area, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Creating new domestic water wells in an area containing contaminated groundwater could cause the currently stable subsurface contamination conditions to change, P&Z members decided.

“The applicant proposes to give a significant area of open space to the town … which is contaminated with trichloroethylene [TCE]. The applicant has not provided any evidence to [P&Z] that the presence of the contamination will not have an impact upon the public health, safety and welfare of persons who may utilize the open space. The potential risk is unacceptable,” P&Z members decided.

Consequently, P&Z decided that the proposed open space area’s TCE contamination disqualifies it from functioning as public open space.

The developer had proposed designating an unusually large amount of the 41-acre site as open space. Of the 41 acres, 17 acres would be reserved as open space.

An existing underground pollution plume borders the areas that are proposed for building lots and that pollution plume is not under control, the P&Z stated in its motion to reject the subdivision application.

“Neighboring properties are contaminated with MTBE and the source of [that] contamination has not been identified,” P&Z members stated. Methyl tertiary butyl ether is a hazardous substance.

“The applicant made no mention of either contaminant, offered no expert advice on whether the construction of homes and drilling of the wells would change the course or speed of the [groundwater pollution] plume’s migration. The applicant offered no plan on how future homeowners would be protected from this contamination. The impact on neighboring wells is not known once this land is disturbed,” P&Z members stated in their motion.

“[P&Z] deems the proposed building lots to be unsuitable for private residents until such time as the contamination is shown to be under control and not a threat to future residents on the proposed lots,” P&Z members decided.

Much technical information on pollution hazards in the area has been generated by a consulting engineering firm that has studied the problem, Mr O’Neil has said. Metcalf & Eddy of Wallingford has researched the pollution aspects of the site.

In June 2004, the Conservation Commission, acting as the town’s wetlands agency, approved allowing Metcalf & Eddy to drill monitoring wells on the 40 and 50 Mile Hill Road site to check for groundwater pollution.