NEWS RELEASE

December 7, 2001

Maple Avenue Sewer Separation Project to Begin as Part of MDC’s
Connecticut River Cleanup Program

HARTFORD – The Metropolitan District (MDC) this month will begin the next stage of its Connecticut River Cleanup Program to dramatically reduce combined sewer overflows to the river.

The MDC has retained Paganelli Construction Corp. of Suffield to install 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 construction for Maple Avenue Area South will commence with preparatory work that will include test pit excavation to determine the location of various utilities. This work is scheduled to begin within the next two weeks depending on the weather. All the work for pipe installation, including pavement restoration, will be completed by the end of October 2002.

Although traffic might be disrupted during construction, there will be continuous access to businesses and homes within the construction area. In addition to hiring an experienced contractor in Paganelli Construction Corp., the District has retained the services of URS Corporation of Rocky Hill to provide construction project management and to assist in keeping neighbors informed during the project.

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