Overview
Owners of real properties that contain dams or other man-made or artificial barriers constructed to impound water are required to register these structures with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (“DEEP”) and to conduct regular inspections.
Depending on circumstances, there is a suite of additional regulatory requirements that must be considered and potentially complied with, including development and continued implementation of Emergency Action Plans.
Clients seeking dam and water impoundment advice have come to rely upon Pullman & Comley attorneys, whose experience in the water, utility, environmental and real estate areas, provides guidance on regulatory compliance and resolution of issues involving dams. We work closely with the engineering community and regulators to efficiently identify and resolve issues in these types of matters. Recent experience includes:
- Represent dam owners in dealings with DEEP involving regulatory compliance.
- Represent institutional owner of a dam in matter involving claimed impact on neighboring property owners and municipal request for improvements.
- Represent developers in efforts to remove impoundments and restore stream channel with regard to local and US Army Corps of Engineers compliance.
- Represent dam owners in dealing with upstream landowners’ claims regarding riparian and littoral water rights.
- Represent dam owners with respect to upstream environmental issues associated with contaminated sediment.
- Represent dam owners in dealing with opposition to dam removal by town and other land owners.
For further information, contact Fred Klein, Gary O’Connor or Jean Perry Phillips.
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Our representation of municipalities, businesses and developers often involves navigating significant environmental and regulatory issues in projects that will have a lasting positive impact. For example, we currently represent the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments in a collaborative effort to remove two aging dams from the Naugatuck River with the goal of restoring the river to its natural course and allowing migratory fish passage, while improving water quality, eliminating dam safety concerns and reducing flood risk. Our attorneys worked with federal and state regulators, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services to comply with myriad regulations relating to the dams’ removal, as well as the remediation of 200 years of industrial sediments that had accumulated behind them. This remediation will allow the effective passage of fish for a 40-mile stretch of the Naugatuck River from Long Island Sound.
