11-1SG North Stamford Concerned Citizens for the Environment
Grant Round:
2011 February
Grant Program:
Small Grants
Grant Type:
Other Grants
Grant amount requested:
2,500.00
Grant amount awarded:
$1,500.00
Please provide a brief description of the project for which you seek funding.
NSCCE seeks a grant of $2,500 to fund and publicize actionable research into the causes and solutions to groundwater contamination in North Stamford, Connecticut. A report written in 2008 for the federal EPA identified actionable levels of pesticides and PCBs in soil at a community park built atop a former landfill in North Stamford. Subsequent studies showed dozens of residential wells are contaminated with pesticides. While the City of Stamford and state Department of Environmental Protection have moved to remedy that problem, their actions have been slow and narrowly focused. Believing the problems are more widespread, NSCCE enlisted the efforts of neighborhood residents to conduct limited research on historical land use in the area -- and we found tangible evidence to back our concerns. A 2010 grant from NEGEF helped to fund professional advice and research to demonstrate a scientific and legal need to investigate four distinct City-owned properties in the area. We shared that information with residents, and with the City and State -- all have been receptive to this demonstrated basis for action. NSCCE anticipates the need to continue this process of developing expert advice and sharing that with the community to drive action. We expect the City to release a Closure Plan to re-close the landfill in March, 2011 -- we want to develop a professional review of the Closure Plan and alternatives for consideration by the City and community. How can the site be used in the future? What should be done to control exposures during the Closure process? How do we reduce the need to re-close the landfill again (it has been closed and capped twice in forty years by the City). We also expect the City to complete a Phase II environmental site assessment of the adjacent Bartlett Arboretum in 2011 -- a previously unrecognized site of chemical releases that was identified by NSCCE. We want to be prepared to follow through with independent expert advice and continue our watchdog role at this arboretum site.
Project Summary
NSCCE received a grant in 2011 to pay for a hydrologist to review a 292 page landfill closure plan. The group will also consider alternative remediess for closure and how the closed landfill site could be used in the future.
Primary Issue Area:
Environmental Health
Please break-down/categorize the program expenses:
| Proposed Item | Estimated $ Amount | Would grant funds be used for this item? |
|---|---|---|
| ALTA report on landfill closure plan | $5,000.00 | Yes |
| Email blasts and publicity | $100.00 | |
| Research by volunteers (photocopies, etc) | $200.00 |
Whom does your group need to make this project happen?
Please explain how your group will engage members from your community in this project.
We plan to work more closely with members of the Scofield Magnet Middle School parent-teacher organization to provoke awareness and action at the school. Hazmat manifests showed that large quantities of chemicals were used by UConn student labs in the 1990s, before the site became a middle school -- we want to mobilize parents and students to advocate for actionable information about long-term impacts from those labs. We plan to rally more residents to speak out regarding the landfill closure project -- to inform them of the short-term and long-term options, and the consequences of those choices. We want the residents to have a voice as their government acts. When the Bartlett Arboretum project is completed, we want to be able to advocate on its behalf, to make sure that all city residents are aware of this open-space resource. We maintain a "email blast" newsletter that goes out to our membership (200+ families and growing), to local elective officials and the press. We also send out a mail mailing to 1,000+ families in North Stamford - it is part an informational effort, and part a membership drive effort. We also expect this issue will raise general awareness about the risks posed by use of pesticides and other chemicals, and also demonstrate the opportunities for citizens to get involved and solve real problems.
If your group receives a NEGEF Grow grant, how do you plan to pay for remaining expenses?
| $ Amount | Source |
|---|---|
| $2,500.00 | NEGEF grant |
| $2,800.00 | donations from residents |
Please list these materials or services
| $ Amount | Item |
|---|---|
| $500.00 | volunteer research |
| $200.00 | website hosting |
| $200.00 | use of space at Villa Maria school for meetings |
Please describe what changes will occur in your community and its environment when your group's project is successful.
For decades, people "in the know" have whispered about the need to be careful with North Stamford well water, but too many people have been unaware of the risks to the environment and health. Ideally, we would like to see a solution that ensures safe drinking water for all -- either the confidence that a home is outside the contaminated zone, or a clear awareness of how to filter water safely, or municipal water mains as needed. We believe this will have an immeasurable impact on public health and restore confidence to property values. We want to see a productive end use for the Scofieldtown landfill, including the community park, after it has been re-capped and re-closed. We want to help drive a solution to contamination found at the Bartlett Arboretum. We want to restore confidence to the parents of children at the Scofield Magnet Middle School -- a former UConn branch bordered by both the landfill and the Arboretum that is currently being reviewed by the state Department of Environmental Protection as a possible site of contamination.
Please list how many people in your community your group expects to actively engage in this project.
1 500
What relevant skills does the group need (but does not currently have access to) to help move the initiative forward?
We have the relevant skills to move this immediate grant request initiative forward in the short term. In the longer term, focusing on the NSCCE's mission statement and looking to the next few years, we need more capacity to raise funds and we need to expand our membership base. The City and State have been receptive to our concerns, but only when we can demonstrate a clear, factual, legal need for action. We will get nowhere with 50 people waving signs at a demonstration -- we need to show conclusive documented proof that the City needs to conduct Phase II site assessments or remediation projects. Unfortunately, this means NSCCE needs to do some of the work and bear some of the expense first. And at the same time, to grow the political support and fundraising base, we need to grow the membership ranks. We have had some success with both fundraising and membership drives, but not enough to get the job done.
What relevant skills do current members of the group have to help move the initiative forward?
We have developed an excellent relationship with Dr Gordon Binkhorst at ALTA Environmental -- he is our retained hydrogeologist and has developed a very useful understanding of the area and its history. Within our volunteer base, Bob Boucher and Jay Crutcher began a very successful research group -- finding documents in Town Hall, locating information in local libraries and the Stamford Historical Society, and talking to municipal old-timers and neighborhood residents with first-hand knowledge. Yossi Stern and Robert Eppinger have been great at getting the word out through social networking (electronic and verbal). Karen DeFalco has developed good relationships with reporters at the local newspapers. Bruce Hubbard is an attorney and has helped explain the legal nuances to our board and to the public at the NSCCE community meetings. Our communications committee pulls together members with skills in direct marketing, graphic design, web development and email marketing.