People in Torrington are worried their water supply might be affected by a proposed sewer line.
The 6-mile-long line would start in Goshen and travel into Torrington, eventually connecting with the city’s sewage system.
The pipe would cut through part of a watershed off of Route 4.
On Monday, dozens attended a public hearing for the Torrington Water Pollution Control Authority and tried to convince the board to block the plan.
Many raised concerns about how a potential leak might affect the watershed and the purpose of the project.
“It’s up to all of us to decide whether or not we want to be the dumping ground for Goshen sewage,” Audrey Blondin, a Torrington business owner, said.
The Woodridge Lake Sewer District is proposing the extension and serves nearly 700 homes in Goshen.
Local
“We think we’ve got a highly-engineered pipeline, which is safe,” Jim Mersfelder, vice president of the Woodridge Lake Sewer District, said.
After orders from DEEP, the district has spent years trying to figure out a new way to deal with its wastewater.
It believes this route, which was approved by other authorities, is the best option and the line would include additional protections and alarms in case of a leak.
“We understand that there are concerns but we demonstrated that we are sensitive to those kinds of concerns. And we’re going to try and do the best job we can,” Mersfelder said.
The district also points out currently dozens of other sewer lines in the state run through watersheds and it would pay Torrington millions of dollars in fees.
After another hearing next week, this could head to a vote by the Authority in three weeks, on March 5.
The hope, if it’s approved, is to start construction on the $15-million line this spring.
