Prominent Local Conservationist Cited for River Dumping

The Hartford Courant reports (June 15) that Richard Sweet, a past president of the Middlesex Land Trust, was cited on May 9 by CT DEP, on a complaint by Boston Road resident Al Maine, for illegal dumping of construction debris into the Coginchaug River here in Middletown. Mr. Sweet owns the Savage Arms factory site at 465 Middlefield St where the alleged dumping occurred, and another site on the same street occupied by an auto body company. He also is the steward of a 20 acre site nearby owned by Middlesex Land Trust along the Coginchaug River off of Forest St.

Also according to Hartford Courant, Richard Sweet describes the charges against him as “absolutely ridiculous”; that the debris stored on his property was swept into the Coginchaug River by the Spring freshet. The source of the debris according to news accounts is another building owned by Mr. Sweet in the city’s North End which collapsed under the weight of snow last winter; the wreckage was subsequently hauled to the Savage Arms site. Mr. Sweet has not responded to the complaint; the 30 day period for doing so expired on June 9. In response to questions Sweet said the lumber was cleaned up and “There’s no story here, It’s over.”

The Jonah Center for Earth and Art, an important watchdog and steward of the Coginchaug River, is monitoring the situation according to Executive Director John Hall.

In the photo map above we see the Coginchaug River as a dark ribbon winding from lower right to upper right. At top (green arrow) is the property at 398 Boston Road where some of the debris washed ashore according to owner Al Maine. The red marker near the bottom is the location of the Savage Arms property on Middlefield Street upriver from the Boston Road property. Directly below that red marker is where the debris must have entered the river as this area is just below the Savage Mill Dam slightly to the right.

This is the historic building at 465 Middlefield Street owned by Richard Sweet where the river dumping allegedly ocurred.

This close up shows demolition debris sticking out of the river bank at Richard Sweet's property, 465 Middlefield Road. It does not appear that this situation occurred accidentally or overnight. Credit John Hall

Finally there is this view of the Coginchaug River as it cascades over the Savage Mill Dam just behind the property above. The falling water here provided the motive power for the factory in the mid 19th century.

Recent Middletown CT Photographs

Seen lately around the city:

(mouse over for titles, click for full size and description)

Middletown: Some Recent Photographs

Not too much to say here; please enjoy some recent photographs from around town.

Setting sun on wires creates festive air

Peak of color, Palmer Field

Coginchaug River Nov 2008

Washington St in the West End (Dusk)

Billboard, Washington St Nov 28, '08

Peaceful Coginchaug River Nov 28,'08

A Raging, Muddy Coginchaug River Dec 13, ;08

Middletown Environment Meetings This Week..

Item – Tuesday, December 9, 7 p.m.
At First Church of Christ, 190 Court St. in Middletown

Roger Smith, Coordinator of the Connecticut Climate Coalition and Campaign Director of Clean Water Action will tell us what is coming up in the January 2009 session of the Connecticut Legislature to improve home energy efficiency and address global warming. In what will certainly be another tough budget year, citizen action will be critical in order to pass progressive energy-related legislation and help consumers hurt by high fossil fuel prices

Item –

Attend the Public Hearing on

Middletown’s Plan of Development and Conservation

Wednesday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers

v Protecting Natural Resources & Preserving Rural Character

v Maromas: Middletown’s Last Frontier

v Protecting Water Quality

Middletown is in the process of updating its Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD). This is an important document that will help guide the City’s decision-making on planning for the next decade or more. Citizen support for these chapters will send a message to the commission and city officials that we care about our environment.

Your attendance alone will demonstrate your support for these sections of the updated plan and your interest in protecting Middletown’s natural environment.

Drafts of the chapters are available on the City’s Planning Department website at http://www.middletownplanning.com/pocd/pocdupdate.html

Source: The Jonah Center

There’s a new bridge in town. To provide access to the new CVS store on Washington Street it was necessary to bridge the Coginchaug River at West Street. Yikes!

New Coginchaug Bridge at West St

River Paddle Floating Meadows: July 12 9 AM

Mattabesset and Coginchaug

River Paddle

July 12, 9 a.m.

Last year’s event was great fun!

Departure from Harbor Park at 9 a.m. to catch the end of the flood tide, so that we will be in the Floating Meadows at high tide. Professor Barry Chernoff will offer short talks on river ecology along the way. If you plan to attend and if you wish to be informed in case of cancellation due to weather, email Hall.john.c@sbcglobal.net

Feet to the Fire Festival: More Info….

The Wesleyan community will explore its environmental impact through an eco-arts festival called “Feet to the Fire” on May 10 that will feature food, music, art, theater and a premier by a world-renowned choreographer Ann Carlson (pictured above).

