Health, Safety & the Environment

Connecticut DEP Commissioner Amey Marrella will be a guest on CT Public Radio’s “Where We Live,” Monday, March 29, 9 – 10 a.m. This is the show hosted by John Dankosky for discussion of important public policy issues in the state. Listen in to what the Commissioner has to say and call-in to talk with her or comment on the environmental challenges we face.  This is an excellent opportunity for all of us to get up-to-speed on the environmental issues, large and small, that the state is facing today. 

By 2012, Greenwich should have a new park and athletic field on a 9.7 acre waterfront site just off Sound Shore Drive in Cos Cob.  The site of the new park previously was the home of a coal-fired plant that provided electrical power for the New Haven rail line, which runs just north of the former power plant site, since 1907.  The power plant continued to provide power to Metro North trains until it ceased operations in the 1980’s.  The site was known s Studswell Point in the 17th century.  In the 1800′s, some of  America’s finest impressionist painters, such as Childe Hassam,  escaped the bustle and noise of New York City to stay at the historic Bush-Holley house in Cos Cob, a short distance from Studswell Point.  It is likely that some of those painters brought the site of the future park to life on their canvases.  The first step of the site cleanup was to remove highly toxic PCBs.  Thereafter, the power plant was demolished and removed from the property in or about 1999-2000 at a cost of six million dollars.  Greenwich bought the property in 1989 for $1.  The future park and athletic field still remains contaminated with fly ash, a residue of the coal used to power the former plant. Rather than remove the fly ash, the State Department of Environmental Protection has approved a plan for the site to be capped with a geo-textile fabric.  On top of the cap, another four feet of soil will be added for additional protection.  The new park and athletic field will be a boon to Greenwich.  In exchange for an abandoned, contaminated waste site, the Town will obtain a beautiful shoreline property that everyone will love visiting.

The Old Santa Fe Inn in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is one of the newest hotels in historic Santa Fe and most reasonably priced.  Only three blocks from the historic Santa Fe Plaza, the inn harkens back to an earlier time,  but at the same time provides every modern amenity to guests.  I highly recommend the inn the next time you plan a trip to the Southwest. 

According to this morning’s Greenwich Time, Greenwich Academy apologized to the Greenwich P&Z for cutting down about 100 trees near its tennis courts last October, an act which First Selectman Peter Tesei described as “flouting” the town’s regulations.  Worse, neighbors of the school in the complained that the trees had been an effective barrier and prevented headlights from vehicles from shining on Patterson Avenue residents. What could Greenwich Academy have been thinking?  Trees are one of Greenwich’s valuable resources. The Greenwich Tree Conservatory, which was established by concerned Greenwich citizens in 2007, was chartered to educate citizens and businesses on the value and benefit of trees and importance of stewardship.  The seed for the conservancy was planted in 2006 at a program at the Bruce Museum entitled, “Clear Cut: Coming a Neighborhood Near You?”, which was sponsored in partnership with the  Connecticut League of Conservation Voters Education Fund (“CTCLV Ed Fund“) I would urge someone from GA to join the Board of the conservancy to demonstrate GA’s commitment to tree stewardship in the future.   Trees are routinely cut down by developers, even on town property, if it will improve the view from their multi-million dollar edifices. Although these developers routinely apologize and cry “Oops”, we hear little about the levying of fines for destruction of trees on town property.  In any event, what’s a $1,500 fine when cutting down the tree may create better water views that will increase the value of a property by tens of thousands of dollars?  We all need to suppport the efforts of Bruce Spaman, Greenwich’s Tree Warden.  Fines for the destruction of trees on town property such carry gravity-based fines.  In other words, the economic benefit to the  offender should be considered in coming up with an appropriate fine.