In the poem, it there is one part that always stops us cold:
Water, water, everywhere
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink
Can you imagine the plight of those sailors? Surrounded by water, but all of it undrinkable to humans. Dying of thirst, in the middle of an ocean.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health, in a correspondence to Jeffrey Bolton, the supervising environmental analyst for the Department of Administrative Services, and the person in charge of overseeing the Environmental Impact Evaluation of the Ruby Road site, relayed the following:
Interesting, isn't it? That the Department of Public Health would be so concerned for public drinking water stemming from a site located near a gun range/weapons compound/State Police training facility? After all, we here in Willington are merely "NIMBY"s for worrying about the effect on water such an undertaking would entail.
Yet, in the same report by the Public Health Department, it is noted:
Let's read that again, shall we?
Outdoor firing ranges (and the State Police are proposing FOUR of them at this time) would be considered probable sources of POLLUTION under this regulation.
While it is somewhat heartening that the Connecticut Department of Public Health would be concerned for the water supply purchased by the Windham Water Works (and all their customers), doesn't it make you wonder where we, the people of Willington, fall? Why are OUR wells not mentioned? Why are the drinking fountains of our children's schools not mentioned? Why the limited concern to the paying customers of a corporate entity?
Read the whole memo here.
If you're upset by what you read, email the Connecticut Department of Public Health here. (webmaster.dph@ct.gov)
