Protect the Partrick Wetlands
and our Community

Priceless!!! Are Our Wetlands are Priceless.

A few quotes from that article:

"it's illegal to dump debris in a wetland or watercourse."
"these sensitive areas are governed by the Regulations for the Protection and Preservation of Wetlands and Watercourses of the Town of Westport, Connecticut and the Waterway Protection Line"

"Laws that Protect our wetlands and waterways make sense and preserve not only the Town's precious resources, but private property as well."

"when wetlands are filled in, water is displaced to adjacent properties causing flooding of neighboring land. Leaves can also clog streams and cause flooding of upstream and nearby residences"

"in addition, they may cause changes in the chemical nature of the stream and nutrient overloads. These excess nutrients are responsible for abnormal algae blooms, lower dissolved oxygen levels and the death of dependent aquatic organisms"

What about the Death of Dependent Human Organisms?

What happens when those wetlands are recharging Aquifers that feed residential wells?

These are THE EXACT same reasons No one should dig 24 foundations, install 24 salt-able driveways, 24 houses, 24 fertilize-able lawns, 3 sand-able roads with chemically de-ice-able sidewalks, an effluent and sewerage up-pump station piped under the resident stream, on the only 7 dry acres in the 56 acre Partrick Wetland and Aquifer Recharge System that serves Hundreds of local drinking water wells to house 24 families with 48 cars in the center of a property known to contain Toxic waste including Arsenic and a potential list of other Heavy Metals!

There are 32,000 Cubic Yards of documented garbage on this property. ARS has removed 10 truckloads of tires, which is approximately 200 cubic yards. That's it! The rest is all still there.

This is Insane!

Don't ignore the complete displacement of habitable land for wildlife. Uplands are necessary for the health and efficacy of wetlands. They will be gone! Leave the Partrick Wetlands Un-Disturbed!

Why is the sitting Conservation Commission Ignoring the Charter of the Commission they serve and of the community they live in? Why?

Why is the public trust being broken?

The metals are of primary concern, since we know they are present (specifically arsenic) at elevated levels inside the wetlands from the previous Dumping and Mining Operations, which were conducted on the property from 1935 into the 1970's. The site has never been properly analyzed or remediated.

Left undisturbed they pose little threat, however once the digging starts, there will be no way of determining when our wells are going to be contaminated. The migration of metals into the leaching plume of the recharge system could take several years and Larry Weissman and the ARS partners will be long gone with their money.

Hundreds of wells of Westport residents incapable of accessing municipal water service will be put in danger of being contaminated once the digging starts. Why?

What new homeowner is going to live in the middle of a swampy mosquito infested forest and not use Pesticides given the rate of Lyme disease in the area? What proud new homeowner isn't going to Fertilize her new lawn?

The developers own experts have already testified to the Rapid Infiltration Capabilities of the site. That means that any disturbed Toxic or Applied chemical material will make its way very rapidly into the aquifer that serves this community through hundreds of wells.

The notion that the "Charter of the Home owner's Association" would ban the use of Pesticides and Fertilizers is Ridiculous. A recent New York Times Article stated they are unrealistic and Un-enforceable and that association charters are regularly abandoned when the association as a group chooses not to follow them.

Will the Town pay for remediation and damages when contamination of wells begins?

Will the Town pay for continuous monitoring and testing of all wells indefinitely into the future?

Will we be forced to drill new wells or install chemical remediation systems in our homes to remove contaminants originating from this site?

What will the world think of Westport CT and its leadership when it learns that the Town knowingly put hundreds of wonderful homes and families at risk when it allowed developers to build cluster housing in not only one of the last pieces of open space in the town, but in an ecologically recovering Dump and former Industrial Site? The DEP has NOT conducted a comprehensive study of the property. They have observed the removal of 10 truckloads of tires.

Our Lives, our Children's Lives and our Community as a whole, are potentially at stake because Larry Weisman and the ARS Partners want to make a quick $30-40 Million off of a $3 Million investment at OUR expense.

This is not a knee-jerk reaction of a couple of fanatical neighbors ... We know Arsenic is present in the site.

This is a deadly concern of an entire community!

We implore the help of everyone in this Town and surrounding communities to help prevent this potential disaster. Remember … Our wells are all hundreds of feet below our homes! Everyone is at risk.

Residents potentially affected by this development will be those with wells in the areas of: