Subdivision Plan Revives Fears Of  Groundwater Pollution On Megans Circle

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are considering a developer’s controversial proposal to construct a seven-lot residential subdivision off Cedar Hill Road. The development plan has drawn strong opposition from some nearby residents who charge that the project would pose pollution threats to their domestic well water supplies.

Developer Jude Tallman is proposing the construction of Little Ridge Estates on 15.7 acres at 32 Cedar Hill Road, on the north side of that street. The project would involve the construction of six new houses; one existing house would remain standing. The site would contain a 1,100-foot-long road known as Red Fox Lane, and would hold 2.4 acres of open space land.

P&Z members conducted the third installment of a public hearing on the development proposal on September 20. The fourth installment of the hearing is slated for October 4.

A group known as the “Concerned Residents of Megans Circle and Cedar Hill Road” has formed to oppose Mr Tallman’s development proposal. The group has submitted a 20-signature petition, bearing the names of Megans Circle and Cedar Hill Road residents who oppose the Little Ridge Estates project.

Megans Circle is a short dead-end street extending off Cedar Hill Road and contains about 10 houses. Some residential properties on the eastern edge of the Megans Circle neighborhood abut the Little Ridge Estates site.

Danbury Attorney Ward Mazzucco represents the opponents of the development proposal.

The Megans Circle residents’ well water contamination concerns stem from the 1991 discovery of subterranean pollutants in area groundwater. The concerned residents say the need to blast rock ledge to build Little Ridge Estates could result in the groundwater contamination problem extending into their neighborhood.

In 1999, to provide safe drinking water, the United Water public water supply system was expanded to serve residents in that area who had polluted water wells and also to residents who had wells that were threatened by that pollution. A public water supply started flowing through new water mains to homes on Appleblossom Lane, Dogwood Terrace, and a section of Cedar Hill Road. Approximately 100 addresses received new water service in the $1.5-million project, which largely was covered by state grants.

PCE Contamination

The homes that received the public water supply either had polluted wells or had wells that were threatened with pollution by tetrachloroethylene (PCE) at concentrations exceeding acceptable levels. PCE also is known as perc, perclene, and perchlor. The chemical is used as an industrial degreasing compound and as a solvent in the dry cleaning of fabrics.

Results of animal studies conducted with high amounts of PCE show the chemical can cause liver and kidney damage, including cancers. PCE may reasonably be anticipated to be a carcinogen or cancer-causing agent, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.

It is thought that the chemical solvents found their way into the groundwater after a backyard mechanic in the Cedar Hill Road neighborhood used the toxic chemicals to degrease machine parts and then carelessly disposed of the chemicals. Rather than spend large sums on trying to locate the exact source of the pollution, the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) opted to provide a safe drinking water supply to residents of the neighborhood, resulting in the water system expansion.

In a document submitted to the P&Z on September 20, the residents who oppose Little Ridge Estates state, “We remain very concerned about the risk that blasting and excavation on the Tallman site will cause carcinogens to pollute the water we use for drinking, cooking. and bathing.” The residents urge that the P&Z reject the subdivision application.

The development project poses public health, safety, and welfare concerns, the residents state.

A technical review of the project, which was conducted by the town’s consulting engineers Fuss and O’Neill Inc, contains no current information on the location of the subterranean pollutants, according to the residents.

Also, a technical report prepared for the developer does not state the current location of the underground contaminants and does not guarantee that the construction would not contaminate their underground well water supplies, the residents add.

The residents state that the developer is not willing to cover the full cost of extending a public water supply to each residence on Megans Circle and nearby Cedar Hill Road. The Little Ridge Estates project, however, would be supplied with public water by the developer.

In an August 26 letter to the P&Z, the residents state, “Our issue is that the blasting at this site will create new [underground] fissures and cracks, and will release these carcinogens into those fissures and cracks, thus leading to contamination of our groundwater resource. With such an uncertain result, the strong potential for contamination, and the high cost of supplying [public] water to our properties…what is the logic behind approving this application for development?”

At the initial public hearing on Little Ridge Estates on August 2, several residents expressed concerns that blasting could extend existing groundwater contamination problems in the area to their water wells.

 The town’s technical report on the development proposal, which was prepared by Fuss and O’Neill, states that underground contaminants in the area may travel into areas where those contaminants had not been previously detected. The report notes that the town’s Conservation Commission is requiring the developer to drill three groundwater quality monitoring wells in a wetland on the development site. Initial testing on water from those wells would show whether the contaminants have already traveled to that area, according to Fuss and O’Neill.

The Conservation Commission had rejected an initial, larger Little Ridge Estates development proposal. The commission later approved a revised version of the project and placed many environmental safeguards on it. It took approximately one year for the development proposal to gain Conservation Commission approval, said Conservation Official C. Stephen Driver.

 In response to the groundwater contamination concerns expressed by nearby residents, Fairfield attorney John Fallon, representing Mr Tallman, has said that blasting on the development site would be done under controlled conditions and would be overseen by the town’s fire marshal. Mr Fallon said Mr Tallman would post a bond to be held by the town as surety in the event that nearby water wells are damaged by the blasting.

The developer also has agreed to allow the P&Z to review the firm that would do blasting at the site.

 Mr Tallman would perform groundwater quality testing to check for groundwater pollution for up to one year after the proposed subdivision is completed, Mr Fallon said.

Russell Slayback, a hydrogeologist representing Mr Tallman, has said it is unlikely that any previously discovered contaminants would leach through area groundwater as a result of blasting.

In a September 20 letter to the P&Z, Mr Slayback stated that blasting would be closely monitored.

Megans Circle sits at a higher elevation than the underground water contamination plume, Mr Slayback noted, adding that the plume is at least 500 feet away from the nearest Megans Circle home.

 The developer would conduct initial groundwater pollution testing on his site, and if contamination is detected, more testing would be done, Mr Slayback said.

Of the scope of the testing needed to gauge the possible presence of contaminants in the area, Mr Slayback wrote, “Additional investigation would be very costly, and in my opinion, far beyond the needs of the [P&Z] in making decisions on the Little Ridge Estates subdivision.”

In an August 27 report to the P&Z, Mr Slayback wrote that the proposed construction of a new road and six new houses “will have no adverse impact on the existing plume of PCE contamination.” No blasting would be done near the contaminated area, he wrote. Blasting would be required for construction of a section of the new road and for two house lots.

Engineer Mark Lancor, representing Mr Tallman, has said Mr Tallman would be willing to post a construction bond in order to replace any contaminated water wells whose contamination was caused by subdivision construction, as determined by the town health department. Also, Mr Tallman is willing to install water pipes in his proposed subdivision for the potential extension of those water lines to Megans Circle, according to Mr Lancor.

It is unclear, however, who would cover the costs to extend water lines to Megans Circle homes, if such water line extensions are eventually deemed necessary.