Connecticut communities face the impact of outdated infrastructure planning, highlighting the need for fairer, more just decisions statewide. Photo: Shutterstock.
Imagine a neighborhood surrounded by water – where rivers, wetlands, and the ocean meet. Sounds magical, right? That’s exactly how it should be for the South End of Bridgeport, Connecticut. But for residents, this picture doesn’t quite match reality.
This coastal community has everything to make it a wonderful place to live – sweeping views of Long Island Sound, historic homes, and a rich cultural history. But a harsh landscape of power plants, wastewater treatment facilities, and other industrial buildings limit its full potential. These structures create pollution, increase flooding risks, and obstruct opportunities for local markets and affordable housing. They also damage historic properties and block the scenic views that define the area. This reality significantly impacts residents’ health, quality of life, and their ability to thrive in their own neighborhoods.
What’s happening in Bridgeport happens in neighborhoods across Connecticut. Outdated infrastructure planning continues to harm families, limit the growth of our communities, and ignore resident voices.
We need a process that prioritizes the well-being of our communities today while safeguarding our children’s future. Now, there’s an opportunity to change the process for deciding where Connecticut will build new infrastructure. And we can all weigh in to ensure our voices aren’t drowned out by the interests of a few monied corporate entities.
A Legacy of Injustice: How We Got Here
The challenges in communities like Bridgeport reflect a broader legacy of injustice seen across Connecticut. Decades of racist policies, like redlining, denied Black and Brown families the ability to buy homes or access loans in some areas. These policies pushed families into neighborhoods considered “less desirable.” Certain developers and politicians saw these areas as convenient dumping grounds for highways, factories, and industrial projects.
Even though redlining and similar practices have long been illegal, their consequences remain deeply embedded. Many communities – including Bridgeport – have been left with aging infrastructure, limited economic and political power, and heightened risks of extreme disasters brought by climate change. Rising sea levels threaten homes, while storm surges and flooding worsen due to decades of filling wetlands and paving over natural barriers.
To Build or Not to Build: That’s Not the Question
Connecticut’s current process for deciding where infrastructure gets built has deepened these injustices. The system doesn’t account for the impact of piling multiple projects – like power plants and waste facilities – into the same communities. Instead, it evaluates projects one by one without considering how their impacts stack up. On top of that, the vague standards to decide if a project is “in the public interest” fail to incorporate many of the impacts these projects have on communities. To make matters worse, under the current process those that will be most impacted by a project aren’t even notified, let alone listened to when they try to share their concerns.
This outdated approach disproportionately harms neighborhoods like Bridgeport’s South End. Families here face higher rates of asthma and heart disease, constant noise and pollution, and increased flood risks.
These communities have not shied away from the fight to protect their neighborhoods from new industrial development. While jumping through hoops and bureaucracy, they’ve continually advocated for change by attending hearings, organizing protests, and voicing their concerns. But outdated policies –favoring corporate interests over public health and community needs – have blocked their efforts from being successful.
But the real issue isn’t whether to build new infrastructure, it’s how and where to do it.
Connecticut’s outdated process for where to site infrastructure provides an opportunity for change. Like other New England states, Connecticut is undergoing a major shift to move its energy infrastructure away from polluting fossil fuels and toward clean energy sources. This transition requires building new infrastructure like solar farms and electricity transmission lines. But we can’t repeat the mistakes of the past in how and where we do so.
Now is the time to change not only where we get our electricity from but also how we decide where to build the infrastructure to support it. By reforming these processes, we can ensure a fairer, more just future for everyone in our communities.
A Chance to Do Better
The good news? State leaders have recognized flaws in the way infrastructure is evaluated and sited. That’s why they tasked the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to examine how state regulators decide to build new infrastructure. In December, the Department released a draft report that lays the foundation for how to reform that process.
But the initial report missed critical opportunities to examine the root causes behind our broken infrastructure siting process and prevent further harm to our communities. That’s why CLF pushed the Department to return to the drawing board and strengthen its recommendations. That step will be critical in creating a system that will set our state on the right track to improve our process for how we build new infrastructure.
In January, the Department released its final report – incorporating our suggestions. Now, it’s up to the legislature to move forward with next steps.
How Do We Get There?
- Learn from Other States
Other states are already leading the way in creating fairer processes for siting infrastructure. For example, New York streamlined its permitting process to make it more efficient while giving communities a voice and prioritizing environmental protections. Massachusetts has taken that a step further by requiring something called cumulative impact analyses – basically a way to prevent new projects from piling more pollution and health risks on top of what’s already there. We need and deserve similar processes here in Connecticut. - Increase Transparency
Right now, the process for approving new projects is confusing. The Department’s report mentions factors like environmental impacts but doesn’t explain how they’re evaluated. Imagine trying to participate in a process where the rules aren’t clear – that’s frustrating and discouraging for all parties involved, especially for community members. Explaining processes and definitions in plain terms would go a long way in building trust and helping community members feel included. - Elevate Community Concerns
The draft report lumps noise, air pollution, and even farmland loss into “other community concerns.” But these issues aren’t minor or interchangeable – they’re major challenges that need focused attention. Breaking them into distinct categories and thoroughly addressing each of them would show that public input matters. - Make Participation Easier
Currently, participating in the siting process feels like running an obstacle course. That’s why many residents feel shut out of the process. Public meetings are poorly advertised, deadlines to provide input on proposed infrastructure are too short, and the participation process is burdensome. Giving people more time, better resources, and dedicated support to participate would ensure that all voices are heard.
We Deserve Action Now
Communities across Connecticut are counting on state leaders to make these much-needed changes. By fixing our broken process for siting new infrastructure, we can create healthier, more equitable neighborhoods, protect our environment, and ensure every resident has a say in decisions that affect their lives. Join CLF and stay tuned for opportunities to help us pass policies that prioritize the health and safety of all Connecticut families.
