From Brian Lockhart, CT Post:
In late October the Christophs, the father/son team who have spent the last several years slowly trying to transform Steelpointe into a waterfront destination, submitted a revised soil remediation plan to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for review and approval.
“Being residential, we have to be conscious of protecting the tenants,” said Kevin Neary, a supervisor with the DEEP, emphasizing there is nothing unusual about the situation.
“I’ve had many, many (cleanup) sites in Connecticut. This is nothing out of the norm,” he said.
But it can be time-consuming, particularly if federal environmental regulators need to also be involved, which is what happened over the past year at Steelpointe after the DEEP reached out to the EPA for further consultation.
“It was determined … the site needs to go through the formal federal process of review and approval (of how to address the dirty soil),” Neary said.
Full story here.
The past informs the future.
It was one year ago tomorrow that that dirty soil received a 12-year tax break from Bridgeport’s City Council. It was blackmail — the original agreement could’ve been ripped up.
These things can be time-consuming. I hope that soil is covered under EPA and DEEP guidelines even though no one’s living there yet.
Furthermore, I hope this becomes an issue during the upcoming mayoral cycle. — a clever campaign manager might conclude dirty soil deserves a voice and any voter can be its avenger!