Q. What towns are in the MDC district?
A. The Metropolitan District chartered towns are: Bloomfield, East Hartford, Hartford, Newington, Rocky Hill, West Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor.

Q. Has the District always provided sewer services?
A. The District’s charter provides for sewer services to all its member towns. The District also provides limited sewer services to Manchester, Glastonbury and South Windsor. The District is responsible for integrated sewer systems within all member towns, including the core combined sewer systems that were constructed from about 1850 to the early 1900’s.

Q. Why is the Clean Water Program Needed?
A. The MDC has a 150 year old combined sewer system in Hartford with a 100 year old sanitary sewer system located in the surrounding communities. These systems surcharge with rainwater during storm events, and discharge untreated wastewater through overflows. More than 1 billion gallons of untreated wastewater overflow to area streams and waterways annually. These discharges impact the Connecticut River water quality over a 30 mile distance up to 50 times per year—every time it rains more than 0.25 inches. Other area waters that have their water quality affected include: Wethersfield Cove, North Branch Park River, Trout Brook, Goff Brook, among others. In addition, area basements and streets experience flooding by raw sewage. These public health and safety issues must be abated.

Q. What do Federal and State regulators require?
A. The District has been cited by USEPA and USDOJ for overflows from the sewer systems in West Hartford, Newington, Wethersfield, Rocky Hill and Windsor. The District was fined $850,000 and signed a Consent Decree to cease all overflows within 12 years. The District is also negotiating a Consent Order with the CTDEP to control the Combined Sewer Overflows located in the Hartford sewer system within 15 years—by the year 2022.

Q. How can the District fix these problems?
A. The District has conducted studies of the combined sewer overflows under the direction of the CTDEP. A plan for abating these pollution sources—called the Clean Water Project-- has been prepared by consultants to the District. The plan combines several abatement approaches including: new sewers, removal of storm water flows from the sewers, construction of sewage storage systems to prevent overflows during storm events, and additional treatment capacity. Completion of these system improvements will require a construction program of at least 15 years. Significant abatement can also be achieved by individual homeowners disconnecting roof leaders, sump pumps and yard drains.

Q. How has the District addressed this issue to date?
A. The MDC has been addressing combined sewer overflows and other system deficiencies since the early 1960s, when the construction of new combined sewers was no longer allowed. In the 1970’s, the District implemented a program to construct separate sewers in critical sewer backup areas. In the 1980’s, the District added capacity to its sewer system. In the 1990’s, the District implemented the $80 million Connecticut River Cleanup Program, which was funded by the first District-wide sewer system referendum. The program funded additional sewer separation projects and other innovative projects that have eliminated approximately 80 combined sewer overflow points.

Q. How much will these improvements cost?
A. The Clean Water Project will construct sewer system improvements throughout the entire District, as required to eliminate the sewer overflows. The cost of these facilities is dependent upon the ultimate ability of individual homeowners to reduce, if not eliminate, rain water related flows from their sewer connections. Current estimates for the improvements, including allowances for the Hartford Water Pollution Control Facility nitrogen removal upgrade, are $1.6 billion.

Before the Clean Water Project officially begins, the MDC and its consultants are developing conceptual designs to identify the full scope of the projects. We embarked on these studies before requesting funding, so we could develop the most accurate, realistic budget estimate for referendum approval. For example, the recent US Environmental Protection Agency Consent Decree requires new sewer system improvements, in addition to the Combined Sewer Overflow program. Recognizing the similarity and relationship of these programs, the District has added the requisite improvements to our overall Clean Water Program. The District is now investigating the extent of the possible improvements, as well as the impact on the project costs and schedule.

Q. How can we control the project costs?
A. The District has examined numerous options for managing the projects. Many public projects have utilized a “Program Management” approach. The District has established an independent program specific team of professional design engineers, finance and construction specialists to direct the project. The Program Management Unit will exist solely for the purpose of implementing this project, which has been endorse by the CTDEP for funding.

This PMU is now examining ways to implement this program economically. These include:

• Seeking national engineering expertise to provide state-of-the-art technical guidance
•  Standardized designs and construction methods
• Application of new State Public Construction Bidding Procedures
• Establishing agreements with communities, permitting agencies, and utilities to streamline project implementation
• Creating training programs for engineering and construction workers
• Coordinating community projects to minimize project overlaps

The District recognizes its responsibility to provide water and sewer services of the highest quality at the lowest possible costs—which has been a trademark of its operational history.

Q. What is the cost for the average citizen?
A. The District’s average homeowner currently pays about $120 per year of his/her property tax bill for annual sewer service. The proposed Clean Water Project will increase this annual average tax levy by $250 to $500 per year by the time of its completion in 2022, dependent upon the final project cost, and the amount of federal and state grants and subsidized loans received.

Q. How much of the Clean Water Project cost will be invested in my town?
A. The Clean Water Project implements essential sewer system improvements to eliminate untreated sewage discharges to local waterways. These projects will occur throughout the District member towns. The distribution of these investments will vary dependent upon the age, condition and capacity of each respective community’s sewers. Nonetheless, significant construction will occur in Hartford to bolster the system’s ability to convey flows from the outlying towns to the District's primary wastewater treatment plant. The improvements are planned to handle increased sewage flows from area development, which is expected to occur over the next 50 years.

Q. I thought the river was cleaner than it used to be –what is its current status?
A. The Connecticut River was once called “the best landscaped sewer,” meaning that for all its outward beauty, it was still used as a dump for sewage and other waste. Today, due to improvements made after passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, and stronger state water quality standards, the river’s water quality has improved. For response to the 1972 legislation, the MDC instituted a biological sewage treatment process to clean up the wastewater, and has increased the total treatment plant capacity for storm sewage flows. Nonetheless, while the river’s water quality has improved, combined sewer overflows persist, affecting more than 30 miles of the Connecticut River and other inland waters during, and after, most storm events.

Q. Why should a clean Connecticut River be important to me and therefore worth paying for?
A. The Connecticut River is a key regional and national resource. In 1998, it was designated an American Heritage River, one of only 14 in the country to receive this recognition for its historical, environmental and economic importance. The river has great potential as a recreational resource for swimming, fishing, boating and other uses that enhance the quality of life for all in the region and promotes economic development. Moreover, the river has a direct impact on the water quality of Long Island Sound, which is the basis for a major Federal initiative—The Long Island Sound Program. The District is operating under Federal and State mandates to improve wastewater treatment to address impacts to the Sound’s fish habitat. 

Q. How are we billed for the sewage repair and maintenance?
A. The MDC uses the adjusted ad valorem method to finance its sewer operations. The formula calls for the total sewer tax to be apportioned among the member municipalities based upon their respective total property valuation, as averaged over the previous three years. Each year, the District Board approves an annual budget that includes repair and replacement costs for the sewer system. This annual budget finances the District’s sewer maintenance and repair programs.

Q. How is the project going to be monitored? Who will oversee its progress to guarantee MDC is doing this right??
A. The MDC is under consent orders with the Connecticut DEP and the Federal EPA to address the issues of combined sewer overflows and sanitary sewer overflows. These consent orders establish deadlines that must be met. In addition, the District expenditures are constantly reviewed by the DEP which approves budgets as a condition of its funding (grants and loans through the Clean Water Fund) authorizations. Lastly, the overall program will be directed by a special program management unit of the MDC—established specifically to implement this program in accordance with state-of-the-art business methods.

Q. Will the project generate employment opportunities?
A. While this is not a “jobs” program per se, the expenditures will generate job opportunities throughout the District. The long-term nature of the program—more than 15 years—can act as a catalyst for job training and new companies to meet the need for a utility construction workforce.