The installation of a grease trap and rerouting of drainage pipes from Stew Leonard’s at Calf Pasture into the city’s sanitary sewer system will begin shortly. On Monday night, the Board of Es-timate and Taxation approved a special capital appropriation of $75,000 to install the grease trap, a holding tank and pump system outside Stew
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The newly appointed head of the Department of Environmental Protection, Dan Esty, hopes to make Connecticut the leading state in the race toward a clean energy future, Yale Daily News reports.

Is your community investing in green infrastructure to improve air quality, lower summertime temperatures, or reduce energy costs? The Clean Water America Alliance (Alliance) is conducting a project for the Turner Foundation to engage utilities, cities, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector on green infrastructure policy. Click this Environmental Headline for more information!

The CT DEP and the Candlewood Lake Authority have announced that training is available for people interested in volunteering their time to monitor boat launches on Candlewood Lake for the presence of the invasive plants and animals, such as zebra mussels.

Gateway Community College’s registration for summer classes began on April 1, 2011. For those of you who have been waiting to register for any of the classes in our attached summer schedule, you may register now. Please note the reduction in fees for attending their two solar offerings.

A California congressman attached an amendment — section 4029 — to the budget bill that was recently approved in the House. This rider would hurt Montana and it is troubling that Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., voted for this provision, which threatens a balanced system of use on our public lands and encourages private lands trespass.
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Connecticut’s cities just received some good news from what is usually a source of bad tidings — the U.S. Census Bureau. For the first time since 1950, the state’s five largest cities all posted population gains in a decennial census.

The Connecticut DEP has announced that the highly invasive freshwater alga, Didymosphenia geminata, known as “didymo,” has been discovered in the West Branch Farmington River, a very popular trout stream in northwestern Connecticut.

Torrington Mayor Ryan J. Bingham has agreed to invest half of a $14,000 recycling award from the Connecticut Resource Recovery Authority toward an education program to try to further encourage recycling.

Dedication ceremony celebrates the installation of the new 5-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system at Hamden Middle School.

Connecticut Cottages & Gardens is previewing Sustainable Connecticut, a new publication that showcases the emerging local food movement. The April 2011 issue carries a taste of what could become a go-to resource for essential truths about the food we consume.

Everyone knows that flooding is a serious issue. The town is in denial about deteriorating water quality, and keeps throwing relatively small dollars (compared to $100 to $150 million) at studies and engineers. At some point, the town will be hit with a huge fine and major infrastructure repair bills.

Drivers pay a premium to support causes, yet the money goes elsewhere, The Hartford Courant reports. Backers of greenways are asking lawmakers to reinstate their license plate money. Their argument makes sense.

Howard Soffan, the owner of the Sports Center of Connecticut, wants to build two new shopping centers on River Road.

EASTON — Kevin Porter eagerly tracked the development of the Chevy Volt. As soon as he heard it was going into production, he got himself on the waiting list. He picked up his Volt on March 18, but true to his early-adopter nature, he decided to lease it because he predicts it will be a
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The Franklin-based Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board, led by executive director John Beauregard, is offering local employers in green industries up to $135,000 in matching grants over the next two years to train their workers in innovative technologies. Read more here: The Day – State boosting ‘green’ technology | News from southeastern Connecticut. Blog this!
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Westport resident Alan Abramson recently discovered that his home is wasting energy through what he calls “vents to nowhere.” The “vents” were uncovered during a Westport Home Energy Challenge assessment. “The technicians found what looked like two return vents, only they go nowhere,” said Abramson, co-chair of the Westport Home Energy Challenge. “One blows air
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Save the Sound hosted a planting today, April 2, 2011, at the site of its Bride Brook restoration project in Rocky Neck State Park in East Lyme, to mark the completion of the restoration project, the construction of which began in 2009.

Save the Sound was joined by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Rep. Joe Courtney, Connecticut DEP Commissioner Daniel Esty, East Lyme First Selectman Paul Formica and more than 75 volunteers who planted native vegetation to help protect and maintain the dune system surrounding the salt marsh habitat at Bride Brook.

The Connecticut DEP and Ahlstrom Nonwovens LLC have announced that the southern end of the popular Windsor Locks Canal State Park Trail will remain closed until July 1, 2011, to protect a pair of nesting bald eagles. If you happen to get some pictures of these birds, we’d love to post them for you and spread the beauty around a little. Thanks!