United Water—

State Hearing Slated On Greenridge Water Supply

By Andrew Gorosko

BROOKFIELD — State regulators have scheduled a public hearing for next week on a proposal to provide the Greenridge residential subdivision in Brookfield with a safe drinking water supply originating in Brookfield, rather than extending United Water’s Newtown water supply to Greenridge.

The state Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) and the state Department of Public Health (DPH) have slated the session for Wednesday, December 15, at Brookfield Town Hall, 100 Pocono Road. The hearing will be conducted in two sessions. Technical information will be the focus from 10:30 am to 4 pm. General public comment is scheduled for 6:30 to 7:30 pm.

If deemed necessary, the hearing would be continued on additional dates.

The December 15 session will be the fourth in a recent series of public hearings held on the Greenridge water supply issue.

At an initial July 29 Newtown public hearing, Newtown officials objected to extending Newtown’s public water supply system to Greenridge in Brookfield as planned by United Water. United Water is a privately owned utility company that operates a public water supply system in central Newtown and along South Main Street and Mt Pleasant Road.

Under United Water’s Greenridge water supply plan, the firm would extend its Newtown water supply northward from Mt Pleasant Road along Hawleyville Road in Hawleyville and along Whisconier Road in Brookfield to reach the Greenridge subdivision.

Under a counterproposal that has been formulated by Brookfield officials, a water supply line would be extended to Greenridge from a water source within Brookfield, rather than having United Water extend its Newtown water supply to Greenridge.

The planned extension of United Water’s Newtown water supply to Greenridge has proven controversial among Town of Newtown and Borough of Newtown officials who question the wisdom of such a project, asking whether extending the Newtown water supply into Brookfield would potentially compromise Newtown’s future water supply needs. The Pootatuck Aquifer is the source of the United Water’s Newtown water supply.

United Water representatives, however, maintain that the Newtown water supply holds adequate water for a water system extension to Greenridge, and have urged DPUC and DPH to give the water extension project a final approval.

In January 2008, DPUC and DPH had ordered United Water to provide safe drinking water to Greenridge to resolve longstanding problems with tainted water there.

The Greenridge water supply is contaminated with naturally occurring radioactive minerals. Drinking such tainted water is considered harmful. About 700 people live in Greenridge, a small part of which lies in Newtown.