Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced today that more than $150,000 in federal stimulus funds have been used to retrofit 146 state highway plow trucks with emission control systems to reduce harmful diesel pollution. “The DOT plows you see on snowy days like this are being made environmentally friendly,” Rell said, adding that the funds are
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The state Bond Commission will vote at its meeting next month on funds to plan for double tracking of the New Haven to Springfield rail line as the state positions itself to compete for federal funds for the project. The Bond Commission will meet Jan. 8 at 10:30 a.m. at the Legislative Office Building. via
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MIDDLETOWN — Long looking to shutter its own aging wastewater-treatment plant and become a member of the Mattabassett District, a three-town member body that shares control and use of a wastewater-treatment facility in Cromwell, the city could soon again be at the negotiating table with the district. via State DEP aids in city’s fight to
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MIDDLETOWN — Wesleyan could finally see $2 million the state owes it for environmental cleanup of the former Long Lane School site — a 160-acre parcel that once housed a juvenile delinquent facility — which the university purchased in 2000. via Rell: Wesleyan to receive $2M for Long Lane site cleanup – The Middletown Press
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New Milford Water Pollution Control Authority Superintendent Kenneth Bailey said that work has “been moving slowly” but is still on schedule regarding the $30 million renovation to the wastewater treatment plant, a project that residents approved at referendum last August by in a 772-to-224 vote. via The Housatonic Times – New Milford Water Plant On
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Students will be drinking bottled water as a precaution Preston, Conn. — Environmental cleanup crews continued excavation Wednesday at Preston Veterans Memorial School in search of contaminated water and soil from a leak that sent hundreds of gallons of heating oil into the ground. via Environmental crews clean up heating oil spill at Preston school
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FOR all the excitement surrounding the development of electric vehicles, a fundamental limiting factor remains: storage. How, after all, does one coax more miles out of a fully electric vehicle without creating a battery so big, and so heavy, that it cripples the car? To the extent that the Obama administration has made answering that
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GLASTONBURY – The Connecticut Audubon Center at Glastonbury will hold its annual winter lecture series on Wednesdays starting Jan. 6. This year’s series will focus on “Moving from My Space to Our Space” and explore things each person can do to create a sustainable future. Each lecture will be held every two weeks from 7:30-9
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GLASTONBURY – – The Great Meadows Conservation Trust, Connecticut Audubon Center at Glastonbury and the Eleanor Buck Wolf Nature Center are sponsoring a series of winter walks in January. The walks will be held on weekends and start Jan. 10 with a hike through the meadows along the Connecticut River in Wethersfield, Glastonbury and Rocky
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Massachusetts and 10 other northeast and mid-Atlantic states, including Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont, have committed to a regional plan to cut fuel emissions. The pact’s finer details have yet to be announced, however the agreement has the potential to change the costs and market
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Given that one of the responsibilities of the Connecticut Siting Council, (the government body responsible for approving requests by telecommunications companies to build cell towers) is to promote “the sharing of telecommunications towers in order to avoid their unnecessary proliferation,” it is informative  to note that , acccording to T-mobile themselves, the coverage that they currently offer
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International documentary photographer Daryl Hawk will present a color nature retrospective slide show accompanied by live classical music, entitled “Call of the Wild,” to the Appalachian Mountain Club on Wednesday, Jan.  13. This presentation will be held at Christ and Holy Trinity Church, 75 Church Lane in Westport. Wine and cheese will be at 6:15
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State and local programs that are dually eco-friendly and economically beneficial will begin sprouting in Connecticut as the regional fiscal situation improves, State Sen. L. Scott Frantz (R-36) said. “If we had a more stable fiscal situation, we would have a green tax credit for buildings up to $25 million in the state,” he said
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A sharp-eyed reader noticed that the state has in two years dramatically changed its official tune on the Union Station clackety-clack that’s headed for the dustbin. The clacking sound — music to the ears of many train riders — comes from the “Solari” departure board in the train station’s grand waiting room. via New Haven
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Aquarion Water Co., the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Nature Conservancy are working on an experimental project to help migrating eels pass safely downstream from Aquarion’s Aspetuck Reservoir in Easton. Aquarion staff has long struggled with the problem of eels getting caught in pumps and grates at water treatment plants and pumping stations
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WATERTOWN – The Town of Watertown Public Works Department (DPW) has announced to the public that copies of the 2009 National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Phase II Program annual report for Watertown are available for review. via Town Times – Pollution annual reports available in Watertown. Blog this! Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post
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Consumer backlash and cost concerns may cause delays in the nationwide rollout of “smart” utility meters at the center of the Obama administration’s $8 billion push to update the U.S. electricity grid. The meters, part of a so-called smart-grid initiative billed as clearing the way for more renewable-energy use, are designed to help consumers conserve
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In a discussion a few years ago about more regional activity in Greater Hartford, West Hartford Mayor Scott Slifka raised an important question: “Who will do the work?” His point is well taken. If Greater Hartford is to become a metropolitan region and engage in more sharing of services and other regional initiatives, someone —
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In the past two weeks, water has resurfaced as a problem for at least two households on Westerleigh, a road that runs between Whalley and Lawncrest Road in the Beverly Hills section of Westville, between Fountain Street and Whalley Avenue. Residents hope it’s not a repetition of the severe problems that began in 2004 and
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1. Easton has no commercial development; 2.  Easton is a farming community; 3.  Snows Dairy Farm is an historic site; 4.  Neighboring farms will be harmed by cellular tower; 5.  State of Connecticut invested to preserve Easton; 6.  Easton is the guardian of the water supply of Fairfield County; 7.  Sport Hill Road is an
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