The State of Connecticut has a Department of Environmental Protection.
This is their idea of protecting the environment.
DEP "Notice of Violation:" big talk, no action.	Is there ANY dock permit the DEP will turn down, in ANY location, for ANY reason?	How the DEP turned neighbor against neighbor in Chester.
No permit? No problem! Click here for more.	Well, actually, no. They've never denied one yet, have they? So why do they bother with public hearings? Click here to read more.	Click here to read about the unnecessary ugliness.
The problems: • Hillsides are ravaged as clearcutting continues unabated. • McMansions the size of hotels dominate more and more of the view every month. • New, oversize docks (private and commercial) loom out from the riverbanks. • Howling Cigarette boats boom up and down the river at fifty earsplitting knots, raising destructive wakes that claw the guts out of the riverbanks and swamp smaller craft. What has the DEP done to stop any of this? Nothing. Is this too harsh? You decide. For our part, enough has been just about too much. For well over a year now, we've seen hundreds of selfless, wonderfully dedicated people give their all trying to save the Connecticut River valley. Devoting long hours of hard work without regard to personal gain, they've fought the good fight for all of us. And yet, for all of their efforts, they've seen the one entity that holds the key, the only organization that has any real power to stop the destruction of this "last great place" sit on its hands and refuses to take any action whatsoever. Disclaimer: We are sure that there are many, many people who work for the DEP because they're truly dedicated to preserving the environment in Connecticut, and that they struggle daily to make a difference. We're not talking about these people here. We're talking about the people at the top levels of the DEP, the ones who make the irrevocably bad decisions, the decisions that clearly work against protecting the environment, for whatever motivations they might have. So we're trying a different approach. After all, the DEP has proven to us quite conclusively that going to its meetings and presenting evidence and testimony isn't going to make a damn bit of difference. So could the DEP possibly be embarrassed into action? Who knows? Probably not, but it's the only thing we can think of to try right now. Here's what you can do. • Click here to see the names of the people who are working to try to save the River. Get in touch with them and ask what you can do to help. • Visit these organizations and offer your support. • Maybe the DEP will listen if enough people complain. Give 'em hell. • If there's anything you can think of that we can do with this website that might be more constructive than our current program of bitching, complaining, and rabble-rousing, let us know. • Oh, and check out the rest of the ourriver.org website.
Jay McKay of the CRCPT has filed an outstanding brief with the DEP's Commissioner, Arthur Rocque. This brief does a thorough job of explaining to Mr Roque why his hearing officer's approval of the Schaller dock application was a disgraceful abrogation of her duty to the citizens of Connecticut. Click here to read or download the brief.
After your tour of DEP transgressions, you can click here to go to the old familiar ourriver.org home page.