NEWS RELEASE

February 27, 2002

Maple Avenue Sewer Separation Project to Begin

HARTFORD -- The Metropolitan District (MDC) is set to begin the next stage of its Connecticut River Cleanup Program to dramatically reduce combined sewer overflows to the river.

Beginning about March 1, Paganelli Construction Corp. of Suffield will begin installing approximately 3,500 feet of new sanitary sewers and about 800 feet of new storm drains in portions of Campfield and Maple avenues and in Douglas, Clarendon, Chapman, Preston and West Preston streets in Hartford. This project, called “Maple Avenue Area South,” is an integral part of the Combined Sewer Overflow abatement portion of the Metropolitan District Commission’s Phase I, Connecticut River Clean-up Program. The bid price was $3,484,950.

The installation of the sanitary sewer and storm drainage piping will reduce the storm water to the sanitary sewerage system within the affected areas of the City of Hartford and, therefore, reduce the peak flows received at the municipal sewage treatment plant.

The full implementation of these goals is contingent upon completion of other future projects within the Maple Avenue area, including catch basin sealing and roof drain downspout disconnections.

The work is scheduled for completion by the end of October.

Although traffic might be disrupted during construction, there will be continuous access to businesses and homes within the construction area. Paganelli Construction Corp. will notify residents and businesses a few days in advance of when construction will take place in their areas. Residents with any questions may call the firm’s Maple Avenue office at 524-0165.

Previous projects undertaken under the Connecticut River Cleanup Program Phase I included the Franklin Avenue sewer construction project; the expansion of the Hartford Water Pollution Control Facility and the construction of the Connecticut River Relief Interceptor. Together, these projects have resulted in preventing millions of gallons of combined sewer overflow from entering the Connecticut River.

A non-profit municipal corporation chartered by the Connecticut General Assembly in 1929, the MDC supplies water and sewer services to its eight member municipalities: Bloomfield, East Hartford, Hartford, Newington, Rocky Hill, West Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor. The MDC supplies treated water to the Town of Portland and portions of Glastonbury, East Granby, South Windsor and Farmington. The MDC owns and operates two three-megawatt hydroelectric power stations, one at the Goodwin Dam in Hartland and one at the Cole-brook River Dam in Colebrook.

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EDITORS: For further information, contact: Matt Nozzolio
(860) 278-7850, ext. 3209