|
IS
THIS FIGHT OVER?
Definitely not.
We have already won several important battles in the
struggle to protect this land, and we anticipate more to
come.
The developer's proposal has fatal flaws, and we
have a good chance to defeat it in the end!
Despite the considerable resources at its
disposal, LeylandAlliance has been unable to advance a
credible proposal to demonstrate that the pollution from
Madison Landing will not damage the adjacent tidal
wetlands, Hammonasset State Park, and Long Island Sound.
Though the DEP has recommended that the wastewater
permit be granted, SGOD is appealing that decision at
the state level.
Additional challenges at the federal level regarding the Clean
Water Act and the Endangered Species Act will provide us
with additional opportunities, if needed, to fight this
potential environmental disaster.
Furthermore, the Connecticut Senate overwhelmingly
approved, by a vote of 32-3, a
bill to place a moratorium on the
installation new of alternative onsite wastewater
treatment systems near state parks in Connecticut in
June 2007. Unfortunately, the legislative session
ended before the bill could be brought to a vote in the
House of Representatives. The Senate's vote
demonstrates the legislature's concern for the
environmental impact of these systems.
We
believe that we will ultimately prevail through these
challenges. It would be far better, however, if
Leyland were to quit while they're ahead, and sell us
the land now. During
the six years that SGOD has been fighting
this proposal, Leyland's potential profit
from Madison Landing has plummeted, for a variety of reasons.
The number of units planned has decreased from 260 to
127, the real estate market has cooled off
significantly, and construction costs have risen.
And Leyland faces the specter of SGOD's ongoing
opposition
cutting even deeper into their bottom line. We
will not give up until we've exhausted every possible
means of protecting this precious coastal habitat.
SGOD has assembled a coalition of public and
private organizations that understand the value of this
land to the environment and to the Connecticut economy.
If this property again becomes
available for purchase, we will be able to gather
the resources necessary to make it happen.
In
a huge victory towards this goal, both the U.S. House of
Representatives and the U.S. Senate passed the
Long
Island Sound Stewardship Act (LISSA) during the last
week of September 2006. This legislation provides
$25 million annually to acquire and protect sensitive
properties along Long Island Sound. Griswold
Airport is the epitome of the kind of parcel that this
legislation seeks to protect. SGOD brought Audubon Connecticut's CEO Tom Baptist
and former Representative Rob Simmons of Connecticut to Madison in
July 2006 for a well-attended public forum to support
Simmons' vigorous efforts to push this bill through the
Congress.
This fight is definitely not over!
Return to Top of
Page |
