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Energy Secretary on State Pier Project: ‘We want to replicate this’

Sten Spinella 

U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said during her visit to eastern Connecticut Friday that President Joe Biden has singled out Connecticut, and Waterford and New London in particular, as examples of how the country can reach its clean energy goals.

Granholm traveled throughout eastern Connecticut during her visit on Friday, including a stop at UConn to tour the Energy Department's Southern New England Industrial Assessment Center. Her two final stops were at Millstone Nuclear Power Station in Waterford and the State Pier in New London.

Millstone

Granholm was joined by U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, State Rep. Kathleen McCarty, R-Waterford, Waterford First Selectman Rob Brule and many Dominion Energy workers for a tour of Millstone on Friday.

Members of the group, comprised of the news media, politicians, their staff, and Dominion staff, traveled across the power station and into the unit 1 control room. At that point, the group split up, as a smaller group of Granholm and others went inside.

The group joined back up at the dry cast storage site. In addition to spent fuel pools, Millstone has dry storage in metal canisters encased in concrete, which can be stored for decades. There are federal efforts to find a national repository underway, with $20 million allocated in the federal budget both last year and this year for a Request for Information process where the federal government seeks localities that would welcome such a repository. Courtney said the budget for 2023 contains $53 million to that effect.

After Dominion officials answered questions from Granholm, Granholm took questions from the news media while standing adjacent to the nuclear waste storage facility.

Granholm said solving the waste issue is an important part of relying on renewable energy.

"Clearly, we want to be able to continue to use these plants and the ones we want to build, and right now nuclear fission has waste, and so we've got to figure out where that's going to be solved," she said. "A lot of communities raised their hands and said, yes, we are excited to have a nuclear plant, but they didn't all volunteer to host the waste. So in order to make good to those communities, we have to have a consent-based siting process for the waste. So we've begun that."

About 200 communities responded to the federal RFI expressing interest in building nuclear power in the community, but, Granholm said, a much smaller percentage of these communities expressed a willingness for further conversation about storing the nuclear waste.

"There are communities that are willing to engage in that conversation," Granholm said. "And those communities would have to be compensated, there's infrastructure issues, et cetera, we want to make sure that they are made whole for doing this service to the country. That conversation's ongoing, and we will be putting out another RFI based on the first before the end of the year."

Granholm concluded the impromptu press conference discussing why Millstone is essential to the state's and the country's clean energy goals.

"This facility, especially for this region, is huge. It represents 40% of your power and over 90% of your clean power, so this is really important to get to the goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035, which is the president's goal," Granholm said. "It's one of the reasons why your Congressman has been such an advocate for finding the solution for waste but also for nuclear power. You get a lot of your power from natural gas, but this particular site is critical to reach your goals."

Dominion officials maintained that it can safely store the spent fuel, but urged Granholm for a federal site to be chosen.

Brule, along with other local actors past and present, have expressed frustration with the fact that there is nuclear waste in town. Brule has said he wants Dominion to adhere to the original agreement, and maintains that nuclear waste puts the community in danger in multiple ways.

A bill passed in this spring's legislative session would exempt Millstone Power Station from a state nuclear power facility construction moratorium.

The bill is meant to allow the state's existing nuclear power facilities — Millstone — to expand to other nuclear technologies on-site, but not to build a third full-scale reactor.

As Dominion Energy New England Policy Director Mary Nuara wrote in public testimony on the bill, "Dominion Energy supports the state's efforts to explore all options available, including advanced nuclear technologies like small modular reactors, to achieve its long-term decarbonization goals."

The bill was supported on a bipartisan basis in both the state House and Senate. Senate Bill 10, also passed this past legislative session, requires the state to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from electricity supplied to Connecticut customers by 2040, which legislators say can't happen without the full-scale inclusion of renewable energy.

The federal government had originally committed to taking possession of nuclear waste from facilities like Millstone but later reneged, meaning Millstone stores its used fuel on site.

Dominion Senior Vice President and chief nuclear officer Dan Stoddard said Friday that Dominion will not begin planning on building small modular reactors at Millstone until a new power purchase agreement is arrived at, and until Millstone extends its operating license out to 80 years. At that point, they will begin looking closely at the possibility of building such reactors at Millstone.

Granholm's trip to Millstone follows a Thursday exchange between Blumenthal and Granholm during a Senate Committee on Armed Services meeting. Blumenthal noted the importance of cybersecurity for facilities like Millstone.

"I would suggest that we need cybersecurity in existing industrial control systems — nuclear, wind, solar — not only new ones but those being built ... We are vulnerable," Blumenthal said. "I will be interested tomorrow to hear and see some of your suggestions about how we can safeguard our cybersecurity, particularly on nuclear."

Granholm said in response that the National Nuclear Security Administration has the same concerns as Blumenthal.

