{"id":340,"date":"2025-06-02T19:34:47","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T23:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/?p=340"},"modified":"2025-07-02T12:27:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T16:27:27","slug":"whose-fault-is-the-flooding-its-complicated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/2025\/06\/02\/whose-fault-is-the-flooding-its-complicated\/","title":{"rendered":"Whose fault is the flooding? It\u2019s complicated"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

By Desirae Sin
UConn Journalism<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The city of Hartford has dealt with flood\u00ading and sewer over\u00adflows ever since the mid-1800s, when the city became a high\u00adly pop\u00adu\u00adlat\u00aded area. The sewage infra\u00adstruc\u00adture dates back to the 1870s, and many parts of it have remained the same since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Hartford res\u00adi\u00addents this is noth\u00ading new. Climate change has cre\u00adat\u00aded instances of heav\u00adier rain\u00adfall and more severe weath\u00ader in the past quar\u00adter cen\u00adtu\u00adry. Dense cities like Hartford suf\u00adfer the con\u00adse\u00adquences of human activ\u00adi\u00adty through these extreme storms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hartford\u2019s sewer sys\u00adtem was designed to col\u00adlect both sewage and stormwa\u00adter togeth\u00ader, mean\u00ading the sys\u00adtem can be over\u00adwhelmed and must repel the excess water direct\u00adly into rivers, so that it will not over\u00adload the sewage treat\u00adment plant in the South Meadows area of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA CSO, or a com\u00adbined sewer over\u00adflow, is basi\u00adcal\u00adly a relic of the way cities were built start\u00ading back in the 1800s,\u201d Michael Dietz, exten\u00adsion edu\u00adca\u00adtor at the University of Connecticut and direc\u00adtor of the Connecticut Institute of Water Resources, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) have been updat\u00ading the sewage sys\u00adtem since the late 20th<\/sup> cen\u00adtu\u00adry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But who is liable for Hartford\u2019s flood\u00ading? It\u2019s caused mil\u00adlions of dol\u00adlars in prop\u00ader\u00adty dam\u00adage and neg\u00ada\u00adtive envi\u00adron\u00admen\u00adtal effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January of this year, the city of Hartford and the MDC signed a mem\u00ado\u00adran\u00addum, in which both orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtions would help man\u00adage the impacts of stormwa\u00adter flood\u00ading and pol\u00adlut\u00aded bod\u00adies of water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the agree\u00adment, the city and the MDC promise to work togeth\u00ader to keep flood\u00ading to a min\u00adi\u00admum, work\u00ading togeth\u00ader to clear storm drains and cul\u00adverts and to pre\u00advent and stop illic\u00adit dump\u00ading of sub\u00adstances into drains. The agree\u00adment lays out that the city is respon\u00adsi\u00adble for street clear\u00ading and the MDC is respon\u00adsi\u00adble for main\u00adtain\u00ading the pipes and upgrad\u00ading them. The MDC has been under a con\u00adsent order with the state since the mid-1990s to sep\u00ada\u00adrate some parts of the stormwa\u00adter pipes from sewage pipes, and to upgrade many other areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the MDC and DEEP are con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00ading to update the sys\u00adtem, the MDC is not a flood con\u00adtrol agency. It is a non-prof\u00adit cor\u00adpo\u00adra\u00adtion that pro\u00advides drink\u00ading water and sewage treat\u00adment. The Connecticut General Assembly char\u00adtered it in 1929.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MDC oper\u00adates and con\u00adtrol sewage plants in the Hartford area, the biggest being in South Meadows. But the sewer sys\u00adtems date back to the 1850s. As the pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion grew the city decid\u00aded actions had to be taken to ensure pub\u00adlic health. More peo\u00adple meant more waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Looney, who worked as a munic\u00adi\u00adpal stormwa\u00adter edu\u00adca\u00adtor for the Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO) pro\u00adgram at the University of Connecticut\u2019s Center for Land Use Education and Research, said that man\u00adag\u00ading stormwa\u00adter that mixes with human waste is very impor\u00adtant. \u201cGenerally, expo\u00adsure to sewage can be real\u00adly dan\u00adger\u00adous,\u201d said Looney, who today works as a san\u00adi\u00adta\u00adtion inspec\u00adtor for the Bristol-Burlington Health District.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cE. coli and the dif\u00adfer\u00adent bac\u00adte\u00adria and virus\u00ades that we shed in our sewage\u2014if you come in con\u00adtact with that, that can then enter your body and you can get very sick with gas\u00adtroin\u00adtesti\u00adnal ill\u00adness\u00ades,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While most bac\u00adte\u00adria are harm\u00adless and with\u00adin our intestines, harm\u00adful ver\u00adsions of it can cause infec\u00adtions through \u201ccon\u00adt\u00ada\u00adm\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded food or water or con\u00adtact with ani\u00admals, envi\u00adron\u00adments, or other peo\u00adple,\u201d accord\u00ading to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention web\u00adsite<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looney noted that the rea\u00adson munic\u00adi\u00adpal and state health offi\u00adcials test swim\u00adming areas from Memorial Day to Labor Day is that they don\u2019t want peo\u00adple to come in con\u00adtact with dis\u00adease-caus\u00ading bac\u00adte\u00adria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the MDC is not liable for pri\u00advate prop\u00ader\u00adty that floods, spokesper\u00adson Nick Salemi said the agency has received fund\u00ading from the state\u2019s Clean Water Fund and has start\u00aded mak\u00ading improve\u00adments to the parts of the sys\u00adtem that go from the street to people\u2019s homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe big change was to be able to do the pri\u00advate prop\u00ader\u00adty improve\u00adments to people\u2019s homes,\u201d Salemi said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of this work is fund\u00aded by the state. The Clean Water Fund is DEEP\u2019s finan\u00adcial assis\u00adtance to cities and towns. State fund\u00ading is the main dri\u00adver for sewer sep\u00ada\u00adra\u00adtion all over Connecticut, and Connecticut was the first state to intro\u00adduce a bill geared towards clean water.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
