West Hartford Recycling Center Project Clears Hurdle

WEST HARTFORD, CT — Once called "dumps," municipal waste facilities have evolved from giant holes in the ground and piles of refuse to modern, organized havens of green recycling practices.

This week, town plans to build a state-of-the-art waste management facility at its 25 Brixton St. transfer station site cleared a hurdle with the town's inland wetland and watercourses agency.

The IWWA voted 5-0 July 6 to approve, with a few conditions, the town's request for an IWWA permit to officially close the landfill on site and build a new $1.37 million facility to handle the town's waste.

Such a permit was necessary because of the site's proximity to Trout Brook, with the town required to take necessary actions to ensure whatever flows into the brook from the site doesn't harm the brook.

In West Hartford, the town's plan and zoning commission also operates as the town's IWWA, with members voting under this capacity Wednesday.

According to Tristan Wallace, project manager at Loureiro Engineering, that won't be the case. West Hartford hired Plainville-based Loureiro to work on the project.

"Overall there will be no negative direct or indirect impacts to Trout Brook from the project," wrote Wallace to the town.

He said construction at the 11-acre site could start as soon as this fall and could be complete as soon as the summer of 2023.

When done, the new "material solutions center" will feature a 16,900-square-foot building that will have truck access and multiple material bins.

In addition, the center will have new entrance and exit patters for residential drop-offs.

Wallace said the project also includes drainage improvements to manage stormwater runoff.

By next year, West Hartford's waste management practices will have evolved from the old "dump," which ceased operations in 1977 but hasn't been formally capped and closed, to a transfer station to the new material solutions center.

For the draft minutes of the July 6 West Hartford Plan and Zoning Commission/Inland Wetland and Watercourses Agency meeting, click on this link.

For Loureiro Engineering's report on the project, click on this link.