"They have hired an evaluation to happen and that evaluator has identified some points of excellence but also some points of challenge, and the points of challenge involve further investments in the work force ...  as well as infrastructure that will prevent ... hacking, prevent penetration," Granholm said. "That includes monitoring, includes detection, includes addressing on the spot, includes projection about where things are going."

Blumenthal asked if Granholm had reviewed Millstone's security systems. She said she was looking forward to learning about Millstone on Friday.

"Well, we hope that you will give us the benefit of your assessment when you finish with your view because cybersecurity there and at every nuclear power plant has to be regarded with a tremendous urgency," Blumenthal said.

Granholm concluded the exchange by saying for financial and security reasons, the U.S. needs to focus on homegrown clean energy.

State Pier

After seeing Millstone, Granholm was taken on a tour of the State Pier. She along with Courtney, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes, Gov. Ned Lamont, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, and representatives from Eversource, Ørsted, Kiewit Infrastructure Company, building and construction workers and other state and municipal leaders, including Mayor Michael Passero, came to the site Friday afternoon to celebrate the project's progress.

Passero pointed out that federal politicians and officials along with Lamont have taken a great interest in New London due to the State Pier project in recent years.

"It's one of our banner days when we celebrate New London being on the cutting edge of the new green economy that the Biden administration is bringing to the United States," Passero said.

Port Authority Board Chair David Kooris said the State Pier is a "terrific example" of what it takes to build a green and clean energy economy.

"We're really happy to deliver this project less than a year from now, and we can't wait to see turbines here and the ships bringing those out to the offshore farm," Kooris said.

Eversource President Joe Nolan said the State Pier "will be the epicenter of wind development in the whole northeast."

"There's no other place that this vessel can land other than Norfolk, Virginia, that's how large this vessel is," Nolan said.

Ørsted Head of Northeast Government Affairs David Ortiz said the company is looking forward to beginning offshore construction next year. He said its first three projects will provide enough power for a million homes in Connecticut and across the region.

Lamont praised the public-private partnership supporting the State Pier remake.

"In the next four years, 92% of our electric grid is going to be carbon-free," Lamont said. "I want to be a leader in this country right now. Wind power along with nuclear power, what that means in terms of a carbon-free grid; it makes a big difference."

Lamont and others also praised the project for its provisions of hundreds of jobs. Granholm, Blumenthal and Courtney celebrated the fact that they are union jobs.

"I particularly want to thank the men and women who are out there every day, our laborers, our teamsters, the unions are making it happen again," Blumenthal said. "Organized labor is coming through here."

"To my colleagues in the United States Senate, if you want to see the future of energy in this country, come here, come to New London, come to the State Pier. This is the future of energy in the United States of America," Blumenthal said.

Murphy said offshore wind is "the holy grail of public policy" because it begets jobs in the short term, it accounts for economic development in the long run, "it makes the country more secure, and it helps save the planet."

"What other investment gets you all of that, all at once?" Murphy asked.

In his remarks at the State Pier news conference Friday, Courtney said that what's happening in New London is "eye-watering."

"Just the dimensions of this project, the complexity of the work, and the speed with which it's being implemented, is really just extraordinary," Courtney said. "That schedule, which we heard for next year, I think is on track and it's going to stay on track to make sure that we execute the plan exactly as it was initially envisioned."

Granholm said she was asked to come to Connecticut by the White House "because y'all have been doing amazing things here in Connecticut."

"The President has this goal of getting to 100% clean electricity by 2035," Granholm said. "The reason why the President was fascinated by what you are doing is because we want to replicate this."

Costs for the State Pier project have spiraled since the original estimation of $93 million, coming to a new projection of $235 million. The project has also been facing allegations of corruption in recent years, including a federal investigation into the spending and related contracts.

The state Contracting Standards Board, a watchdog agency that had its funding politicized, but ultimately provided, during a budget battle this past legislative session, recently completed an investigation into the Connecticut Port Authority, which criticized past practices of the Authority.

A federal grand jury has issued a subpoena for documents related to Konstantinos "Kosta" Diamantis, the former deputy director of Office of Policy and Management, who was assigned to oversee the Connecticut Port Authority's $235 million State Pier redevelopment project and also led the state's Office of School Construction Grants and Review. Diamantis resigned after being suspended amid an ethics probe of his daughter's hiring by Chief State's Attorney Richard Colangelo Jr. and a school construction contractor.

Asked whether she was aware of the federal investigation, and if so, whether it would affect her feelings on the project, Granholm said, "The project is a great project. I don't know about the local issues. This is a great project though."

Stamford to consider rezoning Mill River Park, train station area. Here’s what you need to know.

Verónica Del Valle

STAMFORD — City officials Monday will weigh a comprehensive rezoning plan that could mean more housing in the South End and change Mill River Park’s zoning to keep it a park forever.

