PCB Damage to Housatonic River

PCB Damage to Housatonic River

January 2008  - The state of Connecticut 
is proposing to modify two dams to provide unobstructed passage for fish 
in the Blackberry River. A bypass channel would be created around Lower 
Pond Dam and an unnamed adjacent dam would be breached. 
The proposed project could improve habitat for Burbot, a state-listed 
endangered species, and provide high, sustainable ecological and 
recreational benefits when unobstructed fish passage is restored to nine 
miles of the Blackberry River. 
Fish passage will be sustainable without need for human intervention 
following construction, says the Department of Environmental Protection's 
Inland Fisheries Division, which estimates the cost of the Blackberry 
River Fish Passage Restoration at $500,000. 
The project is on the recommended "short list" of proposals to restore 
natural resources in Connecticut's Housatonic River Basin that was issued 
last week. 
After months of sorting through 92 proposals, the Natural Resource Trustee 
SubCouncil for Connecticut presented a list of 31 proposals for funding 
acquired in a settlement with General Electric, GE, in 1999. 
The settlement included $7.5 million for projects in Connecticut aimed at 
restoring, rehabilitating or acquiring the equivalent of the natural 
resources and recreational uses of the Housatonic River that were injured 
by the release of PCBs from the General Electric facility in Pittsfield, 
Massachusetts. 
That fund has now grown to just over $9 million. 
The total cost of the 31 proposals on the short list is estimated at 
around $12.5 million. This is $3.5 million more than the approximately $9 
million in grant money that is available. 
Eight of the 31 proposals deal with aquatic natural resources, nine 
address riparian and floodplain resources, and 15 are to enhance 
recreational services. 
The proposals on the short list will now undergo further detailed analysis 
by a consultant who will make an even shorter list that will fit within 
the available funding. 

The total request in the aquatic category is $1,942,354. 
The most expensive item on the Aquatic Natural Resources grant short list 
is the Trout Unlimited Salmon Kill Restoration and Enhancement $617,260. 
This would enhance the riparian corridors and instream habitat of 1.8 
miles of Salmon Kill Creek by installing instream habitat structures, 
stabilizing streambanks, and increasing the vegetation in the riparian 
buffer. 
Also on the short list for a Aquatic Natural Resources grant is the 
Transylvania Brook Culvert Crossing at East Flat Hill Road estimated at 
$480,000. 
This project proposes to replace a perched twin pipe culvert that prevents 
fish passage and to stabilize stream embankments directly upstream from 
the culverts that are currently experiencing a significant erosion 
problem. 
The use of these funds is the responsibility of the Natural Resource 
Trustee SubCouncil for Connecticut, known as the Connecticut SubCouncil. 
This body includes members from the natural resource trustees from the 
state of Connecticut, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 
In addition, the commissioner of environmental protection formed the 
Connecticut Trustee's Advisory Group to provide the DEP with input from 
specific regional interest groups including recreational, environmental, 
planning and governmental organizations. 
The short list of proposals can be found on the project website. 
The public will have until January 4, 2008 to submit written comments 
regarding the recommended short list. Comments should be sent to: Laura 
Fontanella, DEP/IFD, 79 Elm St., Hartford, CT 06106. Verbal comments on 
the report will be accepted at the January 22, 2008 public meeting at 7:00 
p.m. at Kent Town Hall. 

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