Hartford Business Journal

36 Hartford Business Journal • December 12, 2016 www.HartfordBusiness.com OPINION & COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Water-discount reversal adds to anti-business sentiment E vidence of Connecticut's poor business climate was on full display again last week. The latest purveyor of bad policymaking was the Metropolitan District Com- mission, which unanimously voted Dec. 5 to rescind a high-volume water-user discount that Niagara Bottling Co. was expected to leverage once it completes its $73 million Bloomfield bottling plant early next year. It was only a year ago that MDC adopted the policy, which gave discounts to com- panies that use significant water (more than 500,000 gallons daily) or create lots of wastewater (more than 500,000 gallons daily). The policy was created around the same time California-based Niagara Bottling was moving forward with plans to build the bottling plant, which could use up to 1.8 million gallons a day to fill its bottled-water products that will be sold around the country. The policy would have saved Niagara up to $1.8 million annually, a number company officials no doubt were counting on when they negotiated to build their Bloomfield facility, which will employ 120 workers, adding much needed jobs in a flailing Connecticut economy. If there is anything businesses clamor for, it's economic certainty, particularly in tax and regulatory policy, and MDC's decision to rescind its water-user discount, just as the Bloomfield bottling plant is getting ready to come online, simply adds to Connecticut's reputation as a poor place to do business. MDC caved to pressures from local residents and advocacy groups, which raised objections to public water being sold to a private business at a discounted rate, particularly at a time when Connecti- cut faces drought conditions that have forced water utilities around the state to ask customers to conserve water. To be clear, we aren't necessarily blam- ing opponents of the bottling plant for this ordeal. They've raised some legitimate concerns over the past year, including objections over the lack of transparency with how this bottling-plant deal was negotiated. That has put officials from the town of Bloomfield, which offered Niagara tax breaks to build its facility, and MDC, which crafted the water discount, on the proverbial hot seat — and rightly so — for months. We also understand fears about selling local water at a time when 44 percent of the state is experiencing "extreme" drought conditions, which led Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and other state officials in October to ask residents to conserve water by taking shorter showers and doing fewer loads of laundry. It appears, however, MDC has adequate water supply. Throughout this process, MDC defended its discount and decision to sell water to Niagara, arguing it has plenty of capacity and that the deal will bring in new revenues that could help lower custom- ers' bills. According to Niagara, at its peak, the plant will use only 2.8 percent of MDC's daily supply of about 77.1 million gallons. Right now, the actual average daily usage is around 48 million gallons, down significantly from historic levels. Regardless, MDC adopted the water-use discount knowing Niagara would take advantage of it, and has now pulled the carpet out from under the company's feet, months before it opens for business. According to published reports, Niagara officials said they won't oppose the change, but it still sends the wrong message to the business community, mainly that it can't trust government or quasi-public agencies to keep their word. Changing the rules midstream is bad policy, and we urge MDC — and all arms of government — to be more transparent in its future dealings to avoid such reversals. n OTHER VOICES Clearing channels to unlock CT's promising maritime future By Joe Courtney E astern Connecticut's economy has always been closely linked with open access to the sea. A vast array of eco- nomic activities in our region, ranging from recreational boating to commer- cial maritime trans- portation, shipbuild- ing, the Coast Guard Academy, and the Naval Submarine Base in Groton all rely on transit to and from Long Island Sound. This vital access to the sea requires regular dredging of shipping channels and navigable waterways to sustain passable access to our ports. Without dredging, natural sediments flow- ing down from Connecticut's many rivers would slowly build up and begin to choke the conduits on which seafaring traffic relies. Dredging oper- ations have been and will continue to be an inte- gral part of our maritime economy and the tens of thousands of jobs that it supports. Over the past decade, the Long Island Sound region has been confronting a generational shift as older federal regu- lations that adminis- tered the disposal of dredged materials for Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York began to expire. Just at the moment that our economy was beginning to pick up in east- ern Connecticut with new work at Electric Boat and growth in other businesses reliant on the sea, our ability to regularly dredge our water- ways in a cost-effective way was put at risk. Starting in 2011, the two main dredging disposal sites near New London were set to permanently close without any other nearby options for disposing of material. This would have been a calamity for our entire region as smaller marinas would have struggled to afford dredging and larger ports would have been forced to pay exorbitant fees to ship materials to far off disposal sites while increasing carbon emissions. At that time, I worked successfully in Con- gress to enact extensions to keep those dredg- ing sites open for five additional years so that a long-term solution could be put in place. During that hiatus, my office worked closely with federal agencies, including the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to craft new rules to responsibly manage the disposal of dredged materials for the next generation. Stakeholders on both sides of the Sound, from the public and private sectors, were included in that process to achieve the widest possible consensus. Earlier this year, the EPA began releasing plans to establish three new disposal sites in Long Island Sound that should meet the region's dredging needs for the next 30 years. The final of the three sites, the new Eastern Long Island Sound Dredging Disposal Site, was announced a month ago. This eagerly awaited action follows years of intense environmental reviews and robust public engagement over the future of dredging in our region. The final plan represents a new and innova- tive approach to dredging that balances many of the concerns raised in public hearings and thousands of written comments. For example, in order to significantly reduce the impact on the Sound, the new plan strictly prioritizes whenever possible the use of land-based dispos- al options for dredged material, such as beach nourishment, before turning to open water disposal. In addition, a new "regional dredg- ing team," consisting of representatives from federal, state and private interests throughout our region will review each dredging project for alternative disposal options. The new plans require that any material des- tined for open water disposal pass a rigorous review process to make sure it does not contain any harmful toxins that could damage the frag- ile marine ecosystem. The open water site will then be closely monitored after mate- rials are placed to ensure that there are no adverse changes occurring within the local ecosystem. Other impor- tant considerations were also taken into account, such as making sure that the new disposal site would not obstruct naval operations con- nected to the submarine base. The final plan moved the eastern site to avoid obstructing the route used by naval submarines while traveling to and from the Port of New London. In just the past few weeks, we have seen important developments that underscore the need for this site, such as the groundbreaking for New England Central Rail upgrades that will greatly increase the freight capacity in the Port of New London. The Navy also committed over $5 million to plan and design a major pier replace- ment at the submarine base. Both of these projects will require significant new dredging operations, and neither would have been feasible without cost-effective dredging disposal. The new EPA plan is not just a rubber stamp of past practices. It provides a stable, environmentally sustainable path for the Long Island Sound and its economic stake- holders over the next 30 years. The pending final designation of these dredging disposal sites by the EPA could not come at a more opportune time for our region. n Rep. Joe Courtney, a Demcorat, is the represen- tative for Connecticut's second congressional district, covering the eastern half of Connecti- cut. He recently won election to a sixth term. HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM POLL Is your company having a holiday party? ● Yes ● No To vote, go online to HartfordBusiness.com. Last week's poll results: What should CT do with the XL Center? 25.6% Rebuild for $500M 53.5% Renovate for $250M 20.9% No more investment Joe Courtney ▶ ▶ Dredging operations have been and will continue to be an integral part of our maritime economy and the tens of thousands of jobs that it supports. ▶ ▶ If there is anything businesses clamor for, it's economic certainty, particularly in tax and regulatory policy.

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