Environmental Issues Cited––

Fairfield Hills Closing Delayed 60 Days

By Jan Howard

Newtown has exercised its automatic option under terms of its contract with the state to extend the closing date for purchase of Fairfield Hills for 60 days from December 31. Some contingencies outlined in the contract have not been satisfied, according to town officials.

Town Attorney David Grogins wrote to Marianne Dubuque of Carmody & Torrance, LLP in Waterbury on December 19 extending the deadline for the closing.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said the option to extend the closing date came about after discussion with the town’s environmental consultant, Russell Bartley Associates, because the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has not completed its review of the town remedial action plan for environmental issues.

Mr Rosenthal said the closing would take place after approval of the remedial action plan and receipt of a covenant not to sue from the state and review of the documents by the town’s environmental lawyers and consultant.

“With the oil spill [at Canaan House on the Fairfield Hills campus], we don’t know how that will factor in,” Mr Rosenthal said.

While state officials have assured the town that cleanup of the oil spill is the state’s responsibility, Mr Rosenthal said there is nothing yet in writing regarding that responsibility. Mr Rosenthal said the town wants to see what the status of the remediation is before the closing. “We haven’t seen a remedial action plan [for the spill],” he noted. He said the town’s environmental consultant would review the plan and is currently monitoring the fuel spill cleanup on behalf of the town.

Mr Rosenthal said he wants to make sure that the division of DEP that is reviewing the town’s remedial plan is aware of the state’s remedial action plan for what is going to happen in regard to the oil spill at Canaan House. “We want to make sure everyone in DEP and the state Department of Public Works (DPW) is talking to each other,” he said. The state DPW oversees Fairfield Hills for the state.

“Our goal was to close by December 31, but without DEP’s approval of the remedial action plan there was no point in closing,” Mr Rosenthal said.

He said the spill at Canaan House is not expected to be under control until the end of January. He said last week that the closing would not take place until the town is assured that the state has appropriate protections in place to provide for the fuel spill cleanup.

Mr Rosenthal said he was not aware of any other problem that would hold up the closing. In September, he had said that the town’s attorneys had resolved all outstanding issues with the state.

He signed the contract for the purchase of the 189-acre campus on October 20 after which the contract was sent with a check for $390,000, ten percent of the purchase price of $3.9 million, to the Treasurer of the State of Connecticut. The remainder of the purchase price is due at the time of the closing.