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Get a map to the Hartford Waste Processing Facility |
MID-CONNECTICUT PROJECT
In 1984, the MDC entered into an agreement to operate the Mid-Connecticut trash-to-energy project for the
Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority (CRRA). After construction and a few months of start-up testing,
the facility began commercial operation in October 1988. In fiscal 1999, the project turned 777,136 tons
of municipal solid waste (well in excess of the 624,000-ton-per year design capacity) from more than 60
communities into refuse-derived fuel. That fuel is burned along with coal to produce 68.5 megawatts of
electricity; the equivalent of more than 750,000 barrels of oil, or enough electricity to power 70,000
households for a year.
Improvements made to the project at the MDC’s suggestions in concert with CRRA include: increasing the horsepower of the primary shredders from 300 to 500 horsepower; expanding the truck dumping area and the storage area for end-product storage; and construction of a parts storage building. In 1995, the MDC built a $3.7 million vehicle maintenance facility in the South Meadows. The facility was designed and built with the servicing of the Mid-Connecticut fleet as a high priority. |
In addition to operating the actual waste processing facility in Hartford’s South Meadows, MDC employees
also operate the Hartford Landfill and transfer stations in Essex, Torrington, Watertown and Ellington;
handle the transfer of ash from the project power block to the Hartford landfill; and drive, operate and
maintain CRRA’s fleet of more than 150 waste handling/hauling pieces of equipment and vehicles.