Municipal officials in New Milford apparently are largely in agreement the town should pursue a proposal and, if possible, seek federal funds to help American Energy Enterprises (AEE) develop the 132,000-square-foot Century Brass building into an ethanol facility.
Mr. Murphy, who has repre­sented New Milford and the other municipalities in the 5th District since early 2007, has written two letters to federal Energy Secretary Steven Chu since the early summer providing information on a possible federal grant for the project for the bio-refinery operation, which would be headed by Chris Brown of Brookfield, the AEE president.
Members of the Economic Development Commission and other municipal officials have voiced support for the project on the parcel, which the town acquired in 1999 as a result of nonpayment of taxes. Century Brass closed operations in 1985.
Mr. Murphy's initial letter to Mr. Chu, dated July 3, stated his support for the project, indicating that it would be "the Northeast's first commercial-grade ethanol bio-refinery."
However, in a letter dated Aug. 31, Mr. Murphy wrote to Mr. Chu that "very serious community concerns have been brought to my attention about the location of this project."
He stated that, among other things, the state Department of Environmental Protection has reported that the site is located in an aquifer protection zone.
He said that some residents "believe that the proposed site for the bio-refinery is incompatible with the residential nature of the immediate vicinity."
The mayor said Wednesday that she met with Mr. Murphy last Sunday and discovered that he had received letters from residents that had never contacted the mayor's office.
In a prepared statement, dated Sept. 23, Mr. Murphy wrote: "This proposal is going to have to go through several state and local permitting processes that will ultimately decide whether this project gets built.
"But the company also is looking for a federal grant, so I have a duty to represent the concerns of my constituents to the agency that is deciding how their taxpayer dollars are spent," he added. "I've received a lot of correspondence from my constituents that have concerns with this particular site, and even though I still support the underlying application, it's my job to make these concerns known to the grant-making agency," Mr. Murphy wrote.
"But I've met with town officials and I've made it very clear to the mayor and the Economic Development Commission that I will make sure that the Department of Energy hears both sides of the story," the congressman stated.
"If we had been contacted about these letters that the congressman received, we could have addressed the issues right out of the gate," Ms. Murphy said. "Ultimately, it is up to the people to decide and we want them to make an educated decision," she said. "This proposed project also will have to go through a gazillion approvals before it can go forward."
In a letter to Mr. Murphy, dated Sept. 11, New Milford Economic Development Commission Chairman Frank Wargo wrote that federal and state agencies have been working toward environmental remediation of the site for more than a decade. He stated that the plant is in an industrial zone, according to the municipal plan of conservation and development, and that the nearby homes on Housatonic Avenue were there in 1957 when Century Brass, then known as Scovill, began operations.
"The DEP is going to have to issue permits, so that if it doesn't meet the regulations, then the project won't be able to go forward," said Robert Coppola, the Democratic candidate for mayor said.
"I am in favor of proceeding with this, because if the project doesn't meet the standards, then it is going to be dead and we'll know that we have to seek another project," Mr. Coppola said. "We need to sell that building and make it productive again."
Town Council Vice Chairman Roger Szendy, a Republican, expressed some of the same concerns.. "There are enough regulatory reviews that if the site is going to be a hazard, then the project won't be able to go forward," Mr. Szendy said.
"I don't think it would cause a problem to any neighbors because you had Century Brass, one of the largest employers in New Milford, there for so many years," Mr. Szendy said. "I think there are some people that don't remember that there were employees and trucks going in there for many years without disrupting the area."
"I don't think that the zoning regulations for that site have changed since Century Brass went out of business in 1985," Mr. Szendy said. "We need to make that building productive again and make it part of the tax base."