Bristol Residents for Clean Air

03/02/2026

🚨 ACTION ALERT

CT Approved Expanded Medical Waste Burning — And Now the Legislature Wants to Give the Incinerator a Tax Break?
Public Hearing – Wednesday, March 4 at 11:00 AM (meeting agenda), Legislative Office Building (Room 2B), Hartford CT

Send in written testimony: https://www.cga.ct.gov/aspx/CGATestimonySub/CGAtestimonysubmission.aspx?comm_code=ENV (choose 3/4/2026 hearing date, bill SB00317, click oppose, upload your testimony, and submit)

Register to speak here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_o8AeBR6pSa-6BXetnT9w9w #/registration (signup by 3 PM Tuesday)

The Environment Committee will hear S.B. 317 – An Act Concerning the Bristol Resource Recovery Facility. This bill would suspend the Bristol incinerator’s $1.50-per-ton state solid waste assessment for FIVE YEARS.

Let’s be clear about the timing:

What Just Happened
✔ Connecticut DEEP approved permits allowing the facility to burn large quantities of biomedical waste
✔ Burning medical waste is significantly more lucrative than ordinary municipal trash
✔ This expansion will increase revenue to Reworld (formerly Covanta)
❌ The facility has not fixed its outstanding noise violations — violations of its existing permit conditions

And now, immediately after approving a revenue-boosting medical waste expansion, the Legislature is considering giving this same facility a special tax break.

Give us a break.

The Basic Question
If a facility:
- Is expanding into higher-profit medical waste operations
- Has documented permit violations
- Has unresolved community impacts
- Has not demonstrated full compliance with existing conditions
Why should it receive a five-year exemption from state fees?

This Is About Accountability
This is not abstract policy. It is simple accountability.

- Medical waste approval = more revenue
- Outstanding noise violations = unresolved noncompliance
- Tax break = reward
- Residents = ignored

That is backwards. The health and safety of our families – not special treatment for big corporations – MUST come first.

📣 TAKE ACTION

Submit Written Testimony
Even a short statement makes an impact. Upload your testimony on SB 317 here: https://www.cga.ct.gov/aspx/CGATestimonySub/CGAtestimonysubmission.aspx?comm_code=ENV

Sign Up to Speak
Residents may speak in person or virtually. Sign up here by Tuesday (tomorrow) at 3 PM here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_o8AeBR6pSa-6BXetnT9w9w #/registration

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03/02/2026

The CT legislature is considering giving special tax breaks to Reworld. Hearing on Senate Bill 317 Wednesday (3/4). Submit written testimony or sign up to speak below. Reworld is not required to do anything in exchange for these tax breaks.

09/21/2025

Some inspiration from Energy Justice Network’s work in PA against the nation’s largest waste incinerator (also a Reworld/Covanta plant)…

Energy Justice Network’s efforts advance with this week’s passage of the Delaware County Zero Waste Plan and Philadelphia City Council’s introduction of our Stop Trashing Our Air Act — both to end waste incineration in the City of Chester, Pennsylvania. Over four years of work on each paid o...

04/07/2025

A great opportunity to support waste reduction -- and draw attention to air and noise pollution from trash incineration.

04/07/2025

Sierra Club CT Chapter and CT Zero Waste Coalition: Waste Lobby Day and Press Conference at FRIDAY, 4/11 at 11:00 AM in Room 1A of the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. Park here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/mMHH7UqC6nMCufqH8

03/26/2025

Here's the bill the Enviro. Committee passed. This closes loopholes in state law and will ensure that our health and communities are protected -- provided the bill makes it through the Senate, House, and is signed by the Governor.

03/24/2025

Awesome progress -- but we're not there yet. We're going to need to reach legislators statewide to get this through the House and Senate.

03/24/2025

The CT legislature's Environment Committee will discuss and hopefully advance a bill (SB 80) on incinerator air and noise pollution at their meeting today, 3/24 @ 10 AM.
Meeting agenda:https://www.cga.ct.gov/2025/ENVdata/ca/pdf/2025ca-00324-R001000ENV-ca.pdf
Live stream: https://www.youtube.com/-environmentcommittee3998/streams

The Environment Committee has cognizance of those matters relating to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection that include conservation, recreation, pollution control, fisheries and game, state parks and forests, water resources and flood and erosion control; and all matters relating t...

03/19/2025

UPCOMING PERMIT AND LEGISLATIVE DEADLINES:
The last day for a legal intervention on the proposed final decision to issue the air/noise and waste permits is THIS FRIDAY, 3/21.
The last day the Environment Committee can advance a bill is the Monday after next (3/31). No bills on medical waste or industrial noise have advanced yet.

03/19/2025

Governor & DEEP object to weakening federal rules that would let pollution blow into CT but do nothing about closing loopholes on air/noise pollution created in CT. LEGISLATION COULD FIX THIS -- but the Environment Committee has yet to advance any bills on air or noise pollution