Metropolitan District Commission Construction Manager Jessica Webb talks to journalists and MDC consultant Janice Flemming-Butler near a sewer separation project on Westland Street in Hartford's North End. Photo by Christine Woodside<\/p>\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/files\/2025\/06\/MDC-contractor-talks-to-journalists-on-Westland-Street-1024x768.jpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/files\/2025\/06\/MDC-contractor-talks-to-journalists-on-Westland-Street-1024x768.jpeg\" alt class=\"wp-image-1075\" style=\"width:400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/files\/2025\/06\/MDC-contractor-talks-to-journalists-on-Westland-Street-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/files\/2025\/06\/MDC-contractor-talks-to-journalists-on-Westland-Street-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/files\/2025\/06\/MDC-contractor-talks-to-journalists-on-Westland-Street-150x113.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/files\/2025\/06\/MDC-contractor-talks-to-journalists-on-Westland-Street-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/files\/2025\/06\/MDC-contractor-talks-to-journalists-on-Westland-Street-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/files\/2025\/06\/MDC-contractor-talks-to-journalists-on-Westland-Street-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/files\/2025\/06\/MDC-contractor-talks-to-journalists-on-Westland-Street-850x638.jpeg 850w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">
Metropolitan District Commission Construction Manager Jessica Webb talks to jour\u00adnal\u00adists and MDC con\u00adsul\u00adtant Janice Flemming-Butler near a sewer sep\u00ada\u00adra\u00adtion project on Westland Street in Hartford\u2019s North End. Photo by Christine Woodside<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In 1967, DEEP states in a his\u00adto\u00adry on its web\u00adsite<\/a>, the state cre\u00adat\u00aded its Clean Water Act. Three years later, the fed\u00ader\u00adal gov\u00adern\u00adment set water qual\u00adi\u00adty stan\u00addards. The fed\u00ader\u00adal Clean Water Act was adopt\u00aded in 1972. DEEP is charged with enforc\u00ading the fed\u00ader\u00adal law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFolks should know that the fed\u00ader\u00adal Clean Water Act is mod\u00adeled after Connecticut\u2019s Clean Water Act, which pro\u00adceed\u00aded the fed\u00ader\u00adal law,\u201d said Graham Stevens, chief of the Bureau of Water Protection and Land Reuse at DEEP. \u201cWe have over\u00adlap in juris\u00addic\u00adtion as it relates to imple\u00admen\u00adta\u00adtion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hartford isn\u2019t the only dense city in Connecticut deal\u00ading with the reper\u00adcus\u00adsions of ancient infra\u00adstruc\u00adture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome of our older cities like Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport have the com\u00adbined sewer sys\u00adtems still,\u201d Dietz said. When it rains is when these sys\u00adtems can become over\u00adwhelmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Connecticut was the first state to address the sewage issue, the MDC and DEEP pre\u00addict that sewer sep\u00ada\u00adra\u00adtion and upgrades in Hartford won\u2019t be com\u00adplete until around 2075.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s going to take more time and more money to com\u00adplete the project. In the mean\u00adtime, the state offered aid to res\u00adi\u00addents in the North End whose prop\u00ader\u00adties were dam\u00adaged by flood\u00ading. The state\u2019s Hartford Flood Relief and Compensation Programs<\/a> fund\u00aded about $9 mil\u00adlion in grants, but the fund\u00ading ran out and the pro\u00adgram paused in December 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Madi Csejka, press sec\u00adre\u00adtary for office of State Comptroller Sean Scanlon, said that the office asked for $4 mil\u00adlion to be allo\u00adcat\u00aded into the HFRCP this leg\u00adisla\u00adtive ses\u00adsion, so that the pro\u00adgrams could con\u00adtin\u00adue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

TOP PHOTO: The Park River takes on com\u00adbined sewage over\u00adflows in mul\u00adti\u00adple places. Here it flows into the cul\u00adverts under Farmington Avenue in Hartford\u2019s West End. From here it will carry the river under\u00adground, still tak\u00ading on over\u00adflows from storm drains. Photo by Justin Doughty<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hartford\u2019s sewer sys\u00adtem was designed to col\u00adlect both sewage and stormwa\u00adter togeth\u00ader, mean\u00ading the sys\u00adtem can be over\u00adwhelmed and must repel the excess water direct\u00adly into rivers, which can flood and back up into neigh\u00adbor\u00adhoods and homes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":932,"featured_media":344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[16],"class_list":["post-340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-explainers","tag-explained"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/files\/2025\/05\/2ParkRiverGoesUnderground-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/932"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1153,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340\/revisions\/1153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/hartford-north-end-chronic-flooding-sewage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}