Hamden, CT—Wednesday night, over 70 advocates and concerned neighbors gathered online and at the Keefe Center in Hamden to demand answers from the Department of Energy and Environmental protection (DEEP) about the cleanup and remediation of the contaminated Six Lakes property in southern Hamden. Local advocates in the Six Lakes Park Coalition want to turn the 102-acre forested wetlands into a public park.
Hamden Mayor Adam Sendroff commented, “It was great to see so much civic engagement at the Keefe Community Center Wednesday night. I’d like to thank the members of the DEEP remediation team for their presentation. And I’d like to thank the Six Lakes Park Coalition for their organizing, their advocacy, and for creating a vision that many people throughout Hamden would like to see become a reality.”
Despite new, more stringent regulations that went into effect March 1st, DEEP has allowed Olin to remain under an earlier agreement and has granted the multi-billion-dollar corporation an additional eight-year timeline for testing and remediation at Six Lakes—three years longer than the new regulations could have required. This follows decades of delays and a drawn- out process that allows Olin to drag its feet at the expense of local residents.
In response to questioning by the Six Lakes Park Coalition and concerned neighbors, DEEP Remediation Team director Ray Frigon defended the new schedule, calling it “reasonable” and emphasizing the complexity of testing multiple sites across the 102-acre property, including wetlands and steep slopes. The fact that the cleanup agreement with Olin is now 40 years old is the result of short staffing in combination with the demands of many contaminated site projects, Frigon told the community.
Six Lakes lead organizer Justin Farmer cited another reason: Six Lakes is part of a larger parcel once owned by Olin that includes the state-designated environmental justice community of Newhall.
“As Dr. King pointed out…, ‘Only time can solve the problem of racial injustice.’ Only the people of Newhall who have been waiting for justice and reciprocity can be the judges of what is ‘reasonable.’ To me, a $59 plane ticket down to St. Louis [where Olin is headquartered] seems reasonable even in this economy if I have to wait another 8 years to see justice for my community.”
After the community meeting and Q&A, attendees contacted their legislators and signed up to volunteer at future actions.
The Six Lakes Park Coalition will continue to advocate for increased transparency, a more timely cleanup, and the opening of the property to public access.
###