Stratford’s waterfront took another important step toward a new future in August with the completion of a major environmental cleanup project at the former Stratford Army Engine Plant.
On August 6, local, state, and federal leaders gathered at the property to celebrate completion of the tidal flats remediation project, a $74 million environmental cleanup addressing contamination along the Housatonic River shoreline.
The former Army Engine Plant occupies one of Stratford’s most prominent waterfront properties. For decades, the site played an important role in American aviation and manufacturing, but its industrial history also left behind environmental contamination that complicated efforts to return the property to productive use.
Cleaning up that legacy is essential to unlocking the site’s future.
The tidal flats project involved the remediation of contaminated sediment along the waterfront, representing another major environmental milestone for the property.
Governor Ned Lamont, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, Mayor David Chess, representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, environmental officials, project partners, and other leaders participated in the August event.
Like the ongoing Raymark remediation elsewhere in Stratford, progress at the former Army Engine Plant demonstrates how complicated environmental challenges require sustained cooperation across different levels of government and over many years.
The work did not begin with any single administration, and completing it required the efforts of numerous public agencies, elected officials, environmental professionals, contractors, and community stakeholders.
But each completed phase brings Stratford closer to an important goal: transforming a long-underused waterfront property into an asset for the community.
The Stratford Democratic Town Committee welcomes this important environmental milestone and thanks everyone who helped move the project forward.
Our community can honor Stratford’s industrial history while also confronting its environmental legacy and planning responsibly for the future.
The completion of the tidal flats cleanup is another significant step in that direction.