Grant Secured To Cleanup, Preserve Hoyt Island In Norwalk

NORWALK, CT - Seeking to protect the natural beauty of one of Fairfield County’s last undeveloped pieces of shoreline, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (Democrat-Norwalk) announced Friday that the State of Connecticut is set to approve a $100,000 grant-in-aid to the Norwalk Land Trust for the remediation of environmental contamination on Hoyt Island.

According to a news release, the contamination is the result of a 2008 fire that destroyed the island’s caretaker’s cottage. The island is located at the confluence of the Long Island Sound and Village Creek, a saltwater inlet of the Sound.

“Hoyt Island is one of the few remaining areas of Fairfield County shoreline that is not developed,” Duff said in a release. “Thanks to the hard work of the Norwalk Land Trust and this investment by the State of Connecticut, the island will be preserved for years to come — allowing indigenous wildlife and vegetation to exist untouched. I am proud to have worked with the Norwalk Land Trust and Governor Malloy to return this jewel of the Sound to its natural state as a nature preserve.”

“This is very exciting news for the Norwalk Land Trust and we are extremely thankful for all of Senator Duff’s work in making this grant possible,” Norwalk Land Trust President Seeley Hubbard said in a release. “Removing the PCBs and other contaminants will allow us to restore the environment and create a sanctuary for migrating birds.”

Hoyt Island was donated to the Norwalk Land Trust in 1979 by Countess Eleanor Guggenheim Josephthal Czapski, who lived nearby on Wilson Point.

Previously, the Norwalk Land Trust and Audubon Society completed a conservation management plan for the Island and raised private funds to assist in the remediation and cleanup of the contaminants.

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