UI challenged on delay in cleanup of English Station site in New Haven

May 6--NEW HAVEN -- The delay in cleaning up the polluted, defunct English Station site by the United Illuminating Co. continues because it has failed, among other things, to get approval from the newest owner.

That was part of the message from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's Lori Saliby, supervising environmental analyst with DEEP, that was shared Tuesday with city officials and environmental advocates.

The message comes at the same time that the Fair Haven Community Management Team continues to advocate for a more comprehensive cleanup by the utility that would expand it to the Mill River.

Remediation of the 9-acre site, agreed to in a 2015 partial consent order, is already three years behind schedule.

Saliby wrote that "DEEP has conditionally approved all Remedial Action Plans as to Parcel A," the site of the older power plant closest to Grand Avenue.

The utility, which has merged with Iberdrola, the Spanish energy giant, razed that building earlier this year.

"UI has not begun work in part, because they have not yet met the condition of getting site owner approval of their plans and in part because DEEP has not approved their contractor plans and specs because they do not match with the approved Remedial Action Plans," Saliby wrote in the email.

She added that there "is also an issue between UI and their contractor."

Steve Fontana, deputy economic development director with the city of New Haven, in an email to environmental activist Aaron Goode, said the delay is not because of any lockdown of construction work by the city amid the coronavirus pandemic.

He said construction work is continuing on two major projects, the Epimoni/AdamAmerica site for new apartments at 87 Union St. and the Hines project for housing at 630/673 Chapel St., the former Comcast building and across the street adjacent to the Smoothie Building.

In November, after city residents expressed their dismay in a public hearing on the delayed cleanup, DEEP said the agency had issued a notice of violation to United Illuminating for failing to complete various aspects of the consent order and it rejected the company's revised schedule.

"UI continues to work with its regulator, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, to ensure that the project progresses in keeping with the Partial Consent Order. UI remains committed to fulfilling its obligations under the PCO, and will proceed with DEEP's consent and authorization at every step along the way," Edward Crowder, spokesman for UI, wrote in an email.

He said soil remediation, as outlined in the Remedial Action Plan with DEEP, "has not begun as we have not been able to secure the site owner's approval of the plans, which is a condition of DEEP's approval."

Crowder said UI does not comment on "contractor relationships. As with every complex project, UI must manage relationships with contractors in accordance with the terms of the contracts.

"There has been no impact on the work at the site from the effects of the COVID-19 lock down. UI has maintained security at the site including the use of cameras," Crowder wrote.

He characterized the remediation as an "active project, and work may be ongoing even when there is no visible activity at the site."

Goode said a bad hurricane season is predicted for the state this year and he fears a category 4 hurricane washing over Ball Island would push all that contamination into the Mill River.

UI has contested a proposed order from DEEP to take responsibility for cleaning up the river. DEEP has said the discussion about the river will move forward as the cleanup work progresses.

Another source of pollution is the Southern Connecticut Gas Co., which is on the west side of the river, according to a 2017 consent order between UIL Holding Corp., United Illuminating Co.'s parent company, and DEEP.

The owner of the English Station property is Haven River Properties, a limited liability company based in Queens, N.Y. The company acquired the property at 510 Grand Ave. for $1 from a Spring Valley, N.Y., limited liability company, Pacific Atlantic.

The United Illuminating Co. operated English Station for 63 years before shutting it down in 1992. It hasn't owned it since 2000, but it agreed to pay at least $30 million to clean it as part of an arrangement that allowed the company to be acquired by Iberdrola.

Crowder said he had not received the letter from the management, but issued a statement after getting a copy from the Register.

"UI and SCG remain fully engaged with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other authorities that govern environmental matters and our businesses, generally, and will continue to comply with applicable laws and regulations. UI and SCG value our relationships with the municipalities we serve and will continue to work with the New Haven community to keep them informed about our activities as they progress," Crowder wrote.

The community management team letter details what it would like to see done to make the water resources around the site usable.

Number one is a comprehensive cleanup of the Mill River so it is safe for fishing, crabbing and swimming.

"All of these activities are happening now in the polluted river. We request Iberdola and its subsidiaries to enter into a full consent order to clean up their respective properties. The standards should be set by CT DEEP, after it undertakes a thorough 'scoping' process with the New Haven community," the letter reads.

Next it wants remediation of soils and historic structures on these sites.

"While the clean up of Ball Island is under way -- it is painfully slow," it wrote. Ball Island is the name of the site where English Station was built.

The management team said it wants English Station and the Southern Connecticut Gas plant "to be made safe from re-polluting the river for eternity. The standard of clean up must account for, at minimum, the predicted three-foot rise in sea level being caused by global warming."

It requests that the historical English Station power plant and the historical structures owned by Southern Connecticut Gas be preserved.

The neighborhood group also wants residents to have "meaningful public access to the river" for recreation and fishing.

"Fair Haven is a park-poor community, making access to clean, safe, open space (is) a primary public need. Expanded public access and safe areas for recreation will support the physical and mental health of residents," the community group wrote.

Its last request is creation of a fund "to support community health and development. Unless the investment in environmental remediation work is paired with significant community investment, the long legacy of air, land, and water pollution, and the disparities in health outcomes and economic opportunities will persist even after environmental remediation work is completed."

[email protected]; 203-641-2577

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