Funding Secured for Area Waterway Dredging Projects in Connecticut River Valley

REGIONAL - Several important projects for the Connecticut River Valley area will be advanced thanks to Congressman Joe Courtney (D-2).

The passage of a Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill totaling almost $51 million includes many earmarks benefiting Courtney's district, which includes most of Eastern Connecticut.

"Eastern Connecticut is home to many exciting technological initiatives and to some very dire infrastructure needs, which I am proud to be able to address in this appropriations bill," said Courtney. "The new Democratic-led majority has kept its promise to restore fiscal responsibility in Washington while continuing to support our local priorities with new federal funding."

Some of the funds have been earmarked for much needed dredging of various waterways in the region. Among those receiving funding, Old Saybrook's North Cove is expected to receive $4,433,000 to be used for testing, planning, and permitting of dredge work of Old Saybrook's North Cove.

Courtney's office reported that the cove was last dredged in 1965 and funds will allow the harbor to be restored to its authorized depths by dredging and properly disposing of those materials.

Area boaters will also benefit from the authorization of $187,000 to sample, test, and remove sediment material from the Mystic Harbor which was last dredged 50 years ago. Like North Cove, vessels have experienced problems navigating through the Mystic Harbor.

Another dredging plan authorizes $3,525,000 for the Long Island Sound Dredged Materials Management Plan that would evaluate and implement dredging and sediment management options.

The plan would be coordinated through the partnership of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the State of Connecticut, and the State of New York.

Dredged materials are expected to be disposed of at one of four disposal sites in the Long Island Sound. Environmental impact studies have already been completed at two of the four sites and the plan is expected to help the shoreline region environmentally and economically and allow other dredging projects to move forward.

Additionally, the bill allocated $4,462,285 toward Long Island Sound restoration. Those funds were authorized in the Long Island Sound Restoration Act of 2000 in order to clean up the Sound by improving its water quality and environment.

This money may be used to provide grants for distressed communities for wastewater infrastructure improvements including nitrogen removal, water quality monitoring, public education and outreach, and habitat restoration.

Funds can also be used to preserve coastline areas with ecological, recreational, and educational value.

The bill also allowed the continued protection of open space parcels by allocating $698,924 for the acquisition of the 20-acre Menunketesuck Salt Meadow Marsh in Westbrook.

The acquisition allows the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/McKinney National Wildlife Refuge's Salt Meadow Unit to purchase the property, which will be conserved as public open space.

The property is unique since it consists of pristine tidal marsh, a forested upland, scrubland, and a rock cropping towering 1,000 feet above the Menunketesuck River.

Aside from the numerous waterway projects, the bill also appropriates money for the Paul and Lisa Program in Westbrook. Some $658,000 will go towards the program's goal of breaking the cycle of commercial sexual exploitation through prevention, assistance, redirection, and support to victims and survivors.

The Paul and Lisa Program is the leading Connecticut public charity devoted to stopping exploitation and was founded more than 25 years ago.

The goal of increasing safety of our transportation system is paramount since Eastern Connecticut is home to Interstate 95, one of the busiest interstates in our country and is home to the busy Amtrak line carrying passengers between New York City and Boston.

A sum of $4 million was allocated to the University of Connecticut National Transportation Security Center of Excellence which was selected as a participant to develop safety methodologies for the nation's transportation infrastructure in the Sept. 11 Recommendations bill.