To do that, the Stamford Land Use Bureau will pitch plans to the Zoning Board that tweak the development rights for properties along the Mill River Corridor and near the Stamford Transportation Center.

Before the plan goes to the Zoning Board, here's what you need to know.

Mill River Park

City Land Use Bureau Chief Ralph Blessing has held two community outreach sessions about rezoning part of Mill River Park from residential and light commercial uses to parkland.

The Land Use Bureau called the rezonings mostly "an academic discussion" since much of the area is already used as a park. Changing the zoning, Blessing claims, would protect the city’s land along Mill River in perpetuity by requiring that it only be used for recreational purposes.

The vast majority of rezoned land belongs to Mill River Park and has been parkland for years, but the area also includes some properties along Main Street. Most are owned by the Stamford Housing Authority, including the subsidized housing complexes Stamford Manor and Augustus Manor.

The rezoning area starts just south of West Broad Street and snakes down Greenwich Avenue, below Interstate 95 to Pulaski Street. About half a mile of the planned change recharacterizes the former semi-commercial and residential areas along the road as pure park territory, in keeping with the city's 2015 Master Plan.

Though housing once lined that corridor, much of it was "substandard" and full of "mold and lead paint," according to Blessing. It also fell within the floodplain boundaries, "and a very good use for a floodplain is actually a park," he said. Green space helps absorb floodwater along waterfronts, creating a safety net for the community, according to the Naturally Resilient Communities project.

Blessing told residents during a community outreach session Wednesday that "nothing will change here" because the buildings are housing authority property.

The only exception to the less dense land use change is one tract on the Main Street strip, Blessing said. The city owns a parcel at the corner of Main and Clinton Avenue that, until 2019, belonged to financial giant RBS. The lot now houses a Midas auto body shop.

"If the city ever decides to sell that site, we want to make sure that there is zoning in place that regulates what can be built," Blessing said.

The change would increase the amount of housing that can be built on the land.

Under the proposed rezoning, an owner could hypothetically build up to 108 units per acre of land. Future developers of the Midas property, which is slightly less than half an acre, could put about 41 apartments on the property — not counting any development bonuses they may receive, Blessing said.

Stamford Transportation Center

The Land Use Bureau coupled zoning changes to the Mill River corridor with a reimagining three plots near the Stamford Transportation Center, which is slated to get a face lift from the state. The state Department of Transportation is in the process of putting together a master plan for the surrounding area and is also building an $81.7 million parking garage adjacent to the train station.

Most of the area near the transportation center is zoned for heavy manufacturing uses that reflect a bygone era of Stamford, according to Blessing. Warehouses once lined the road, though they have steadily disappeared over the years. In heavy industrial districts, no residential uses are allowed and commercial uses are minimal.

Under the upcoming proposal, the three areas would be recategorized under two zones: one intended to encourage development near the train station, the other more geared toward high-density multifamily housing.

"The idea, obviously, is that you want to have your highest densities next to the train station so you're reducing car traffic," Blessing said.

The transportation center rezoning follows significant investment from landowners, the city and the state. For one, the Department of Economic and Community Development in January gave dominant Stamford developer Building and Land Technology a $1 million grant to remediate and rehabilitate the old Blickensderfer factory in the area.

Though the Land Use Bureau will rezone the northernmost land from Washington Boulevard to Canal Street, the city expects development to happen at three properties — including the Blickensderfer building — within that half-mile stretch. Under the updated zoning, they expect the three developments to produce about 1,300 apartments.

A 2018 study of the South End, its resources and future development previously modeled 2,040 units on those properties.

Zoning Board members are already weighing development at another of the three parcels; a developer in April pitched a high-rise at 441 Canal St., which would replace an antiques warehouse demolished in 2021.

State expected to approve funding to fix dams in Ledyard

Joe Wojtas  

Ledyard — The state Bonding Commission is expected on Thursday to approve $3 million in state funding for projects here including money to repair three Colonial-era dams on Long Pond and Bush Pond.

Then town got the news late last week when state Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, and Mayor Fred Allyn III said the Bond Commission is expected to approve money for bridge and dam upgrades, including upgrading pump stations, adding a storage tank and extending an emergency connection in Ledyard. 

The conservation group Lantern Hill Valley Association and the McKee Farm Trust have been working to get funding for the estimated $1 million needed to repair the three dams they own. The organizations did not have the money to do the work.

"I'm thrilled. It's been 10 long years that we've been pushing at this," LHVA member Betsy Graham said Sunday. "This benefits the whole region."

Graham pointed out LHVA has been maintaining, inspecting and paying taxes on the dams for 50 years.

"Senator Osten recogized that and the value they provide to the region," she said.

Graham said the funding will ensure the dams, bridges and adjacent roads will remain intact during major storms to come.

"It's a big relief that future generations will not have to worry about these things," she said.

