1. Record of Decision for City of Bridgeport Facilities Planning for East Side and West Side Wastewater Treatment Plants
Addresses of Possible Project Location: East Side Water Pollution Control Facility, 695 Seaview Avenue, Bridgeport, CT 06607 and West Side Water Pollution Control Facility, 205 Botswick Avenue, Bridgeport, CT 06607
Municipality where proposed action is to be located: City of Bridgeport
Project Description: The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is administering funds from the Clean Water Fund for the City of Bridgeport to upgrade two Wastewater Treatment Plants. The City of Bridgeport owns and operates two wastewater treatment plants that serve the combined sewer overflow (CSO) community, where both sanitary sewage and stormwater are carried in a single pipe. The wastewater treatment plants are the subject of Administrative Order AOWRMU19001 issued by DEEP on March 1, 2019. In response to this order, a facilities plan was submitted to the DEEP on November 24, 2020. Through the Environmental Monitor, the engineering report was submitted for scoping, post-scoping, and a Public Hearing was held. Based on the engineering report, comments received during scoping, and at the public hearing, an Environmental Impact Evaluation (EIE) was completed.
Updates will be made to two wastewater treatment plants (the 13.9-acre West Side plant and the 8.3-acre East Side plant) in southern Bridgeport to bring the facilities into compliance with public safety and environmental health. Work will include the retention and retrofitting of much of the existing facilities, as well as the construction of new buildings, and demolition of several buildings and structures on the sites which will occur entirely within the current parcel boundary. Following local and state approvals of the concepts, the design phase is expected to start Spring 2022 with completion of both plants expected by October 2028.
The City of Bridgeport is already under an enforcement action to upgrade both wastewater treatment plants. The enforcement will be updated to memorialize the schedule of the treatment plant upgrades.
Connecticut Environmental Policy Act (CEPA) Determination: On June 8, 2021, DEEP published a Notice of Availability of an Environmental Impact Evaluation, in accordance with Section 22a-1d of CEPA, in the Environmental Monitor.
DEEP held a virtual public hearing on October 29, 2020.
Comments were received from the Town of Trumbull. DEEP has reviewed and approved the prepared responses to the substantive issues raised in the comments on the EIE and on supplemental materials or amendments. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's conclusion is documented in the Record of Decision for the proposed action.
Agency contact:
Name: Ann Straut, Sanitary Engineer 3
Agency: Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Address: 79 Elm Street, Hartford CT 06106
E-Mail: ann.straut@ct.gov
Inquiries and requests to view and or copy documents, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, must be submitted to the sponsoring state agency.
What happens next: The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has submitted the Record of Decision to the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) for review. OPM's determination regarding the Record of Decision will appear in a future edition of the Environmental Monitor.