FARMINGTON — Six more Farmington businesses that sit over public drinking-water supplies had their aquifer registrations renewed Wednesday night, Oct. 14, three of them with deadlines attached. Three others, including the Valero station on Farmington Avenue, come back Tuesday, Oct. 20.
It was the second night of a five-year checkup. Businesses that store or handle hazardous materials inside the town's aquifer protection areas, the ground that feeds public wells, have to re-register and show how they keep oil and chemicals out of the water. The Aquifer Protection Agency, whose members also sit as the Town Plan and Zoning Commission, renewed five on Sept. 29 and gave three more until Oct. 14.
Of the 15 registrations on file, 11 are now renewed. Assistant Town Planner Garrett Daigle, the agency's agent, said one more, on New Britain Avenue, is still to come.
Approved Wednesday
With conditions:
- Farmington Ready Mix, 164 Brickyard Road. The concrete plant, continued from Sept. 29, has a list of deadlines that runs to the end of the year. Details below.
- Farmington Motor Sports, 144 and 146 Brickyard Road, registered as MTM Brickyard Realty LLC. A cover for the concrete vault around its 2,000-gallon diesel tank is due Nov. 15. The shop also owes a short description of how used oil, filters and other materials are handled and disposed of, and corrected plans that list the site's impervious coverage, the ground covered by pavement, concrete and roofs, at 48%, the figure from its approved site plan. A company representative said employee training on the new plan could be finished by Nov. 1. Staff said a cover over the fueling area was completed that morning.
- Par Manufacturing, 1824 New Britain Avenue, a machine shop continued from Sept. 29. It owes a description of how its materials move through the shop by Oct. 31. A July 9 inspection found no violations, and the shop sent a revised materials plan after the last meeting.
Outright:
- Trumpf, 111 Hyde Road and 1, 3 and 5 Leibinger Way. A July 20 inspection found an outdoor fuel tank, since moved inside the maintenance building. One commissioner called the filing "very thorough."
- KIP Inc., 72 Spring Lane, also known as IMI Norgren. The plant has switched from heating oil to gas heat. An Aug. 7 inspection found drums of metal shavings on the loading dock that needed containment; that has been fixed.
- Beacon Adhesives Co. Inc., 145 Hyde Road. KIP sold the building this year, and the registration moves to the new owner. The building is empty. Renewing keeps its registered use, the production of metal products, available; if the new owner brings in materials, staff will review them and decide whether the change needs to come back to the agency.
No votes against were heard on any of the six.
Ready Mix's deadlines
Staff reinspected the Ready Mix plant on Oct. 13 and said the problems found in a July inspection had been fixed or were in progress. The approval follows the schedule staff read out:
- an extra spill kit in the maintenance garage by Nov. 1
- the canopy over the fueling area, now under construction, by Nov. 15
- hoods for catch basins, to hold back sediment, by Nov. 15
- an epoxy lining for the maintenance trough, the pit mechanics climb into to work under the trucks, by Dec. 31, timed for weather that lets it cure
- a plan, worked out with its consultant, to keep the settling basins along Brickyard Road from overflowing in big storms, by Dec. 31
The canopy date has moved. On Sept. 29 the company expected to build it by the end of October.
One commissioner, not identified on the recording, said there was "an awful lot of major things open with some pretty long timelines" for a conditional approval, and would rather approve once the work was done. Town Planner Shannon Rutherford said the agency was following the state environmental department's recommendation, and that the company had made improvements at every visit since staff began working with it in April.
“At no point have phone calls or emails not been returned. At no point has dialogue stopped.”
Shannon RutherfordTown Planner, Town of FarmingtonVideo: Town of Farmington
If a business stopped responding, she said, "it would be a completely different conversation," and the town would be issuing fines. Staff offered to give the agency an update on the conditional approvals in December.
A commissioner also asked about cloudy water seen coming from a storm drain along the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail a couple of months ago, which staff traced to Ready Mix. A Ready Mix representative said the plant had put down more sand after an employee's fall, sediment got past a catch basin, and the catch basins are now cleaned twice a year and as needed. Don Gonyea, a senior regulatory specialist with SLR Consulting, said that from the photos, the basin below the pipe "was kind of doing what it was supposed to do." Rutherford said she believed the town has an easement there and that the town has maintained the outlet in the past, and that staff would follow up on Gonyea's description.
Waiting for Tuesday
- Dunning Sand & Gravel, 105 to 163 Brickyard Road. Staff reinspected Oct. 7, said most items had been addressed and recommended approval with deadlines: more containment and a fueling canopy by Oct. 31, a second spill kit with absorbent booms by Oct. 23, and unused equipment moved onto pavement or drained by Dec. 31. The company's updated plans reached staff Monday, and a commissioner asked for time to read them before voting.
- Getty CT Leasing LLC, 1387 Farmington Avenue, the Valero station. Staff has tried to schedule an inspection and "sent multiple emails" without a response, and will go to the property owner. The station's convenience store lost its bid to sell beer before the Town Plan and Zoning Commission on Sept. 28.
- The Cardinals, 166 River Road, which stores supplies for golf courses and athletic fields. An Oct. 13 inspection found liquid products, including fertilizers, that need secondary containment, a tub or pallet that catches leaks. Staff is waiting on the full list of materials the company's filing referred to but did not include.
The agency is scheduled to meet Tuesday, Oct. 20. Some members said they were not sure they could attend, and the meeting would be rescheduled if it could not reach a quorum, staff said.
Members present Oct. 14 were Chair Liz Sanford, Commissioners Philip Cordeiro, Josh Davidson and David St. Germain, and alternate Robert Ingvertsen, seated for an absent member.
This coverage is supported by Farmington Storage, 155 Scott Swamp Road, the only storage facility in Connecticut with Museum air. Everything stored there sits indoors, on a floor, nowhere near a catch basin. 860.777.4001 📦
Jack Beckett has now filed twice on Farmington's aquifer registrations and can explain a settling basin to anyone who stands still long enough. Nobody has. He is on his third coffee. ☕
The Farmington Mercury covers the town nobody else is covering: the special meeting that ran until 8:45, the registration file that turns out to be about your tap water, the police log somebody had to type up. We publish slowly and without apology. Our motto is "Always last to breaking news," and this time we are early for Tuesday. Find us at farmingtonmercury.com and tell your neighbors. #WeAreFarmington 📰