Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism
CT VIEWPOINTS -- opinions from around Connecticut

The political roadhouse brawl about the State Pier

  • CT Viewpoints
  • by Kevin Blacker
  • April 6, 2021
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

A rendering of the State Pier facility in New London after infrastructure improvements in the approved plan.

Op-eds, insults, pink paint, and felony charges flying as two chairmen, an executive Director and office manager at the Port Authority all lost their jobs. Meanwhile, the Attorney General’s investigation of the Connecticut Port Authority is dragging through its second year.

The press outside of Southeastern Connecticut seems largely unaware of the political roadhouse brawl going on at State Pier over plans to fill 7 ½ acres of the deepest commercially available water in the state.  The recent op-ed by Eversource’s Joe Nolan and Orsted’s David Hardy paints a deceptively rosy picture.

Here are a few important facts they left out:

The 400 jobs they reference in their recent op-ed are part-time and temporary.

Roughly 100 people lost their jobs as DRVN Enterprises and the ILA 1411 Longshoremen’s Union were forced out of State Pier with no viable alternate location to continue operations.

All conventional cargo that used to arrive efficiently at State Pier by ship has been displaced.   It will now have to be inefficiently (environmentally and economically) trucked to the region increasing road wear, pollution, and traffic accidents.

Initially sold to the public as a $93 million plan to remake State Pier; the price quickly grew to $157 million, then $200 million with Connecticut taxpayers being asked to chip in $120 million and cover all cost overruns.

The project is already over a year behind schedule and faces strict deadlines and well-defined  consequences for tardiness.

The $5.25 million Host Community Agreement only pays New London if the project goes to full scope.  The project is highly likely to go to MINIMAL SCOPE meaning the HCA will not apply.

The bulk of the $77.5 million investment by Eversource and Orsted goes away under MINIMAL SCOPE.  And the lease term of State Pier drops from 10 years down to two.

If completed State Pier will enter a crowded and highly competitive field of wind ports.  Every State on the Eastern Seaboard from Virginia up is undertaking similar wind port development based largely on the unrealistic promises of former oil companies like Orsted.  We’re not all going to be winners.

Climate change is an existential and immediate threat.  We shouldn’t let critical thinking, prudent judgement, and honest process go out the window in the necessary pursuit of clean renewable energy.  Please pay attention to what is happening at State Pier.

Kevin Blacker lives in Noank.

CTViewpoints welcomes rebuttal or opposing views to this and all its commentaries. Read our guidelines and submit your commentary here.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Connecticut must protect vulnerable populations from biased and discriminatory healthcare practices
by William Smith

At a time of great uncertainty for the public health of our nation, the path to protect patients in Connecticut from unfair and even discriminatory healthcare rationing is clear. And it begins with turning away from European models that rely on controversial approaches to determine the price and value of new drugs.

Governor Lamont can negotiate a bold, equitable budget
by Callie Gale Heilmann

Last summer, after George Floyd’s murder sent a shock wave through our nation, people across Connecticut took to the streets to demand an end to systemic racism and inequality in our state. Residents in urban, rural, and suburban communities spoke in one unified voice demanding that in Connecticut, Black Lives Matter. This is a call for the liberation of Black folks -- for the removal of structural, institutional and economic violence that has thwarted the progress of Black people and the progress of our state.

Connecticut should have a one-house legislature — and fewer lawmakers
by Alan Calandro

In 2020, there were 35 out of 187 (19%) statehouse seats that were basically uncontested, which meant the election/balloting in these cases was a foregone conclusion. This is the norm, election after election. By definition then, we have too many statehouse seats in Connecticut.

Everybody in, especially those left out
by State Rep. Anne Hughes

In the wake of the spate of gun violence massacres, resuming again with deadly consequences, we are at a familiar crossroads: Do we revert to our usual, American individualized ‘othering,’, or do we reconcile that there is no ‘them’- only ‘us,’ that we refuse to claim? I’m campaigning to reframe the American ‘us’ from some of y’all to “ALL of us all!”

New Haven at a zoning crossroads
by Robert Orr

Unbeknown to many, most Connecticut zoning (and that of many other states) designates people of color to segregated areas. For that reason, zoning won the moniker, Exclusionary Zoning. Although there’s no mention of race or color in zoning regulations, clever dimensional requirements, put together in the 1950s, achieve exclusion.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Connecticut must protect vulnerable populations from biased and discriminatory healthcare practices
by William Smith

At a time of great uncertainty for the public health of our nation, the path to protect patients in Connecticut from unfair and even discriminatory healthcare rationing is clear. And it begins with turning away from European models that rely on controversial approaches to determine the price and value of new drugs.

Opinion Governor Lamont can negotiate a bold, equitable budget
by Callie Gale Heilmann

Last summer, after George Floyd’s murder sent a shock wave through our nation, people across Connecticut took to the streets to demand an end to systemic racism and inequality in our state. Residents in urban, rural, and suburban communities spoke in one unified voice demanding that in Connecticut, Black Lives Matter. This is a call for the liberation of Black folks -- for the removal of structural, institutional and economic violence that has thwarted the progress of Black people and the progress of our state.

Opinion Connecticut should have a one-house legislature — and fewer lawmakers
by Alan Calandro

In 2020, there were 35 out of 187 (19%) statehouse seats that were basically uncontested, which meant the election/balloting in these cases was a foregone conclusion. This is the norm, election after election. By definition then, we have too many statehouse seats in Connecticut.

Opinion Everybody in, especially those left out
by State Rep. Anne Hughes

In the wake of the spate of gun violence massacres, resuming again with deadly consequences, we are at a familiar crossroads: Do we revert to our usual, American individualized ‘othering,’, or do we reconcile that there is no ‘them’- only ‘us,’ that we refuse to claim? I’m campaigning to reframe the American ‘us’ from some of y’all to “ALL of us all!”

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO