This Week’s Letters to the Editor

Editor’s Note: The Letters to the Editor section in the Woodbridge Town Chronicle is a place where community voices can be shared and heard. In the print newspapers of years past, letters to the editor were often the liveliest section, where readers spoke directly to one another, the broader community, and its leaders. To submit a letter for consideration please refer to the submission guidelines.

Acorn Hill neighbors raise public health concerns about landfill runoff into Black Brook

To the editor,

While hiking downhill from the capped landfill at Acorn Hill, we saw indicators of contamination possibly entering the watershed and the water supply. To be clear, we have not established that drinking water is contaminated. We have requested monitoring records from CT DEEP.

The Town’s municipal solid waste landfill at Acorn Hill was in active use throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Neighbor accounts indicate the landfill was roughly 9 acres wide and 50-75 feet deep, with significant additional height above ground. 

The landfill was capped in 1995 with an impermeable plastic liner followed by 20 inches of soil and sand. Typical of landfills opened in the 70’s, and distinct from contemporary landfills, there is no lower liner separating trash from the aquifer below. Contaminants from garbage exposed to water, known as leachates, can flow out from the bottom of these landfills.  

Photographs taken at the site show bright orange oily liquid which is consistent with leachate, flowing into a series of four lagoons installed to collect the contaminants that seep from the base of the landfill. Each lagoon becomes less discolored as water flows downhill from one basin to the next. 

Alarmingly, however, we observed that the lagoons, including the most discolored upper lagoon, were failing, i.e. overflowing directly into the Black Brook stream at multiple locations. Some seeps are entirely bypassing the lagoons into nearby headwater streams. This summer, the State experienced record amounts of rainfall, posing increased risks if stormwater runoff mobilizes toxins. 

The Black Brook stream flows directly into neighborhoods on Crestview Drive, Meadowcrest Circle, Bear Hill Rd, and Seymour Rd. Residents in areas near Acorn Hill should ask the Town:

1. In addition to the monitoring wells, does DEEP monitor lagoons, soil, surface water, and sediment at the source, and downstream? Can we see reports?
2. Will the Town cover the cost of testing drinking water in the area, specifically testing for common leachate pollutants that many household tests miss?
3. What other measures can the Town take to protect the public water supply?

Rather than withholding information, we choose to speak now. 

— Acorn Hill Neighbors & Friends: 
Anoka Faruqee, David Driscoll, Shruti Desai, Sameet Mehta, Nicholas Minerowicz, Christine Minerowicz, Erin Taylor, Josh Taylor, Christine Spak, Ron Aldo, Jason Morrill, Kristen Turkosz, Marlow Tinari, Elizabeth Wilkfors, Gary Wilkfors, Robert Hill, Lisa DeLizio, John DeLizio, Gustavo Mendez, and Jennifer Bourke, Sharon de Kadt

Before voting on Beecher, residents deserve the full financial picture

To the editor,

Would you buy a car knowing only the cost of the tires? Without knowing the full price tag, the cost of tires tells you very little.  

That’s exactly what residents are being asked to do — vote on the largest purchase this town has ever made without the entire picture of town finances or any plan to absorb the costs. 

Consider another example: adding $200/month for BRS when taxes are expected to decline by $100 /month in a great economy may be palatable.  But if taxes are expected to increase $500/month in unstable times, an additional $200/month for BRS, for a net $700/month increase, is very different.  While consultants issued a March 2026 report saying BRS is in “good condition”, other town buildings including the police station and a recently evacuated daycare, are not.  

When buying a car, financing is also a cost.  $21M in interest is absent from publicized costs.  The best-case new-build scenario: $118M - $62M state reimbursement + 21M in interest = 77M.  

This is compared to a worst-case “do nothing” scenario: 44M in future dollars without including state grants and state exemptions given for prior BRS renovations.  

This is not an apples-to-apples comparison.  

What happens if the town approves the BRS proposal and we don’t get the expected $62M?  It does NOT go back to residents for a vote.  It goes to the Board of Selectmen who have stated that they have the right to approve this project regardless of final numbers.  

I moved to Woodbridge for the education, nature, and community, and all three are at risk.  If someone was giving away free school buildings, no one would oppose that.  What’s being opposed is the lack of candor from town leadership and their eagerness for residents to approve a blank check binding us to a $139M+ building before being frank about the true costs for the entire town.  

My children’s beloved BRS teachers, the dedicated police officers keeping watch over our town, our ability to conserve nature, and the neighbors we love who can no longer afford Woodbridge are just the beginning of what’s at risk.   

— Sarah Rosasco

Editor’s Note: Letters reflect the perspectives of their authors. They are published to foster dialogue about issues of local concern, including questions of governance, transparency, and accountability, as well as topics such as highlighting upcoming or past events from community groups. To submit a letter for consideration please refer to the submission guidelines.