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The state's public health department has approved a plan to alleviate

groundwater contamination affecting private wells in the Appleblossom and

Cedar Hill Road areas, according to Newtown Health District Director Mark A.R.

Cooper.

Mr Cooper said Thursday morning that the approval was necessary before the

state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will act to give its final

approval to the plan. DEP action is expected soon, he said.

The final plan must be voted upon by the state's bonding commission this month

if water main construction is to start in the spring.

The plan approved by the state health department is "Option A," one of three

possible plans proposed by SEA Consultants, Inc, the town's engineering

consultation. Option A provides a water main extension to residents of

Appleblossom Lane, Dogwood Terrace and part of Cedar Hill Road, stopping at 1

Old Gate Lane. In addition, a house at 64 Cedar Hill Road receives a

whole-house carbon filtration system. Groundwater monitoring also would

continue around the perimeter of the existing contamination semi-annually for

five years and annually for the following 15 years to determine if the

contamination is migrating and potentially impacting additional homes. This

plan costs approximately $1.74 million, all of which will be paid by the

state.

Mr Cooper said the source of the tetrachloroethylene (PCE), which contaminated

the groundwater, may never be identified as it may have occurred as long as 20

years ago and may have had multiple causes.

Once water main hookups are completed, the average property owner will pay

about $404 a year for water usage, based on an estimated quarterly usage of

16,000 gallons per household.

RDAsbestos contractors tour library

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Six asbestos abatement contractors joined Public Works Director Fred Hurley

and Frank Krasnickas, building committee chairman, for a tour of the Cyrenius

Booth Library's interior Wednesday.

The building recently tested positive for asbestos and town officials want to

have it removed as soon as possible. In fact, First Selectman Bob Cascella

said Wednesday he plans to expedite the bid process so that abatement work can

begin shortly.

While work continues on the 22,000-square-foot addition, renovations to the

interior of the existing library remain on hold.

Mr Cascella told the Legislative Council Wednesday that it is too early to

tell if the abatement work will force the town to spend more than the $4.1

million the town voted in favor of spending for the project.

Once the abatement procedures are complete, workers still have three to four

weeks worth of renovation work left.

Tests from Hygenix of Stamford indicated that the levels of asbestos inside

the library exceeded federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards.

The asbestos concerns arose late this past summer, when representatives from

the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) and the state's

Department of Health visited the site after a construction worker filed an

anonymous complaint.

Health District Director Mark Cooper said Tuesday he wrote a letter to the

library's board of trustees prohibiting anyone from entering the existing

building without being certified to handle hazardous material and dressed in

the appropriate garb.