State Regulators Consider Greenridge Water Supply Options

By Andrew Gorosko

BROOKFIELD — State regulators are considering what would be the best means to provide a safe drinking water supply to the Greenridge residential subdivision in Brookfield — an extension of United Water’s Newtown-based water system or the provision of water to Greenridge from some source within Brookfield.

Representatives of the state Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) and the state Department of Public Health (DPH) conducted a daylong public hearing on the issue on December 15 at Brookfield Town Hall.

DPUC spokesman Phil Dukes said December 21 that the DPUC-DPH will be issuing a final water supply decision on the Greenridge matter, but it is unclear when that will occur.

United Water’s public water system serves central Newtown, as well as South Main Street, Mt Pleasant Road, and Sandy Hook Center. Under that firm’s Greenridge water supply plan, the company would extend its Newtown water supply system northward from Mt Pleasant Road along Hawleyville Road in Hawleyville and then along Whisconier Road in Brookfield to reach the Greenridge subdivision.

The DPUC and DPH had endorsed that water system extension project and United Water had started work on the project last spring. But Town of Newtown and Borough of Newtown officials’ concerns about the implications of such a project resulted in the state halting the water system extension until those concerns could be resolved.

Last August, Brookfield First Selectman William Davidson recommended to DPUC and DPH an alternative water supply plan for Greenridge, which would provide water to the subdivision from a source within Brookfield.

It was the December 15 DPUC-DPH public hearing at which that proposal was explained as an alternative to United Water’s extension of its Newtown water supply system to Greenridge.

The existing Greenridge community 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.

The planned $4 million 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. Wells drilled into the Pootatuck Aquifer, alongside South Main Street in the vicinity of Sand Hill Plaza, are the source of the United Water’s Newtown water supply.

First Selectman: ‘Protect Our Aquifer’

Newtown First Selectman Pat Llodra was among those who spoke at the December 15 public hearing, describing Newtown’s view of the Greenridge water supply issue.

Ms Llodra said on December 16 that 40 percent or more of the water that flows through the pipes within Greenridge’s existing community water supply system is lost into the soil due to extensive pipe leakage in the water service lines there.

“This [leakage] is a very significant concern,” Mrs Llodra said, noting that if United Water’s water system was extended from Newtown to Greenridge, it would mean that the utility company would need to pump nearly twice the amount of water from the Pootatuck Aquifer that Greenridge actually needs due to the pipe leakage problems. The DPUC must address such a leakage problem in its review of providing water to Greenridge, she said.

 Mrs Llodra said that the extension of United Water’s water service to Greenridge would not necessarily occur four to five months after water system extension construction commences, when considering the prospect of possible court appeals against DPUC-DPH by certain groups aggrieved by such a water system extension.

Mrs Llodra said Newtown officials are concerned that United Water sought to extend its Newtown-based water supply to Greenridge without first obtaining a water diversion permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Newtown officials challenge the DEP’s decision to waive that diversion permit requirement for United Water, she said.

Obtaining such a diversion permit would require extensive public hearings, which did not occur because DEP waived the requirement for such a permit.

Any water system extension from Newtown to Greenridge should have an environmental assessment performed to gauge its potential impact on the Newtown water supply, Mrs Llodra said.

It would be best for Brookfield to provide water from a source within Brookfield to the Greenridge subdivision, she said.

Newtown officials are concerned that if the state orders United Water to extend its water system from Newtown to Greenridge, there is the likelihood that eventually that water system would be extended even further into Brookfield, requiring that even more water be pumped from the Pootatuck Aquifer, Mrs Llodra said.

If the state decides that the United Water system should be extended to Greenridge, Newtown would want strict assurances that Greenridge would be the only recipient of the water from the water system, she said.

Whether Newtown would pursue a court appeal against the state for ordering United Water to extend its water system to Greenridge would require extensive consultation among Newtown officials, Mrs Llodra said.

“We feel strongly about protecting our future, about protecting our aquifer,” she said.

Public Opinion: ‘A       Solution Must Be Found’

A number of Brookfield residents, including some who live at Greenridge, expressed their views on the situation at the public hearing.

One man said he was glad that United Water would be providing safe water to Greenridge, but it now appears that Newtown is seeking to prevent that from happening.

Another resident asked why it is taking so long for Greenridge to get a safe water supply, considering that it is a public health issue and that the contamination problem has been known for a long time.

The matter has become snarled in bureaucracy, he said, adding that, “We need to get clean water there. It’s a health issue.”

DPUC member Jack Betkoski pointed out that the DPUC-DPH had endorsed the plans for United Water to extend its water system from Newtown to Greenridge, but Newtown officials protested, resulting in the project being stopped.

Other Brookfield residents urged that the United Water’s water system extension plan be expedited to provide safe water to Greenridge soon.

Resident Steve Fowler of Ox Ridge Drive, who had endorsed the United Water plan to extend its water system from Newtown to Greenridge, said, “This has been a long-term [water contamination] problem and it doesn’t seem like there’s been any progress in solving it.”

Resident Marty Foncello of Drover Road said the Greenridge water supply problem needs to get resolved as soon as possible. Mr Foncello, who formerly was the president of the now-defunct Greenridge Tax District, also is a past Brookfield first selectman.

United Water’s water system extension plans would be the best solution for Greenridge, but Newtown officials have raised issues about it, he said. A solution must be found, he stressed.