#MiddleburyCT #AirQuality
By MARJORIE NEEDHAM
Middlebury resident Raymond Pietrorazio has been a man on a mission, determined to call attention to the need to determine air quality in Middlebury and to have both the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) and the Conservation Commission (CC) consider whether or not businesses that propose to operate in Middlebury will adversely affect the air quality here before they approve applications. Following his December 16, 2024, presentation to the Board of Selectmen, it seems he finally has found support for this.
In a telephone interview, First Selectman Edward B. St. John said of Pietrorazio, “He brings up a point that should have been addressed years ago.” He said the town had suggested the developer of the Towantic Energy Plant in Oxford, which is just over the town line, monitor both air and noise quality. “We hoped they would put a monitor at Long Meadow Elementary School, but that never happened,” he said. He said it had been 10 years since this was talked about, and it’s time to get the monitoring done.
“We need to not talk about this. We need to get the monitoring equipment out there now,” he said. “Let’s protect our kids. Let’s find out where we are now. Those kids are there roughly eight hours a day. That makes the schools the best location.”
At the December 16 meeting, Pietrorazio also mentioned a recent “The Verge” article stating the EPA has opened the door to suing warehouse owners over air pollution. In a Sept. 12, 2024, article Justine Calma reported a nationwide study linked truck traffic from warehouses to a rise in the smog-forming pollutant nitrogen dioxide, with areas downwind less than 5 miles seeing a nearly 20 percent increase in nitrogen dioxide compare to areas upwind. The EPA has approved making a California rule on warehouse tailpipe emissions part of the state’s air plan, so companies there can be sued if they violate the rule. This opens the door for similar rules in other areas dealing with warehouses.
Pietrorazio told selectmen he was sincerely concerned for the health and welfare of our young children. He explained he had presented air quality information at the October 3 P&Z meeting and heard nothing back afterwards. He wrote to P&Z Chairman Terry Smith December 2, asking for a formal response. On December 4, town counsel notified him by email “they are not issuing a statement.” On December 10, he received an email from Smith informing him that his report was given “to our consultant for his recommendations for our new regulations.”
Pietrorazio told selectmen both commissions (P&Z and CC) have a duty to act to protect our residents and keep them safe. He said he felt the town needed to collaborate directly with the U.S. EPA and Connecticut DEEP to develop a course of action that includes computer modeling paid for by applicants. He noted the air here already is impacted by the CPV Energy Center, Waterbury/Oxford Airport, I-84 and the Algonquin Natural Gas Pumping Station.
He also suggested the town immediately enact a moratorium against allowing any businesses that would cause major air pollution, either by themselves or by vehicular traffic to and from them. Such projects would not be approved unless they had done the computer modeling mentioned above and established that National Ambient Air Quality Standards would be met and not threatened by them. “Facility owners should be held liable by the town and its residents for any air quality violation and/or harm to public health for the life of the facility,” he said.
St. John explained that selectmen do not have the authority to declare a moratorium. “I don’t want the selectmen involved in a moratorium,” he said. “That is way beyond our bounds.” He said that authority lies with P&Z.
While P&Z is considering a moratorium, St. John said the town needs to establish the current baseline for air quality by monitoring the air. “This needs to be done now,” he said.
He said he would be happy to work with Region 15 on this. “I’ll do what we have to do to get it done,” he said.
He said monitoring should also be done at Memorial Middle School (MMS), then added monitoring would be good in three places: LMES, Westover and MMS as that would yield readings from the west end of town, the center of town and the east end of town. “The safety of our kids is paramount,” he said.
St. John said you have to establish the baseline now, before a major polluter moves to town. Before anything more is done, the town needs to know the baseline. You can’t accuse a company of pollution if you don’t know what the air quality was before they started operating. “This is a long-standing situation that needs to be addressed,” he said.
As noted in the page one article on air pollution in our November issue, Pietrorazio said he has also asked Region 15 to request an air pollution monitoring system called “Purple Air” that is available from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection at no cost. That would allow for establishment of a baseline air quality measurement at the schools.
Currently, the closest air quality monitoring station is in Waterbury, and an Environmental Protection Agency official, in a letter to Pietrorazio said it monitors only particulate matter. The next closest is in Danbury, and it measures ground level ozone, fine particulate and black carbon.
While attempts to get establish air quality failed 10 years ago, it seems town officials, inspired by Pietrorazio’s research and his concern about air quality here, may be ready to see it now gets done.
