Finally, towns will cap tire pond

10/03/2007

Ann DeMatteo , Assistant Metro Editor

HAMDEN — Dredged materials from New York Harbor will be coming to Hamden and North Haven to cover millions of exposed tires, preventing an environmental catastrophe in the event the property known as the tire pond ever caught fire. State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Mayor Craig B. Henrici joined together Tuesday in the Hamden Government Center to announce an agreement that calls for the covering of the 29-acre site at 2895 State St. known as the tire pond.

The pond, 20 acres of which are in North Haven, contains about 30 million tires.

"This historic first step is only the beginning of the end, an interim win-win that should result in the closure, filling and capping of an environmental abomination, an environmental atrocity that should have never existed," said Blumenthal.

As part of the agreement, Waterfront Enterprises Inc., of New Haven, doing business as Gateway Terminals, will pay about $1.6 million, or $4 per cubic yard, to place approximately 400,000 cubic yards of soils approved by the state Department of Environmental Protection on the tires in the pond. The money will be used for closure of the tire pond and, subject to court approval, to help pay outstanding fines owed to the state and town.

Blumenthal said that the work to cover the tire pond will begin shortly and will take several months, "extinguishing the danger of catastrophic fire that could severely contaminate the surrounding area."

For months, officials from the state, Hamden and North Haven, the Farriciellis, Gateway Terminal and the Hamden Economic Development Corp., have been engaged in discussions over what is called a "global settlement" that is designed to settle all fines and taxes owed to the state, Hamden and North Haven by the Farricielli family. Tuesday’s announcement only deals with an interim agreement.

Property owner Joseph J. Farricielli and the DEP will be in Superior Court in Hartford today to sign a consent order which, among other things, turns control of the tire pond over to the commissioner of environmental protection. Farricielli owns the tire pond and another parcel at the site, a former landfill, while State Five Industrial Park, owned by his wife, Jean Farricielli, owns a third parcel.

"Today’s agreement is part of an ongoing process to end the environmental and legal issues that have long surrounded these Farricielli properties," DEP Commissioner Gina McCarthy said in a prepared statement.

"As counsel for State Five, this is an important step forward in the resolution of the oustanding issues surrounding the tire pond," attorney Hugh I. Manke said. "It is wonderful an agreement will be reached that will generate income."

Manke said that while the agreement deals with the initial closure of the tire pond, agreements dealing with full closure of the tire poind and the closure and development of the other two parcels are the "next items on our agenda for completion of the global settlement."

Henrici said the agreement includes removal of the pile of debris behind Hamden Middle School known as the "stump dump." The 28,000 cubic yards of debris are included in part of the 300,000 cubic yards of in-state materials that will be used to close the tire pond.

Gateway will pay $1 per cubic yard into a DEP account to pay for final closure of the site, as well as $3 per cubic yard into an account administered by the Superior Court.

Court-administered funds will be held to help pay for a final settlement and legal fees incurred by the Hamden Economic Development Corp.

Henrici said there are hopes of remediating and developing the old landfill and the third parcel in the future. The Hamden Economic Development Corporation has become a party to the legal actions, but has not purchased the site.

As part of the settlement, the Farriciellis will be barred from using the property.

According to Blumenthal, Oct. 31 is the deadline for a final agreement between the state, the town and the Farriciellis to address environmental issues at their adjacent properties and transfer ownership. If there is no agreement, Blumenthal will return to court to force additional cleanup and collect outstanding fines through the sale of the property.