Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) members on Wednesday, January 9, are scheduled to take action on remedies to be implemented by a plant nursery to correct a wide range of wetlands violations at its Huntingtown Road and Meadowbrook Road growing areas. The IWC session is slated to start at 7:30 pm at Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street.

The IWC’s public hearing on the wetlands violations ended on December 12. On January 9, IWC members are expected to discuss environmental issues and specify what measures must be taken by Planters’ Choice LLC to correct the environmental problems at its properties. The problems stem from uncontrolled erosion and sedimentation.

The wholesale plant nursery has proposed various measures to rectify the problems at 140, 153, and 155 Huntingtown Road and 23 Meadowbrook Road. Those parcels comprise nearly 100 acres owned by Newman Holdings LLC, where Planters’ Choice LLC grows a variety of plants for wholesale distribution.

Last May, in two “cease and correct” orders, the town informed the plant nursery that after an inspection, it was clear that unauthorized activities had occurred on the firm’s properties, including land clearing, earthen filling, grading, and the deposition of earthen material within regulated wetland areas. The town’s issuance of those orders followed complaints from nearby residents about activities at the Planters’ Choice properties.

To gauge the environmental health of the area, the nursery plans to conduct periodic water quality sampling of stormwater as it flows onto its properties and as it flows off the properties. Testing is expected to be conducted for a number of years.

Coupled with recent concerns about the nursery’s wetlands violations are nearby property owners’ concerns about whether their domestic well water supplies have been contaminated by stormwater runoff containing residual amounts of the pesticides and fertilizers used by the nursery.

To address those concerns, the town Land Use Agency has had the town Health District serve as an intermediary between those concerned neighbors and the state Department of Public Health for water quality testing.

According to information listed in the town’s Geographic Information System (GIS), 23 Meadowbrook Road lies within the town’s Aquifer Protection Area. Also, 140 and 153 Huntingtown Road are in the town’s Aquifer Recharge Area. The property at 155 Huntingtown Road is partially within the town’s Aquifer Recharge Area. Those areas are considered environmentally sensitive due to their proximity to the underlying Pootatuck Aquifer, the town’s sole source aquifer, which is the source of two public water supplies and widespread individual domestic water wells.