Outrage in Hartford as residents learn bill on sewage ‘won’t be moving forward’ as is

Hartford residents were outraged and disappointed Thursday as they learned that a pending legislative bill that would impose more oversight on the Metropolitan District of Hartford would not be moving forward in its present form.

In a statement to the Courant, state Sen. Derek Slap, a leading co-sponsor of the bill, confirmed that the bill as it is would not be moving forward.

“It’s unclear right now if we will amend the bill or address flooding and sewage overflows in another legislative vehicle,” he said.

Residents were hopeful about an amendment to the bill that was submitted by Slap that also would require the commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection to “establish and administer” a program to provide grants-in-aid to the towns of Bloomfield, East Hartford, Hartford, Newington, Rocky Hill, West Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor for reimbursement to residents of those towns for “costs associated with property damage due to flooding and sewer backups, and projects and improvements to mitigate and prevent flooding and sewer backups in said towns.”

A spokesman for the MDC declined comment Thursday.

Sharon Lewis, executive director of the CT Coalition for Environmental Justice, who may have benefited from receiving reimbursement funds, as she was severely impacted by flooding and sewage issues, said she is still living in a hotel.

Lewis said that she discovered flooding on Dec. 4, 2022 in her basement and when her husband opened the door to the basement they rushed to get out of the house. The house is still condemned, and Lewis said she was hospitalized due to stress and anxiety around what her next steps will be, as she can’t financially sustain living in the hotel for long.

“It’s been very difficult. I was in the hospital from Friday till Tuesday because of stress-related physical situations. Depression, anxiety, stress that caused serious stomach issues. Doctors told me 30 years ago that stress was going to kill me. When he just said stress kills, I didn’t know what that meant. Thirty years ago, I never heard the word stress. But this was extremely, extremely stressful for me because in a blink of an eye, I’m technically homeless,” she said.

Lewis said it pains her to go to her home to visit, as it is still full of bacteria and has a bad odor inside. She also said that she still has not received any help from anyone, other than CT DEEP and the State of Connecticut.

“CTDEEP has done a great job helping, you know, I’m always on the line with DEEP,” she said. “The state of Connecticut paid for the removal and extraction of everything, of course I have to pay them back, but they’ve always been very helpful in trying to find resolutions and getting me help with CRT and other agencies.”

In a press conference Thursday held by the Greater Hartford African American Alliance and community members at the Capitol steps, community activist/leader Bridgitte Prince said she received a phone call the night before from Slap, who asked her to cancel the press conference that was to occur with the group, state legislators, and himself.

“The phone call was, ‘We are not going to focus on anything about the MDC. We might try to get the funding for the residents in the North End of Hartford … we’re canceling the press conference,’ ” she said.

Prince said residents would continue the crusade and plan to get the flooding and sewage issues fixed in the North End of Hartford.

She said that her message for the MDC is that the people have power for change and plan to take their fight outside of the city, as they have support from the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C., U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, and her union, which is communicating with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.

“We are not alone, but we understand because of the political manipulation…that we’re not going to see the resolution here. Everybody claims to be democratic, and claims to be the preservers of justice and righteousness. If that is the case, you should not have a problem with calling Senate Bill 1139 to allow the body to vote. That’s called democracy,” she said.

“Senator Martin Looney, you should call the bill to the Senate. House Speaker Matt Ritter, you should call up the bill and let the other 150 delegates, instead of being the sovereign one that determines what’s going to happen and what’s not going to happen to the people who have been suffering for decades … just drowning in sewage,” she said.

Environmental Justice/ Civil Rights lawyer Cynthia Jennings said that not having equal access to services to stop the sewage backup into basements is both a health and a federal issue of disrespect to the community.

“Some of the houses (have) the water turned off. Once your water is turned off, you are not allowed in your house. Your house is condemned, so you can’t even live there. So we have people living in a hotel since December 4 and they have not received any monetary support.” she said. “They have been paid to resolve this issue. And we are asking them to not treat the people of North Hartford any differently than they treat the other residents of the district,” she said.

Greater Hartford African American Alliance President J. Stan McCauley, who also is a mayoral candidate in the city, said these are the reasons they created a resolution calling for the pending bill to be passed.

“Special interests in political interests are superseding the interests of the constituents that actually voted for these people to represent us. It is shameful and it is very discouraging that we’re here without the Hartford delegation behind us, because we voted for them,” he said.

“And it’s come to a place in time that the African American Alliance needs to exercise its political muscle and put people on notice that if you’re not going to represent us, then the time has come for us to look for new leadership that is going to represent the people,” he said.