Mattabassett District to Hold Public Hearing

The Mattabassett District will conduct a public hearing next Thursday, June 9, to explain the planned nitrogen removal upgrade project for its wastewater treatment facility in Cromwell.

“Our goal is twofold. First, we want to explain the need for and the details of the nitrogen removal upgrade project to any of the sewer users from New Britain, Berlin, Cromwell, Middletown and parts of Farmington, Newington and Rocky Hill, who are interested,” said William P. Candelori, Ph.D., chairman of Mattabassett’s Board of Directors. “Second, we want to get their input.”

Scheduled for 7 p.m. next Thursday in the Cromwell Town Hall, 41 West St., Cromwell, the public hearing will include discussion of why the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the U.S, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have ordered wastewater facilities like Mattabassett to reduce the amount of nitrogen they discharge either directly or indirectly into Long Island Sound. In the case of the Mattabassett facility, it discharges wastewater into the Connecticut River, which then flows into the Sound.

Members of Mattabassett’s Board of Directors and its staff will be at the public hearing to explain how the upgrade project estimated at $100 million will be funded. Design engineers, meanwhile, will also be on hand to discuss the details of the project.
The Mattabassett District’s Water Pollution Control Facility currently processes wastewater from New Britain, Berlin, Cromwell, as well as parts or all of the contiguous communities of Middletown, Newington, Rocky Hill and Farmington, discharging clean water into the nearby Connecticut River.

In operation since 1968, the facility treats on average 15 to 20 million gallons of wastewater per day, with a peak flow in excess of 75 million gallons per day.