First Selectman Mike Tetreau announced today that over the next several weeks, there will be increased activity on the Mill River in preparation for the upcoming dredging activities. TRC (the engineering firm that will be conducting the cleanup work) will begin deploying boats, barges, dredging equipment and other equipment into the Mill River and adjacent to Exide Group Inc.’s (Exide’s) property.
As part of the in-water preparations, TRC has installed floating turbidity meters (yellow buoys with solar panels) to collect background water quality data. The barge-mounted dredge will be moved upstream and positioned in Area V (northern most section of the Mill River site). Turbidity curtains and a discharge pipeline will also be installed. When dredging is completed for the season, the equipment will be removed from the river and stored at Exide’s property for the winter.
Here is a brief summary of the in-water preparation activities that the public may see in the next few weeks:
Week of September 29th - October 3rd
• Piping and manifold for the water treatment plant will be installed in Area II (next to Exide’s property)
• Dredge, support barge and equipment will be positioned in Area V
• Double walled piping will be deployed in the river, from Exide’s property to Area V
Week of October 6th – October 10th
• Turbidity curtains will be installed in Area V
Week of October 13th – October 17th
• October 14th Public Informational Meeting on Mill River Cleanup, 7:00 to 9:00 PM
Board of Education Conference Room, 501 Kings Highway East, Fairfield, 2nd floor
• October 15th: Dredging begins in Area V
For More Information:
If you have any questions or comments, or would like to be added to our distribution list for future project updates, please contact Rich Chandler at richardchandler@ccaengineering.com or 203-815-3141.
The CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has project information on its website http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2719&q=517076&depNav_GID=1654 and also has a fact sheet which can found at http://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/water/tmdl/millriver/deepmillriver_factsheet_9_14.pdf.
The photo shows Barry Culp, Senior Project Manager for TRC showing First Selectman Mike Tetreau the clarifiers at the clean up site.