1. Notice of Scoping for Proposed Public Health Laboratory

Municipality where proposed project might be located: Rocky Hill

Address of Possible Project Location: West Street, Rocky Hill, CT (adjacent to the Veterans’ Home)

Project Description: The Department of Public Health (DPH), in conjunction with the Department of Public Works, is proposing to construct a new state public health laboratory involving approximately 120,000 square feet of building, associated site improvements, and approximately 200 parking spaces on existing state-owned property in Rocky Hill.  The project location involves state property that is currently under the care and custody of the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. The current Public Health Laboratory is located at 10 Clinton Street in Hartford, Connecticut.

The Public Health Laboratory provides analytical services to the state’s health care, public health, and environmental providers.  The Laboratory supports DPH’s public health programs in disease detection and monitoring, Biomonitoring, environmental health, and the Safe Drinking Water program.  The Laboratory also provides laboratory support for other state agencies, including the Departments of Environmental Protection, Agriculture, Consumer Protection, Public Safety, and Labor, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The proposed facility would provide new state-of-the-art laboratories to support current testing programs, provide necessary facilities improvements to incorporate future advances in laboratory technology for the detection of disease causing agents, and provide the ability to expand services into areas such as genetics testing and molecular diagnostics.

Project Map: Click here to view a map of the project area.

Written comments from the public concerning the nature and extent of any environmental impacts of the proposed action are welcomed and will be accepted by or with a postmark date of: June 18, 2005.

A Public Scoping Meeting for this project has been scheduled according to the following:

DATE: June 13, 2005

TIME: 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm (doors open at 6:30 pm)

PLACE: Rocky Hill Town Hall, Council Chambers, 761 Old Main Street, Rocky Hill, Connecticut

NOTES: The purpose of the public scoping meeting is to receive public comments and to provide additional information regarding the proposed action.

Written comments should be sent to:

Name:

Elise Gaulin-Kremer, Ph.D.

Public Health Administrator

Agency:

Department of Public Health

Address:

10 Clinton Street

P.O. Box 1689

Hartford, Connecticut 06144

Fax:

(860) 509-8697

E-Mail:

elise.kremer@po.state.ct.us

If you have questions about the public meeting, or other questions about the scoping for this project, contact:

Name:

Tim Desroches, Project Manager

Agency:

Department of Public Works

Address:

165 Capitol Avenue

Room 460

Hartford, Connecticut 06106

Phone:

(860) 713-5925

Fax:

(860) 713-7270

E-Mail:

timothy.desroches@po.state.ct.us

The agency anticipates releasing an Environmental Impact Evaluation for this project for public review and comment in the fall of 2005.