TOP STORY: State Bears Down on Old Lyme After Sound View Sewer Defeat

OLD LYME – The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) on Friday urged First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker to develop a sewer plan residents can get behind after this week’s resounding “no” vote on a $20.5 million sanitary system for Sound View Beach.

The letter from Graham J. Stevens, the DEEP bureau chief of water protection and land use, expressed disappointment in Tuesday’s referendum vote and emphasized it does not release the town “from its responsibility to solve its pollution problem.” 

His message signaled that the days of voluntary cooperation are ending and that a consent order — an agency mandate enforceable by law — is imminent.

The emailed letter, addressed to Shoemaker and also sent to Old Lyme Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) Chairman Steve Cinami, was provided by Cinami. 

Going back to the early 1980s, the state has pushed for an end to pollution emanating from local beach communities. More recently,  a 2018 consent order with private Old Colony Beach, Old Lyme Shores, and Miami Beach resulted in the current shared sewer plan, with the town-controlled Sound View Beach added in 2019 after voters at a referendum agreed to spend $9.5 million. They did so with the understanding that only affected neighborhoods would fund it.

On Tuesday, with the price tag increased by $11.03 million and warnings from the town’s Board of Selectmen that taxpayers could be responsible for millions of dollars, voters rejected the proposed resolution in a 925 to 363 vote. 

Stevens emphasized the state has been generous in its support. He said the agency remains “ready and willing” to continue working with the town, including evaluating how and when to bring forward a new resolution. 

The town had been participating voluntarily in the sewer plan based on the threat of a DEEP  consent order like the one forcing the private beach associations to act. 

“We hope to work cooperatively with the Town in order to assure progress towards a corrective action plan,” he said. “Upon reaching consensus on a path forward, the Department expects to enter into a consent order with the Town to memorialize the plan and its implementation. “  

He pointed the DEEP’s history going back more than 10 years of working with the town and private beach associations to address pollution in Long Island Sound attributed to shoreline septic systems. 

“This commitment included an additional $15 million in state Clean Water Fund dollars on top of the 25% grant and 2% interest loan, a unique and significant state investment in a community pollution challenge,” Stevens wrote. 

Meanwhile, he said, the agency will continue to support the three private beach associations with the “immediate deployment” of the $15 million for the shared sewer project.

“If the town acts quickly, as the Department has previously communicated, the Town may have another opportunity to re-join this shared sewer project,” he wrote. 

Shoemaker on Friday declined comment until she reaches out to the DEEP next week after a vote of the Miami Beach Association membership on its share of the project, which has been another question mark in the complex situation. 

‘Better Direction’

Cinami, the Old Lyme WPCA chairman who previously announced his intention to resign at the end of the month, said in a phone interview he had no idea what kind of plan, if any, the Board of Selectmen had in place in the event the referendum failed. 

“I would imagine they’re going to meet with the new chairman and hopefully give them better direction than they gave me,” he said. 

He said his job as chairman is to be responsive to town leadership, adding the WPCA would have looked for alternate methods to sewers if that’s what selectmen instructed. 

“But they played both ends and undermined the process of actually going to put sewers in,” he said. 

The three-member Board of Selectmen, led on the issue by Sound View resident and Selectman Jim Lampos, cited state pressure when members voted in late November to send the resolution to referendum despite ongoing concerns about the cost and other factors.  

DEEP has said sewer alternatives such as community-wide septic systems or small treatment plants are not financially feasible because they require perpetual maintenance, chemicals, electricity and regulatory oversight. While residents argue pollution data from 1998 to 2013 is outdated and that many systems have since been upgraded, DEEP officials have said underlying conditions — including dense development and unsuitable soil and bedrock — remain unchanged.

Stevens in the DEEP letter reiterated “past studies of the pollution have noted that sewers are the most viable, long-term solution.”

Cinami said the referendum failed in part because state bonding rules required the town to seek approval for the full cost of the shared pump station and pressurized pipe, even though state and federal funding would ultimately cover most of the expense. 

He suggested that if the three beach associations build the shared infrastructure on their own, Old Lyme could later join the system within the $9.5 million approved in 2019. Under that scenario, the town would be paying its share as a hook-up fee after construction rather than financing new construction.

It is unclear whether the 2019 referendum remains valid after voters rejected the amended resolution Tuesday.

Shoemaker said Friday she is checking with town bond attorney Michael Botelho to determine the status of the original approval.