Agency permits filling and remediation of contaminated pond at 170 Long Lane with monitoring and wildlife protections

The Middletown Inland Wetland and Watercourse Agency approved a permit allowing the filling of an existing 1.13‑acre pond and construction of a new stream channel at 170 Long Lane (W2025‑1) after reviewing consultant reports on contamination, habitat and mitigation.

Staff described sediment sampling that recorded elevated arsenic, lead and legacy organochlorine pesticides (DDT/DDE) and said remediation would proceed in coordination with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). The draft permit adopted by the agency calls for excavation and consolidation of impacted soils into the pond footprint followed by encapsulation beneath four feet of clean fill, construction of the new stream channel, and a three‑year post‑mitigation planting and monitoring program to ensure plantings establish and mitigation functions.

Commissioners and others discussed how to handle fish and other wildlife encountered during a planned drawdown. The draft motion included a requirement that the project’s herpetologist be on site during drawdown to collect and evaluate amphibians and reptiles that might be relocated; the commission added an inspection and monitoring condition requiring a wetland professional to report on mitigation establishment after each of three growing seasons.

The permit’s preamble and findings cite an August 2024 delineation by James McManus, a herpetologist habitat assessment submitted in March 2025, identification of coal‑ash–impacted material in the berm, and coordination with DEEP under an agreed site removal action plan. The agency read the full draft findings and conditions into the record before voting to approve the permit with the added monitoring and on‑site herpetologist conditions.

Commissioners emphasized the difficult tradeoffs: the pond contains contaminated sediments that the town and state plan to remediate and replace with a restored stream channel and new wetland planting, but the work requires careful procedures for handling fish, amphibians and reptiles during drawdown to reduce stress and avoid moving contaminants to other waterways. The agency’s permit requires the project to follow DEEP procedures for fish handling and the consultant’s habitat‑protection plan.

Next step: the permit is granted subject to the conditions read into the record; project staging, fish/herpetofauna handling, monitoring reports and implementation details will be handled by the applicant and consultant in coordination with DEEP and agency staff.