NEWS

State DEP Hears Concerns About Y Wastewater Plan

By Michael C. Juliano
Staff Writer
Printed in the The Westport News

The proposed system would treat the discharge to protect the "waters of the state" from pollution, but the Y would still need to obtain a water discharge permit from the DEP, because it would be designed to handle 34,000 gallons of effluent a day.

Antoanela L. Daha, a sanitary engineer with the DEP, said the applicant has proven sufficient levels of nitrogen and other toxins will be removed from the wastewater through the plant's use of a Fixed Activated Sludge Treatment (FAST) system.

"The applicant has demonstrated the proposed discharge will meet the drinking water standard," she said.

However, at the hearing, which was forced by a petition circulated by members of Y Downtown Inc., about 25 residents, still expressed concerns about the system, which would be installed underground south of Poplar Plains Brook. Several homeowners said they were worried the system would still allow pollutants into their yards, the brook and the Saugatuck River.

Frank B. Cochran, an attorney for Y Downtown Inc., a group concerned with the impact of the proposed new Y on the area, said his clients and Stearns & Wheler, an engineering firm hired by the town, still have several unanswered questions regarding, among other things, the system's reliability and suitability for the 32-acre site.

Amy Ancel, a 17-year resident of Wilton Road, said the new Y's membership may exceed the capacity of the proposed system, especially since it is located on the Merritt Parkway at exit 41.

"Since the Y really doesn't know what its future use will be, won't cap its membership and has probably significantly underestimated its usage, I hope the DEP will take a very hard and discerning look at this application and its assumptions," she said.

Don Bergmann, a resident of Sherwood Drive, said no nitrogen should be allowed into the water by the proposed system and the conduit for carrying effluent across the brook should be placed underground instead of suspended from the underside of a bridge.

"This would seem like the most sensible and appropriate location for such important pipes," he said. "Indeed, the reluctance of the Y both to propose that solution and to question its need when recommended by Stearns & Wheler causes me, as a Westporter, to question certain aspects of the motivations for the Y."

Toward the end of the four-hour hearing, about a half dozen attendees spoke in support of the system.

Allen Raymond, chairman of the Y's Board of Directors and its president 40 years ago, said the project is "very, very good" for Westport.

"We are approaching this with the same tremendous care with which you (the DEP) are approaching its duties," he said. "We hope the extensive, thoughtful and technical engineering skills will generate your support and your approval."

Christine DePinto, a member of the Y's board of directors, said she is concerned with a "large misconception out there" that the Y is not considering the proposal's environmental impact on the area.

"That's why we hired all these experts, because we are also people who live in Westport and want to protect the environment," she said.

The Y's proposal is scheduled to go before the Conservation Commission at 8 tonight in the Town Hall auditorium. The state DEP hearing was continued to yesterday in Hartford, and will continue on Sept. 21 and 25, if needed.

In addition, a Sept. 6 public hearing before the Flood and Erosion Control Board has been continued to Wednesday, Oct. 4. It will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall auditorium.