STAMFORD CT WATER CONTAMINATION
Click here for City of Stamford CT information concerning water contamination in the Scofieldtown area.
Reprinted from The Stamford Advocate 10/16/2009
Staff Report
Stamford has found three additional types of pesticide contaminants in its most recent round of well water testing near Scofieldtown Park.
City tests found chemicals -- heptachlor epoxide, trans-nonachlor, and CIS-nonachlor -- in wells on Alma Rock Road. Previously, tests had shown only two types of pesticides, dieldrin and chlordane, at levels above state limits in the area.
City Operations Director Benjamin Barnes said all three chemicals are related to chlordane, a carcinogen banned for decades.
The city began testing well water in the area after a study found hazardous contaminants in nearby Scofieldtown Park, a former landfill.
The city broke ground this week on work to install water lines to five streets in the affected area. In addition to that project, Mayor Dannel Malloy has requested $750,000 to extend water lines to Alma Rock Road and nearby Mary Joy Road.
Reprinted from The Stamford Advocate 10/29/2009
Written by Angela Carella
A North Stamford woman left an anonymous message on an Advocate phone saying the newspaper should stop writing about well-water contamination near the Scofieldtown Road landfill because it's making it difficult for her to sell her house.
A real estate agent called asking for the list of streets where contaminated wells have been identified because he had a buyer who wanted to avoid those streets.
Another agent called looking for a reporter who could tell him whether more streets will be added to the list, and which streets they might be.
As city officials continue to test residential wells near the industrial landfill in Scofieldtown Park, the main issue, of course, is public health. So far, 25 wells on six streets have shown nsafe levels of cancer-causing pesticides. Stamford is installing pipes to bring city water there. The health worry is followed by concern about North Stamford homes. Along with Shippan and Westover, North Stamford is one of the city's most expensive neighborhoods.
This week, test results showed the contaminated area may be larger than officials thought. The first five streets with tainted wells -- Hannahs, Very Merry, Alma Rock and Larkspur roads and Skymeadow Drive -- are east of the landfill. But the latest finding on Haviland Road is south.
Jim Troy of Independent Realtors fears it will extend farther. Troy, a Stamford native and host of "The Real Estate Review," a Saturday morning radio show on WSTC-AM, lives in North Stamford. "Think of the area as a wet sponge, and think of the contamination as coffee," said Troy, who has handled real estate in Stamford for 20 years. "You pour a little coffee on a wet sponge, and it will penetrate the furthest points of the sponge. We're probably talking a radius of a couple of miles from the landfill, because North Stamford has so many water sources flowing underground."
News of the contamination will flow, too, Troy said.
"Agents will say, 'Oh, stay away from that area. There was contamination there.' And people will decide they're better safe than sorry," Troy said. "I've heard agents say to buyers, 'Oh, that's the neighborhood that was sinking. Don't buy there.' And the last time the neighborhood had a problem was a decade ago."
Longtime North Stamford residents have said that, in the 1950s and '60s, real estate agents took potential home buyers into the Scofieldtown area from High Ridge Road so they wouldn't see the dump, where the city carted household and industrial waste for about 40 years, until the 1970s.
Now state property sale laws require disclosure of environmental, structural and other problems.
"Every seller who has an issue has to disclose it to every potential buyer, or you're breaking the law," Troy said. "The well contamination will damage property values. It's hard to put a number on it, but it's going to be harsh."
Pat Brandrup, branch manager of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage on Long Ridge Road, said so far news about the tainted wells has not affected home sales in North Stamford.
"Buyers we've had who brought that subject up feel the problem is being contained," Brandrup said. "It's a concern, yes, but people really feel the town is on top of it."
The weakened economy is more of a problem in North Stamford, where homes sell for $600,000 to $700,000, some near the $1 million mark, said Bud Farris of Century 21 Access America on Strawberry Hill Avenue.
"I don't think they'll find more streets with the problem because the houses are pretty far apart," said Farris, who also lives in North Stamford. "The city water project will clear it up."
Perhaps because of the slumping real estate market, the dump issue "hasn't gotten a lot of traction," said Carl Tooker, branch manager of William Raveis Real Estate on Long Ridge Road.
"We're waiting for city officials to finish the testing. Once we have more information, we can intelligently address it," Tooker said. "There's a lot of speculation now, but things like this take time."
Paula Kroll, president of the Stamford Board of Realtors, said she consulted with water experts who told her the level of contamination is low and the wells are easily treated with filters.
"I don't think people are overly concerned. I have not heard of any serious impact on the market," Kroll said. "I think it's being blown way out of proportion."
It appears, though, that North Stamford residents are nervous.
Mike Zubarev, managing partner of Brooks Laboratories in Norwalk, said his state-certified water testing company is working under contract with the Stamford health department.
"We also are getting a lot of calls from homeowners. I have daily conversations with people," Zubarev said.
Tom Schlotter, owner of Allied Home Inspections LLC, said last month he was getting five calls a day from Stamford residents. A test for pesticides costs $200 to $300, he said, and the amount doubles if a homeowner also wishes to test for volatile organic compounds.
Joseph Tarzia, a longtime member of the Stamford Board of Finance, this week was named to Mayor Dannel Malloy's new Scofieldtown Area Remediation Task Force. He thinks the garbage in the landfill, estimated at 10 acres to 18 acres wide and 10 feet to 30 feet deep, must be removed, said Tarzia, who tried to get the city to clean it up in the late 1980s.
"We have to eradicate this, first for the public safety and then for the most important investment in people's lives, their homes," Tarzia said. "I think the reality is that it will be a hard sell for people who own property there. How can you erase it from people's memories?"
The clean-up will have a paradox, Troy said.
"Once it's all remediated, in all likelihood it will be safer than any other neighborhood," Troy said. "But there will be a stigma for a long time to come."
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