State Environmental Official Tours Middletown Development Sites

MIDDLETOWN During a tour of city projects Wednesday, the state's top environmental official rode a lift to the roof of an old factory building in the north end to view arrays of solar panels producing power for new businesses inside.

Reaching the rooftop 35 feet in the air, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Robert J. Klee took out his smartphone and snapped a "selfie" with his host, Middletown Mayor Daniel Drew.

"This is amazing," Klee exclaimed, posting the image on Twitter.

A few minutes later, Klee and Drew, along with a dozen city and state officials, stared down into a 15-foot-deep pit beside Route 9, where crews are using oil-drilling technology to tunnel three miles to Cromwell so they can install pipe for the long-awaited hook-up with the Mattabassett District sewage treatment plant.

Klee's three-hour tour, aboard a city transit bus, also included a stop at a former Main Street gas station that is being cleaned-up for commercial development, and the "Trees of Honor" memorial, nearing completion at Veterans Park, to honor the 65 Connecticut soldiers killed in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The tour ended at Middletown's riverfront, where Gov. Dannel P. Malloy last week announced $2.6 million in state funding for environmental cleanup work that will launch riverfront redevelopment efforts.

"These projects are very exciting," said Klee, a Yale-trained lawyer who studied geology at Princeton. "What's happening in Middletown can serve as a model for other municipalities."

Klee's visit to Middletown was part of the agency's "commissioner in your community" program begun under Daniel C. Esty, whom Klee replaced in January. Klee was Esty's chief of staff.

It began with a presentation by Chris Nelson, who oversees the DEEP's recycling and waste-to-energy programs. Nelson said the state has set an ambitious goal of recycling 60 percent of its waste by 2024. It now recycles 28 percent of its waste.

The tour was led by Middletown's environmental specialist, Jim Sippery, who was joined by city Water and Sewer Director Guy Russo, Planning Director Michiel Wackers and Amy Vaillancourt, an environmental engineer, who is overseeing a number of city cleanups, including the former Steve's auto repair at 645 Main St.

See more here:
State Environmental Official Tours Middletown Development Sites