Advisory member Jeff Steedman urges Norwalk Shellfish Commission to engage on Norwalk River watershed plan

Jeff Steedman, an advisory member of the Norwalk Shellfish Commission, urged the commission to review and formally comment on the draft Norwalk River watershed-based plan now available but without a public-comment schedule.

Steedman told commissioners the draft omits a clear description of Norwalk Harbor and its shellfish resources and urged the commission to ensure that history and existing scientific data are reflected in the update. He said two studies the commission helped produce should be called out as accomplishments: a 2015 Norwalk River and Harbor bacterial-data analysis that linked higher bacterial levels in the lower urban watershed to contamination in the harbor, and the 2017 Yankee Doodle Bridge study that tied highway pollutants to contaminated dredge material and led the Department of Transportation to revise bridge refurbishment plans to capture stormwater from about 80% of the bridge deck.

“The document is available; I can send it to Bill and share it,” Steedman said, offering to distribute the draft to commission staff. He recommended the commission push for the updated plan to balance development goals with environmental protection, address highway and bridge runoff (citing the Merit Parkway/Route 7 interchange as an unresolved concern), and highlight science-based progress to support future grant applications. He also suggested outreach programs to involve high-school students across the watershed.

Steedman said the commission historically was a key player in the plan’s origins (1998) and subsequent updates (2004 and 2012) and that the commission’s perspective on shellfish resources and harbor conditions should be included in the next draft. The timeline for public comment remains unspecified; Steedman encouraged the commission to prepare comments once the comment period opens.