Last month David Keehn, the president of the LHVA, said repairing the dam is important from safety, recreational and environmental perspectives. He added if the dams failed, the water could endanger downstream properties.

LHVA also is working with the environmental group Save the Sound to install a fishway through the Long Pond Dam that will connect Whitford Brook into Long Pond. This will allow anadromous fish, such as river herring, which spend their lives in both saltwater and fresh water, to return to the pond for the first time in 350 years to lay their eggs.

Graham said the plan is to coordinate the design and construction of the dams and fishway. 

In announcing the likely funding, Osten said, "Sometimes you get state bonding for a project that seems simple on its face, like repairing some dams and bridges, but which really has other, greater consequences, and I think that's the case here."

"Long Pond and the Whitford Brook are connected to the Mystic River and Long Island Sound, and so they're connected to all of the fish that live in the Sound. It would be great if, along with protecting the integrity of some old dams and the private property downstream, we could give a boost to fish who historically have spawned in Ledyard's freshwater ponds. My expectation is that's what these state funds will ultimately help accomplish," she said.

Ledyard Mayor Allyn added he appreciated Osten supporting "this critical infrastructure investment in Ledyard."

"These are exactly the types of long-term investments that state bonding should be paying for," he said. "I truly appreciate all the work she has done for us here in eastern Connecticut."

East Hartford eyes Silver Lane acquisitions to redevelop dingy commercial corridor

Michael Puffer

East Hartford is gearing up for a multimillion-dollar effort to revitalize its dingy Silver Lane corridor by acquiring multiple large, dated and underperforming buildings for redevelopment.

City officials are moving to adopt a strategic plan, developed under a $50,000 contract by East Hartford-based real estate advisors Gorman + York.

The plan – which will be the subject of a public forum next Wednesday – seeks to stop the decline of the Silver Lane corridor

“The plan gives us the proper tools to prioritize and explain the town’s priorities for development and blight removal,” Eileen Buckheit, East Hartford director of development, wrote in response to questions from the Hartford Business Journal.

The plan looks at largely commercial and industrial properties on either side of Silver Lane, from the Charter Oak Mall west to a series of small plazas by the commuter on ramp to Interstate 84. 

The aim is to capitalize on recently announced plans by Boston-based National Development to redevelop a 300-acre portion of the former Rentschler Field. That plan aims to add two warehouse buildings totaling 2.5 million square feet, as well as two more buildings of roughly 100,000 square feet for high-tech manufacturing and research.

East Hartford’s new strategic plan aims to avoid displacing area residents, but prioritizes several properties for acquisition and redevelopment, including, in order:

Silver Lane Plaza – 808-850 Silver Lane

Nursing Home – 51 Applegate Lane

Charter Oak Mall and associated ring road – 934-940 Silver Lane

Futtner Farm – 711 Silver Lane

Pratt & Whitney fields

755 Silver Lane

707 Silver Lane (UTC)

Five properties in 2018 Revitalization Plan

In addition to acquiring key pieces of property, Gorman + York suggests East Hartford adopt a special zoning district for the Silver Lane area that provides a swift and predictable land-use approval process, along with more flexibility for highest-yield designs. Gorman + York’s plan also calls for reducing the retail square footage of the area through demolition of obsolete buildings.

Today, it is not that Silver Lane is overbuilt,” reads a portion of the Gorman + York report. “It is that Silver Lane is under-demolished. There is too much older, nearly functionally obsolescent retail space in the corridor that can no longer compete — can no longer attract investment.”

The plan also calls for East Hartford to invest in sidewalks, roads and other infrastructure, demonstrating to investors the town’s commitment to Silver Lane’s resurgence.  

The town has access to funding for a grand effort. Connecticut lawmakers have allocated $60 million to East Hartford redevelopment in recent years, according to Michael Freimuth, executive director of the Capital Region Development Authority. The money would flow through his agency, which has so far pledged to use $9 million for Silver Lane redevelopment.

East Hartford is already pursuing the broad strategy recommended in the new plan. The town purchased the closed Showcase Cinema site on Silver Lane in 2019, then demolished the structure. It has entered into a purchase-and-sale agreement with New Britain-based Jasko Development and Zelman Real Estate of West Hartford.

The investors plan to build up to 420 apartment units on the Showcase site, Buckheit told CRDA board members Thursday. Land-use approvals are expected in August, allowing for a sale to be finalized in the final quarter of the year, she said.

Buckheit said a similar approval and purchase timetable is expected for the National Development’s efforts at Rentschler Field.

“We are trying to change the image of the corridor,” Buckheit said. “We are trying to change the image of this entire area.”

The plan laid out by Gorman + York must undergo review by East Hartford’s Planning and Zoning Commission, before going to the Town Council for adoption, Buckheit told the CRDA board. She hopes to see the process completed by summer, then tackle sites one-by-one.