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Middletown agency approves permit for Cromwell Fire District emergency water interconnection
Summary
The Middletown Inland Wetlands and Watercourse Agency granted permit W2025‑10 to allow a 12‑inch emergency interconnection hung from the Route 217 bridge, finding the project will not have a significant adverse effect and imposing standard erosion‑control conditions; the five‑year permit runs through Jan. 7, 2031.
The Middletown Inland Wetlands and Watercourse Agency voted to grant permit W2025‑10 to the Cromwell Fire District for emergency interconnections among Cromwell, Middletown and Berlin, including a 12‑inch ductile iron main attached to the Route 217 (East Street) bridge over the Mattabassett River.
Roger Hart, executive director of the Cromwell Fire District Water Division, told the commission the district has been planning interconnections ‘‘to be able to supply water to our community of Cromwell in the event that our well fields have a failure,’’ and that one proposed alignment will be attached to the bridge structure on the Middletown side. Hart introduced the district operations manager and the project engineer to answer technical questions.
The district’s engineer described the exposed span across the bridge as a roughly 12‑inch main that will be insulated and enclosed in a protective jacket where it is exposed; the engineer said the pipe diameter and insulation were sized to prevent freezing and to provide adequate emergency flow, citing capacity calculations for roughly one million gallons per day.
Commissioners and staff focused questions on routing, whether staging or access would disturb wetlands or banks, and whether the Connecticut Department of Transportation had reviewed bridge attachments. The engineer said the proposed alignment stays within previously disturbed paved roadway and sidewalk areas and that brackets will attach the pipeline to the bridge girder in compliance with CTDOT standards.
After closing the public hearing, the agency adopted a motion finding the East Street interconnection, as designed and with conditions, conforms with the purposes and provisions of the applicable Connecticut statute (cited in the agency’s motion) and the city’s inland wetlands regulations. The permit was issued with standard conditions — sedimentation and erosion controls if needed, proper containment for fuels and chemicals on site, and a five‑year completion window that the draft motion sets as Jan. 7, 2031.
The agency’s decision allows the district to install the emergency connection under the permit conditions; staff will send the permit letter with the stipulated conditions. The project proponents said construction would likely begin in spring and that the interconnection is intended for emergency supply only, not to serve new hydrants or services.
