Volume 20, Number 8 Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
www.TownTimes.com
Friday, May 31, 2013
A day to remember Sunny skies greeted the towns’ annual Memorial Day Parade on May 27. The event is a combined effort of Durham and Middlefield. Participants included civic groups, veterans, volunteer firefighters, local officials, scouts and sports teams. At left, Girl Scouts give out candy. For more photos see page 13.
Town Times photos by Mark Dionne
Work to begin on water main to superfund site Public meeting on topic June 6 at CRHS By Daniel Jackson Town Times
This summer, the Environmental Protection Agency will oversee the process of designing a water line to bring water two miles from Middletown to the Durham Meadows Superfund Site. In June and July, traffic will slow as soil borings are taken from the road and surveyors will map private drinking wells in the area said Anni Loughlin, EPA project manager for the Durham Meadows Superfund Site. “I basically want people to be aware of that,” she said. Durham Meadows Superfund Site is the affected area along Main Street and Maple Avenue where chemicals from local manufacturers contaminated the groundwa-
ter. The EPA and the Connecticut Department of Environmental and Energy Protection has worked on the site since 1982. The EPA is hosting a public meeting to discuss the new water line and the overall cleanup effort with residents at a public meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Coginchaug Regional High School Auditorium June 6. In 1982, the EPA found volatile organic compounds such as methylene chloride in the drinking wells of residents living around Merriam Manufacturing Company and Durham Manufacturing Company. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, methylene chloride can be used to strip paint or clean and degrease metal. After people are exposed to too much of the chemical, health effects inSee Superfund, page 2
Middlefield BOS warns of possible swim ban at Lake Beseck Panel doesn’t take up gun control issue By Mark Dionne Town Times The curly-leaf pondweed got an early jump on summer and the spread of this tenacious, invasive plant places this summer’s swimming at Lake Beseck in jeopardy, according to Middlefield officials. “The lake is worse than ever,” said Selectman Ed Bailey at the Middlefield Board of Selectman May 21 meeting. According to Bailey, the weed is too far along for an herbicide treatment previously contemplated by the Middlefield Park and Recreation department. “It’s just not going to be effective, seeing as this is already grown,” he said. Bailey said the Park and Recreation Department and
Photo by Amy Poturnicki
The growth of curly-leaf pondweed may force swimmers out of the water at Lake Beseck this summer. its director Chris Hurlbert likely will make a decision about swimming at Lake Beseck after the curly-leaf pondweed dies out, possibly in mid-June. “It’s not easy to take (the dead weeds) out of the water. See Beseck, page 5
In this issue ... Calendar ..........................4 Government ....................7 Obituary ........................21 Seniors...........................18 Sports.............................20