In 2009, Danbury had to buy $1,108,335 in Nitrogen Credits because its Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant was not up to snuff. At the same time Stamford earned $961,118 from this program.
Connecticut regulates the amounts of Nitrates discharged into Long Island Sound from Municipal Wastewater facilities because Nitrates affect the Oxygen level of the Sound waters, and low Oxygen levels affect commercial and sport fishing, and shellfish harvesting.
While the program has a good intent, it has a couple of flaws. Connecticut has less than half of Long Island Sound’s shoreline, and New York also contributes nitrogen to the Sound’s waters. Connecticut and New York are working together to clean up the sound, but we must remember that states north of Connecticut also contribute—the Connecticut River starts in Canada and has tributaries in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The Thames and Housatonic also travel through Massachusetts. Burdening Connecticut and New York with the entire cost of Nitrogen reduction is not equitable.
Another problem is that the Connecticut Nitrogen Exchange buys and sells Nitrogen credits. However, the exchange has sold about nine million dollars more credits than it has purchased according to their 2009 annual report http://www.ct.gov/dep/lib/dep/water/lis_water_quality/nitrogen_control_program/nitrogen_report_2008.pdf
This surplus does not seem to be spent on helping towns to upgrade their plants—it seems to be mainly used to fund other government agencies and is, in effect, just another tax.
Most, if not all, municipalities would upgrade their wastewater treatment plants in a heartbeat if they could afford to. But times are tough, and many of Connecticut’s cities and towns are challenged by our current financial climate. The state is also cutting aid to municipalities. The net result is that the Nitrogen Credit Exchange forces municipalities that cannot afford to update their treatment plants to subsidize the budgets of the cities and towns that can. And they are paying for the waste that flows down the river from Massachusetts and other states. And they are paying to add to the payroll of other state and federal agencies.
There’s an old joke about a bad manager who says “Morale in the company is terrible. All vacations will be canceled until it improves.” The Connecticut State Government is telling us that until we can afford to improve the Danbury wastewater treatment plant, we will have to pay the state and the state will give that money to other towns and cities. The bad manager knew enough not to say: “Your morale is bad, but Joe just came back from vacation, and his morale is great. Until your morale improves, I’ll give some of your vacation time to Joe and use the rest myself.”
The Nitrogen Credit Exchange surplus should be given back to the towns that generated the fees, so that they can upgrade their wastewater treatment plants. Forcing these communities to subsidize other cities in Connecticut, in Massachusetts, in New Hampshire, in Vermont and even in Canada is not equitable.
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