$277M Clean Water Bond Includes Funding for Middletown Pump Station

The State Bond Commission approved $277 million in grants and loans Friday for improvements to regional wastewater treatment systems in six towns across the state, including Middletown.

The package includes $94 million in general obligation bonds for grants and $183 million in revenue bonds for low-interest loans (2 percent over 20 years) through the state’s Clean Water Fund (CWF).

Combined, the projects are expected to create or retain some 5,700 jobs in manufacturing, engineering and construction industries, according to Gov. Dannel Malloy’s office.

“Connecticut’s Clean Water Fund is a model of state and local cooperation that has achieved very real results in protecting our natural resources and improving the quality of life in our state,” Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Commissioner Rob Klee said. “Through this program we have made investments that benefit all of us now as well as future generations of residents.”

A portion of the funding will go toward pump station improvements to support the consolidation of Middletown’s treatment plant into the Mattabassett District.

Four other projects were included in the bonding package:

• The continued rollout of modernization and upgrades by Metropolitan District Commission (MDC), which provides wastewater treatment services for Hartford and several surrounding towns. A major focus of the MDC project is addressing Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) after major storms that leads to the discharge of sewage into the Connecticut River. 
  
• Denitrification improvements at the Norwich treatment plant.
• Continued collection system improvements in the system operated by the Greater New Haven Water Pollution Control Authority to eliminate CSOs in New Haven.  
• Phosphorous removal improvements at the Bristol treatment plant.