DEP Request for Preferred Solution
On July 20, 2009 the DEP wrote the district requesting a written response by October 2009 as to how the district planned to comply with its conditions for sewer operations at the plant that the DEP had earlier outlined in 1989 and 1996. These conditions related to the amount and quality of wastewater discharge that our sewer plant and filter beds could handle. The DEP found the district’s 2005 scope of study inadequate as, among other things, it did not outline a preferred solution and plan of implementation. In its letter, the DEP outlined the shortcomings of certain possible solutions including vertical sand filters and lateral gravel filters and indicated that it would likely concur with only two long term solutions: either sending our wastewater to Torrington by pipeline to be processed or rebuilding our plant and filter beds with significant water quality improvements including a constructed lateral sand filter (CLSF) system. The DEP also indicated a rebuilt plant with CLSF would come with conditions attached including capping our system at the existing level of connections. The DEP requested that WLSD provide a preferred solution with supporting justification along with a detailed program and schedule to execute the preferred alternative by October 15, 2009.