Southbury Conducting Environmental Review of Town Land That Could be Developed

The Town of Southbury has begun an environmental review of Town-owned land adjacent to the Transfer Station. The 46 acres was acquired in two transactions - one in 1998 and the other in 2000. The site is along Southford Road between Kettletown Road and Jeremy Swamp Road.

“In the past few months, a number of opportunities have been identified for this property. It is only reasonable and responsible to have an updated assessment of the site and to characterize any environmental issues that would need to be considered in advance any future use”, said First Selectman Ed Edelson.

Representatives of the Pomperaug Regional Community Center visited the site recently. The site had been identified as a possibility for the Center during a preliminary discussion with the Southbury Planning Commission at a prior meeting in 2012. Since then the Board of Managers of the Pomperaug Regional Community YMCA has been evaluating a number of sites and buildings.

Through the work of the Southbury Animal Control Facility Task Force, the site was rated as highly desirable for a future Animal Shelter to be owned and operated by a non-profit organization.

The Public Works department has also been interested in the site for possible expansion of the Transfer Station.

Jordan Energy has an agreement with the Town to explore the economics of a Solar Farm on the site of the closed landfill.

The site is large enough that it could accommodate some or all of these uses.

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As a first step, the town has asked the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments, through its Brownfield Partnership team, to look over the existing documentation, including annual monitoring well reports, and make recommendations on how to proceed.

Funding for any additional work might be funded from a Brownfield assessment grant similar to the grant recently won for the Southbury Training School by the Town of Southbury.

In addition to concerns about the closed landfill, the land had been farmed up until the 1990’s which might have also resulted in some form of contamination. In addition to an environmental assessment and possible remediation, the land will also need to be evaluated by a soil scientist to delineate wetlands. It is hoped that the work can be completed before the end of the year.

The site comprises two properties. The first purchase was for 26.5 acres that was bought by the Town for $567,000 in 1998. Of that, 2.5 acres was on the other side of Southford Road and is now part of Community Park. At the time of purchase it was seen as having potential for many different uses including open space and recreation.

The second purchase was in 2000 for $635,000. At the time of purchase, preliminary engineering studies showed the site could accommodate between 9 to 12 homes.