Commentary––

Take Steps Now To Protect Deep Brook

By Steve Grover

As the cleanup of last week’s fuel oil spill on the Fairfield Hills property in Newtown continues, the Candlewood Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited would like to make the following observations.

The long-term damage to the resident population of wild brook and brown trout in Deep Brook and the Pootatuck is difficult to assess at this time. Connecticut’s DEP fisheries biologists tell us that we won’t have meaningful information until next summer, when electro shocking studies will be compared with previous years to assess the effects this fuel oil spill had on adult trout and trout eggs in the streams. The cold temperatures and heavy rains following the incident may have helped dilute and wash away much of the oil that the cleanup crews may have been unable to intercept. I think it is fair to say that had this happened in warmer weather or during a low flow period the damage would have been much worse. Our hats are off to the many public and private organizations that are participating in the evaluation and cleanup efforts. They have demonstrated professionalism and dedication under very difficult conditions.

Despite the dismay, the destruction, and the expense that this tragedy has caused, we hope that this event will bring more attention to the protection of this important wild trout resource. Deep Brook is designated a Class One Wild Trout Stream by the Connecticut DEP Fisheries Division. This is the top classification available and signifies high water quality and abundant natural reproduction. There is no stocking and the fish are protected by regulations prohibiting the use of live bait and requiring the use of a single, barbless hook. No fish may be harvested from these waters; all fish must, by law, be returned to the stream. There are only eight such streams in the entire state of Connecticut.

Unfortunately, as events last week demonstrated, this is a stream under constant threat. Development in the watershed degrades water quality, both with sediments and pollution as well as slowly increasing the water’s average temperature. As the conversion of the Fairfield Hills property continues Deep Brook must be protected from negative impact. The first step should be to decipher the complex maze of drainage pipes that currently dump untreated storm water directly into Deep Brook, which were the vehicle for last week’s disaster. Secondly, this drainage system should be consolidated and directed into a series of settling ponds before entering the stream. This simple technique will go a long way toward protecting the water, the fish, and the other life in Deep Brook and the Pootatuck, not to mention the entire Pootatuck aquifer. Just such settling ponds were installed for runoff from the new Reed Middle School and should be required for any new drainage systems in the watershed.

Before a chorus of hands are thrown up crying that this is too expensive and too difficult, pause and consider the difficulty of cleaning up this one spill and the price tag already approaching a quarter of a million dollars and still counting. Primary and secondary containment around this tank and a single discharge to the stream, pretreated by settling ponds, would have made this event much less damaging and much less expensive. This exceptional stream does not have to die a “death of a thousand cuts” if we act now to protect it for generations to come.

(Steve Grover is Conservation Chairman of the Candlewood Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Trout Unlimited’s mission is to conserve, protect, and restore North America’s trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds. TU is a national conservation organization with 125,000 members and 500 local chapters. The Candlewood Valley Chapter serves the Danbury area and has more than 250 members.)