Health, Safety & the Environment

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.