Hartford north end neighbors call on state to address flooding

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) – Neighbors in Hartford’s north end are calling for big infrastructure changes to prevent flooding.

Projects are currently underway to help homes and businesses in the north end, but activists said more needs to be done. During a press conference on Monday morning, neighbors said they are worried that the devastating flooding that happened in Oxford could happen in Hartford if major infrastructure changes don’t happen.

“Flood waters are about the dangerous thing you can face and the quickest way to die or lose your neighbors is to have a flood come through and wash something out,” Cynthia Jennings, an environmental justice attorney and resident in the north end, said. “Investing in north Hartford is the right thing to do, smart thing and best thing to do for this entire community.”

Nearly every time a major storm happens, north end residents have to deal with flooded streets and basements backed up with sewage.

“We have kids, we have elders, we have folks suffering,” Steven Harris, a north end resident, said. He said many families are dealing with sickness related to mold caused by floods.

Hartford’s water utility company, Metropolitan District, known as MDC, is in the middle of several projects that dry up the neighborhood and reimburse residents for damage. But activists and neighbors are asking for major infrastructure changes to prevent catastrophic flooding.

“We’re talking about the north branch of the park river,” Bridgitte Prince, a community activist, said. “That needs to be dredged. If it’s not dredged, we’re at risk of, in the next storm, it becoming like the situation like it is in Hartford.”

Prince is calling on the state to access federal funds that are designated for disadvantaged communities. She referenced Justice 40, a social equity and environmental justice initiative by the Biden administration in the United States. It seeks to identify disadvantage communities and prioritize federal investments to benefit these communities.

They met with leaders at the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to talk about this. A spokesperson for DEEP said the state’s roadmap for improving wastewater infrastructure is called the Clean Water Fund Priority List. 94% of the projects on the list are in environmental justice communities, including Hartford.

MDC is also currently working on a North Branch Park River Drainage Study.

In response to the flooding concerns, the mayor’s Deputy Chief of Staff issued the following statement:

“Mayor Arulampalam is committed to tackling the long-standing issues with flooding infrastructure in our City’s North End. The City will continue working with state and local partners to provide relief to residents whose livelihoods are threatened by stormwater as a result of decades of disinvestment.”

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