Submitted by Peter Quigley, Greenwich
Flooding Concerns:
Is it time for a town review to prevent ‘BLACK’ SWAN events?
Is Greenwich at A TURNING POINT?
Question: When it floods….are black swans seen? Does Greenwich have the capacity to take storm rainwater away, separately, with an antiquated sewerage system when it rains, until it fixes Grass Island facility, repairs its pumping stations, and improves town’s broken underground storm water drain infrastructure and before further P & Z approvals of large development?
With town overdevelopment and the massive increase of impervious surface buildout, does town have capacity to legally discharge and separate storm water with sewerage by its state MS-4 Permit (called stormwater ‘commingling’) before considering 8-30g buildouts of impervious surfaces?
Should the town be fixing it’s separate storm water drainage infrastructure, its antiquated pumping stations and Grass Island capacities, FIRST, before further land use approvals of large overdevelopment, that increases the impervious surfaces of large development, increasing flood conditions – as global weather conditions impact floods, high tides impact on shorelines, harbors, and environmental resources?
Are we all just awaiting ‘Black Swan’** events – to be seen – when it rains?
NOTE: **Black Swan events defined as high impact FLOOD events (of 1-2” in 3-4 hours) difficult to predict, but avoidable with foresight!
Black swans have already been seen in the basements of private property owners, on our congested roads, in schools, in polluted harbors/rivers and, now, we are learning they are seen in town requests for funding $95 million surprises to fix Grass Island facility along with repair costs of various pumping stations when it rains – estimates surely to rise as global warming and high tides accelerate?
Is Greenwich at a Tipping Point for a MORATORIUM on overdevelopment – until infrastructure flood & ‘comingling’ conditions are inspected, addressed, and fixed?
• Isn’t it now at a Turning Point to get beyond the Tipping Point where laws might conflict between MS-4 permits (comingling storm water with sewerage), and 8-30g housing buildout?
Are repairs required, where both laws contradict each other, laws need to be modified or, legally challenged at the Hartford state level by towns along Fairfield shorelines experiencing similar issues?
Finally, during rain events/flooding, is community’s public’s safety, health & flooding of home owners/residents, with a negative impact on our natural shoreline/harbor/river resources being compromised – where the Greenwich ‘brand’ and individual private property values may be impacted in the future?
Respectfully submitted by Peter Quigley, 20-year resident:
• Member – 5-terms RTM (Representative Town Meeting), Land Use
• Member – First Harbor Commission 2013 – 2016