Harbor commissioners press for clearer municipal authority as DEEP issues Manresa Island remediation order

Jeff Stedman, a member of the Harbor Management Commission, told the Norwalk Shellfish Commission on Jan. 8 that the Norwalk River Watershed Initiative update is nearing a draft with policy and strategy language and that local advocates hope it will emphasize stormwater controls and resilience.

Stedman said turnout at a Dec. 17 public meeting at the Comstock Center in Wilton was low but that interested residents and commissioners discussed using school programs and poster displays about Norwalk’s natural shellfish beds to strengthen public engagement. “I think that’s a significant initiative that we should all be supportive of when the final draft comes out,” Stedman said.

Stedman also reported that the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) recently issued a stewardship permit and remediation order for Manresa Island. According to Stedman, the order specifies who is responsible and the areas to be remediated and “the property owner is responsible not just for remediation of the land, but also remediation of any contamination in the marine sediments that were caused by the past uses of the property.”

He said the harbor and shellfish commissions are tracking two pending local land‑use matters tied to that property: an inland wetlands designation change before the inland wetlands agency and a coastal site plan review submitted to planning and zoning. Stedman said the harbor commission has petitioned for public hearings in related matters and will press DEEP to recognize the legal authority of municipal harbor management commissions to comment on such applications.

Stedman said commissioners are also preparing a legislative initiative for the next session, seeking statutory language to clarify municipal harbor commissions’ review role. “We’re also trying to get support from the Connecticut Port Authority,” he said, adding that port authority backing could help because that body has approval authority over harbor management plans.

Stedman warned that decisions about docks or other infrastructure on or near natural shellfish beds have broader consequences for commission oversight and for regional dredging and habitat protections. He said the harbor commission will continue reviewing DEEP’s final language and local permit filings before recommending any formal positions.

The Harbor Management Commission member also noted a separate, earlier Stamford lease in which an area over a natural shellfish bed was leased for commercial use; lease proceeds were directed into a harbor management account and the lease terms were developed in consultation with the Bureau of Aquaculture.