State Rep. Philip Miller (D- Haddam, Chester, Deep River, Essex) voted in favor of H.B. No. 6672, an act concerning the conveyance of certain parcels of state land. The bill included the formal repeal of the open-ended Haddam Land Swap dead brokered in 2011. “Preventing this deal will ensure state-owned lands are not developed, keeping our air, water and land clean,” Miller said. Click on this Environmental Headline for more of this story.

The shoreline’s public bus system, 9 Town Transit, once again saw tremendous growth in bus ridership during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012, with passenger trips up 29% over the prior year. 9 Town Transit Executive Director Joseph Comerford contributes the growth to expanded service hours and improved awareness of the service.

Connecticut has two operating nuclear plants, Millstone 2 and Millstone 3 in Waterford and two decommissioned nuclear plants, Millstone 1 in Waterford and Connecticut Yankee in Haddam. The spent fuel from those plants remains on site awaiting a permanent federal storage facility. For more on this story, visit: Court rules against 60 years of storage

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A day after Tuesday’s collapse of the controversial Haddam land swap, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection published on its website the appraisal documents that led to the deal’s unraveling. Click here to get to the DEEP website that contains links to the two appraisal reports, which state officials obtained late last year

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Still stung by the proposed swap of a parcel of state-owned land along the Connecticut River, a group of residents are trying to force a vote on the issue. Opponents of the sale presented two sets of petitions to Town Clerk Ann Huffstetler in an effort to force a special town meeting where they could vote on the proposed land swap. The Middletown Press reports.

Stop the Swap, a citizen action group that has been spearheading the effort to stop the swapping of a state-owned parcel of land on the Connecticut River with that of a developer-owned parcel in Higganum, is looking for your help. The group has put together a petition asking Governor Malloy and the Department of Energy

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This time, the issue is that the developers’ forest land has been appraised at an amount lower than that of the state’s piece, with the scenic river view, a mile or so away. So, what now? Closed-door talks are said to be underway between the developers and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

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Opponents of a land swap deal in Haddam made the trip to New London on Monday, confronting the head of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection during a “Commissioner in Your Corner” event. Read more here: Haddam Land Swap Foes Confront Esty at Event – East Hampton-Portland, CT Patch.

For 3 years in a row, Senator Eileen Daily has initiated a conveyance of 17 acres of open space land overlooking the Connecticut River to private developers and has inserted it into the annual conveyance bill.

Land swap opponents believe a trade of these 17 acres will set a very dangerous precedent and make all State of Connecticut open space vulnerable to developers.

The East Haddam Democratic Town Committee today launches its 2011 political campaign, and has chosen long-time resident and staunch Land Swap opponent Rob Smith to lead the field. Smith’s career includes more than 30 years with the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection where he started as a Parks and Recreation supervisor and ended his career

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Calling the Haddam land swap the “worst piece of legislative chicanery” they’ve seen in years, opponents of the plan urged local residents Thursday to lobby their elected leaders to force the repeal of the state law that approved the swap.

Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Dan Esty faced opponents of the Haddam “land swap” deal yesterday in what the Hartford Courant described as a “sometimes heated question-and-answer session.” Jonathan Pelto and Erik Hesselberg report.

The so-called Haddam land swap, an iteration of the age-old battle between conservation and development, was not a good way to do business. The deal, in the works for three years, allows a private developer to acquire 17 acres near the Connecticut River in Haddam that had been set aside for conservation. In exchange, the

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The Connecticut legislature has typically been a good friend of the environment. Each year sees a number of important bills which keep our state healthy and help maintain our quality of life, so important to our economic prosperity.

This year’s Senate Bill 1196 is a rare and unfortunate exception. It should not have passed as proposed. Section 8, known as the Haddam land swap, orders a transfer of parcels between the state and a private developer.

Deputy Secretary of the State James Spallone has written as a private citizen to Gov. Dannel Malloy, urging him to veto the bill containing the so-called “Haddam land swap,” which now is on the governor’s desk for his signature. As reported in Wednesday’s Courant, the governor has until Friday, July 15 to decide whether to sign it.

A 17-acre state parcel behind the Riverhouse at Goodspeed in Haddam overlooking the Connecticut River is to be traded for an 87-acre parcel of woodlands adjacent to Cockaponset State Forest in the Higganum section of town.

State Sen. Eileen M. Daily writes in The Hartford Courant: A land conveyance in Haddam approved by the General Assembly June 8, in which 87 acres of privately owned property would be exchanged for a 17-acre parcel of state-owned land, is worthy of the considerable press coverage received. Thorough scrutiny of government and its transactions has always been part of the Connecticut landscape.

“I cannot dodge this much longer,” Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s new appointee as environmental commissioner, Daniel C. Esty, wrote in an uneasy-sounding e-mail to a subordinate on April 1, The Hartford Courant reports. Esty was referring to a news article that the subordinate had sent him about environmental groups’ growing opposition to a controversial legislative bill calling for a land swap in Haddam, which would allow private developers to acquire 17 acres of state-owned conservation land overlooking the Connecticut River.

Sierra Club Legislative Chair Marty Mador writes: The Haddam land swap has become a signature issue for the environmental community at the end of the 2011 state legislative session. Over our strong objections, the legislature passed Senate Bill 1196 June 8, with a heroic third of the members voting against. It requires DEP to swap

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Citing his past service as a Planning & Zoning Commissioner in Cheshire, Esty said that, in general, state officials should defer on land use decisions to the wishes of local officials, especially in a case where from an environmental perspective the right answer on the land deal was unclear.