Toxic Runoff Creates "Rainbow Street" in Fairfield

When Hurricane Irene slammed into Connecticut on Aug. 28, the widespread flooding it brought along shorelines and rivers was hard not to notice.

What may have been less apparent to some people were the contaminates it dragged off the land with receding flood waters.

The pollution was obvious on Kenard Street in Fairfield, though.

At approximately 11 a.m., the tiny road that abuts the construction zone of the new Metro North railroad station was inundated with several feet of water from Ash Creek, which runs through the area.

As the water drained, it left brightly-colored stains across huge swaths of the pavement. A fluorescent sheen of yellows, blues, and pinks marked where the creek had crept across the road (see video above).

As anyone who has owned an old car knows, those stains are caused by motor oils and similar waste products. They are known as nonpoint source pollution.

According to the EnvironmentalProtection Agency, nonpoint source pollution is the leading cause of water quality problems. Billions of dollars are spent every year to test and treat water to make sure that the fish that swim in it, the plants that grow in it, and the humans who drink it all stay healthy.

Nonpoint source pollution becomes worse as urbanization occurs, because soils that once absorbed and neutralized contaminants are replaced by blacktop and other non-porous surfaces. The pollutants sit there, building up until it rains or snows, at which point they're deposited in rivers, lakes – or Long Island Sound.

The Fairfield Metro North complex is a prime example of urbanization. Last summer, the hillside near Kenard Street was occupied by a grove of trees. All of them were removed as part of the development project.

The view now consists of giant piles of contaminated soil dug up by construction equipment. The mounds became a point of consternation for the town after officials realized that the millions of dollars it would cost to remove the soil was not accounted for in the project's budget.

In the meantime, the exposed mounds (and the machines moving them around) contribute their own pollutants to the mix of runoff every time it rains or floods.

Although $7.5 million in additional funds approved by the town on Aug. 31 will pay for cleanup of the soil, Hurricane Irene has already siphoned her fair share of toxic material back into Fairfield's waters. That cost is much more difficult to quantify.