Making the Naugatuck Safe for Living Things Again (original) (raw)

New York|Making the Naugatuck Safe for Living Things Again

https://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/14/nyregion/making-the-naugatuck-safe-for-living-things-again.html

You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.

March 14, 1999

See the article in its original context from
March 14, 1999

Section CN, Page

14Buy Reprints

TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers.

THE Naugatuck River of Francis M. McDonald's youth was an aquatic menace. He grew up in the 1930's and 40's, and though he loved trout and the intricacies of fly fishing, at that time he avoided the poisonous currents that ran through his hometown of Waterbury.

''You didn't have to be told,'' Mr. McDonald recalled on a blustery winter day on the river's bank in Seymour. ''The smells off the river were just incredible. It used to run the color of the sneakers made at the Uniroyal plant in Naugatuck.''

For most of the 20th century the Naugatuck River has been known as Connecticut's dirtiest river. In the 19th century, towns and factories began openly dumping sewage and factory waste into its waters, and long-time residents recall seeing excrement in the water.

But the Naugatuck in the last two decades has slowly regained its health. Communities have organized clean-ups, spent millions on waste-water treatment plants and stocked its waters with fish. Clean-water laws have made possible the return of beavers, otters, heron and other wildlife. And in December, environmental activists, municipal leaders, corporate officials and fishing fanatics gathered in Seymour to announce a high point in the comeback story. Mr. McDonald, a Connecticut Supreme Court justice, jammed his hands in his overcoat pockets and smiled as he stood on the fringe of a news conference. ''To take this river and restore it is almost a miracle,'' Mr. McDonald said. ''It was really a sewer, and it was dammed for almost 200 years. This is something nobody could have dreamed of a few years ago.''

The State Department of Environmental Protection announced plans for an ambitious habitat restoration, dam-removal and re-vegetation program. The anticipated result: 32 miles of free-flowing river for sea-run trout, American shad, alewives and herring for the first time since 1800. That is when the Naugatuck Valley's fabled industrial giants began to dam the river for hydro-electric power, says Albin Weber, president of the valley chapter of Trout Unlimited.

The Naugatuck, which originates in Torrington and winds south to meet the Housatonic in Derby, is the only major river with its source in the state.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT