Update: Feds Might Release $15 Million To Remove Useless Dam

SEYMOUR — The state’s federal delegation said up to $15 million could be used to remove the dilapidated Kinneytown Dam.

The money is expected to come from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to a statement released Wednesday by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s office.

The press release describes the money as a ​“funding recommendation,” which means it’s not written in stone yet.

Getting rid of the dam — which officials previously said is neglected and serves no purpose other than damaging the ecosystem — is a major win for environmentalists, who have been calling for its removal for years.

The Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments, Save the Sound, and the Naugatuck River Revival Group previously called for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to revoke the operating license exemption held by Kinneytown Hydro Company, Inc. which, in turn, is owned by Hydroland Omega, LLC — the entities that control the dam.

A 35-page complaint released to the public in September 2021 essentially says that while millions upon millions (upon millions) of dollars have been poured into the restoration of the 45-mile Naugatuck River as a local natural resource — a waterway once so contaminated it caught fire in Ansonia in 1943 — the Kinneytown Dam sticks out as a gangrenous sore thumb.

​“In recent months I have personally visited the location and have been greatly disturbed by the condition of the entire KHP facility, which gives the appearance of total abandonment,” according to a statement in the complaint from Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments Executive Director Rick Dunne.

The Kinneytown Dam is supposed to generate electricity at small plants in Seymour and Ansonia along the Naugatuck River — but neither facility is in operation.

The Kinneytown Dam is supposed to have a ​“fish ladder,” a device that is supposed to allow fish to get around the dam — that’s busted, too.

Migratory fish get stuck at the dam, which is bad for the ecosystem.

If the fish stuck at Kinneytown can’t spawn, there’s a larger ecological impact to the food chain, according to an affidavit from Queens College biology professor John Waldman.

​“Certain fish species that would reproduce in the Naugatuck such as river herring are critically important prey fish in Long Island Sound and other marine waters for recreational and commercial species that include striped bass, bluefish, tuna, and weakfish, plus whales and their relatives. However, river herring are unable to attain ecologically meaningful population sizes in the Naugatuck because their upriver migrations are blocked by Kinneytown Dam,” Waldman said in the document released in 2021.

Locally, the dam is best known for being a gathering place for large amounts of trash after heavy rains.

The Kinneytown Dam area became so choked with garbage in April 2020 a large dog wandered onto the water and was able to stand on debris — and then could not get out of the river. The Seymour Fire Department shared an image of a firefighter approaching the dog that looked like the trash compactor scene on the Death Star in ​‘Star Wars.’

​“As recently as September the canal was once again filled with trash. I raise this issue with FERC because it demonstrates the total lack of attention or investment in this facility by KHC that is not only dangerous to aquatic resources, but to the neighboring and downstream public as well,” according to Dunne’s 2021 statement.

Removing the dam will ​“open 29 miles of river for blueback herring, American shad, and alewife, as well as 28 tributary miles for American eel. The restoration of a free-flowing Naugatuck River will also be a boon to the economies of the Naugatuck River Valley towns and allow for the natural flow of sediment to Long Island Sound to resume, which would greatly benefit Connecticut’s thriving shellfish industry,” according to Wednesday’s press release.

The release was sent by Blumenthal, with prepared quotes from U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, U.S. Rep. Jim Hines, Dunne from NVCOG, Waterbury Mayor Neil M. O’Leary, and Laura Wildman, Save the Sound’s director of ecological restoration.

​“This is exciting for me because my involvement in this river started over two decades ago, when I was a project engineer focused on removing five upstream dams,” Wildman said, according to the statement. ​“Being able to finally address the first barrier on the system with Save the Sound feels very fitting and fulfilling. Our entire organization, particularly our legal team, has been tirelessly advocating for successful fish passage at Kinneytown Dam for years. This funding ensures that this once industrial sewer will return to the life-supporting, swiftly-flowing river that initially cascaded down the Naugatuck Valley.“

To receive the funding NVCOG must demonstrate compliance with certain program conditions, according to the release. The ​‘program conditions’ is government speak for following the rules by which the money is awarded.

Update: on Thursday morning, a spokesperson for Blumenthal said the money is expected to be released in the spring or early summer of 2023. 

The money is part of $105 million for 36 fish passage projects across the U.S. The money comes from the ​“Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” according to a statement on the NOAA website.

NOAA Fisheries announced nearly $105 million in funding for 36 new fish passage projects under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

From the NOAA website:

“At this point in the selection process, the application approval and obligation of funds are not final. Each application is being ​“recommended” for funding. This announcement is not an authorization to start the project and is not a guarantee of funding.

More information could be revealed at a press conference scheduled for Friday in Ansonia.

The web slideshow below was produced by NVCOG and the Naugatuck River Restoration Coalition. It walks the reader through the issues at Kinneytown.