Running from noon to 5 p.m. at Veterans Park in Middletown, “Feet to the Fire” will combine the variety of arts performances, interactive exhibits and a farmers market with food from Connecticut vendors. Exhibits coordinated by the Jonah Center for Earth and Art will highlight energy conservation, sustainability and resilient communities.

Ann Carlson, award-winning choreographer, launches a new series of performance works, Planet Next, that envision life on a future earth. The first of these works, “Green Movement,” uses elements of humor and surprise while challenging the audience to intimately confront the realities of their present day existence.

“Feet to the Fire is an extraordinary campus-wide and community exploration of one of the most urgent issues facing our world today,” says Pam Tatge, director of Wesleyan’s Center for the Arts. “The idea that so many students, faculty members, community members, and artists have collaborated to make works for the festival is simply thrilling.”

The event will also feature a sculpture garden, labyrinth, theater, dance, music, poetry, art and performances by Art Farm’s Circus for a Fragile Planet, Marion Belanger, Tom Callinan, Electric Junkyard Gamelan, Green Street Arts Center, Independent Day School, Kalimba Liberian Group, Geoff Kaufman, Jesse Karlsberg, The Middletuners, Mixashawn, Noah Baerman Trio, Oddfellows Playhouse, RJ and the On-the-Spot Jug Band, Susan Romano, Sirius Coyote, Toussaint Liberator, Wesleyan students and more.

The festival is a part of “Feet to the Fire: Exploring Global Climate Change from Science to Art,” an 18-month project that includes research opportunities for a team of students and faculty to explore first-hand the effects of global warming, fieldwork studies in art and science, performances, pedagogical exchanges in existing courses, commissioning of artists and convening of experts.

“All of us working on the Festival are united in the belief that the arts have the potential to help us see and understand the impact of climate change while at the same time assist us in envisioning a sustainable future,” Tatge says.

The project is funded in part by a grant from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Creative Campus Innovations Grant Program, a component of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Wesleyan’s grant is one of only eight grants given to challenge campus-based performing arts presenters to integrate their programs more organically within the academic environment.

The Festival is co-sponsored by Wesleyan’s Center for the Arts and Environmental Studies Program, the Jonah Center for Earth and Art and the City of Middletown, in collaboration with the Center for Creative Research and the Green Street Arts Center.

Feet to the Fire will take place from noon to 5 p.m. rain or shine. Admission is free and open to the public. The event is located at Veterans Memorial Park in Middletown, located off Newfield Street. For more information and directions call 860-685-3355.

Source: The Wesleyan Connection

Coginchaug River at Veterans Memorial Park (June 2007)….

Meeting 3/25:Community-Senior Center Vets Park

Reminder: Meeting on the proposed Community/Senior Center in Veterans Memorial Park. Tues Mar 25 at 7 PM at First Church of Christ, 190 Court St, Middletown.

A Jonah Center bulletin reports:

“Architect Tom Arcari from Quisenberry Arcari Architects in Farmington will discuss conceptual drawings developed over the past two years. The feasibility study committee hopes to have a referendum question on the November 2008 ballot. The total project costs are estimated to be about $25 million.

Veterans Park is located to the west of Washington Street, behind Palmer field. The urban wildlife habitat along the Coginchaug River between Veteran’s Park and the North End Peninsula and the Floating Meadows has been a focus area for the Jonah Center for the past several years.”

The short video below shows the Coginchaug River where it flows between Palmer Field and Veterans Memorial Park.

Reminder: Coginchaug River Cleanup Tomorrow…

The Jonah Center’s John Hall reports that river levels have subsided enough that the cleanup scheduled for tomorrow (Mar 15) will go ahead as planned. 10 AM to Noon; rubber boots a plus but not essential. Below scene is from last July’s cleanup:

The Coginchaug River: Today and Tomorrow….

Today: Above video is record of my weekly walk along and around the Coginchaug in my neighborhood.

Tomorrow: (well, actually March 15) Coginchaug River Cleanup at Middletown North End Peninsula (recycling center) Saturday March 15 –  10 AM to Noon; Jonah Center’s John Hall reports:

The Jonah Center needs volunteers to help remove a lot of junk (fishing camp debris, old tires, plastic bottles, etc, ) from the bank of the lower Coginchaug adjacent to the recycling center. It is important to do this now, while there is no poison ivy growing, and before spring floods carry this stuff into the river.

Directions to Site: Go through the gate into the Middletown recycling center (at the intersection of North Main and Johnson Streets) in the North End. Bear to your left and park near the brush and wood chip piles.

If you plan to help with this effort, we suggest that you let John Hall know by visiting the Jonah Center web site and emailing from there or call (860) 346-6657 x 13, so he can inform you in case the event needs to be postponed due to weather or high water conditions.

 

Here’s a photo showing just a sampling of what was collected in the cleanup in July ’07: