The Metropolitan District held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday morning for the Hartford Tunnel Pump Station, marking another major step toward the completion of the four-mile-long tunnel running underground beneath Hartford and West Hartford.

By Mia Jaworski 

About 60 people attended a ceremony Thursday on Brainard Road, where MDC CEO Scott Jellison opened the event at 10:45 a.m. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal cut the ribbon, joined by federal, state and local officials, project partners, and community members.

A New Step for the Tunnel

The pump station will play an essential role in the operation of the four-mile-long deep rock tunnel, which is designed to capture and temporarily store excess combined wastewater and stormwater during heavy rain.

The tunnel can store approximately 41.5 million gallons of combined sewer overflow, or CSO, protecting local waterways and improving water quality throughout the region.

It is expected to begin operating Jan. 1, 2027.

“It takes a team to do this multimillion dollar investment,” Blumenthal said. “This is not spending, this is an investment.”

Blumenthal said the project is an investment in rivers and streams across Connecticut and the Long Island Sound.

Addressing Combined Sewer Overflows

The tunnel is part of the MDC’s Integrated Plan/Clean Water Project, a multibillion-dollar wastewater infrastructure program that has been about 20 years in the making.

The project aims to reduce combined sewer overflows, improve water quality and address flooding caused by the region’s combined sewer system.

A combined sewer system collects both rainwater and wastewater. During heavy storms, the amount of water entering the system can overwhelm it, causing the mixture of stormwater and sewage to overflow into local waterways.

For residents, the effects of the system have been especially noticeable in Hartford’s North End, where flooding has closed businesses and has caused severe basement flooding across the region.

The overflow also affects the environment, with runoff eventually making its way into the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound.

The new tunnel will hold that excess water during storms, allowing it to be stored until the rain stops. The water can then be treated before being released, reducing wastewater entering local waterways.

Funding a 20-Year Project

The MDC received $2.4 billion over 20 years to complete the project, with the budget increasing over time. DEEP Acting Commissioner Emma Cimino said the state has also provided significant funding for the tunnel, including $550 million.

“It’s a huge day for Connecticut and a huge day for DEEP and the MDC,” Cimino said.

Officials Reflect on the Project

The ceremony featured speeches from Blumenthal, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-2nd District), state Rep. Tami Zawistowski, state Rep. James B. Sánchez, members of the River Alliance, DEEP, EPA, and MDC, as well as Hyacinth Winnie, chair of the Maple Avenue Revitalization Group.

Courtney, who described the inside of the tunnel as looking like “Star Trek,” congratulated the MDC and everyone involved in the project.

Zawistowski emphasized that water issues extend beyond town and state lines.

“CT needs to be treated as a whole,” she said, urging Massachusetts to make similar investments. “We need to ask Massachusetts to step up.”

Sánchez said he is looking forward to future projects in Hartford’s North End.

“Best water in the country,” Sánchez said. “This proved to the state and country that it can be done.”

The People Behind the Project

Tom Tyler, director of facilities at the MDC, focused his remarks on the people behind the project, especially those wearing the MDC yellow vests and Tunnel Start Up Team shirts.

“Each and every person played a specific role. Inspectors, engineers, those on the line,” Tyler said.

He called the MDC and everyone involved in the project “stewards of the environment,” while also commending residents for demanding better services and improvements for their communities.

Jellison also recognized the workers who spent years building the tunnel, pointing to the difficulty of constructing a project of this size while keeping the rest of the region’s wastewater system operating.

A Piece of Hartford

The ceremony itself was more than speeches and a ribbon cutting. Food and drinks were available for attendees, with fall decorations, mums and pumpkins surrounding the event.

The MDC also brought its homemade ice cream truck, which it had used in neighborhoods during construction. The goal was to give ice cream to children while construction crews were ripping up their roads.

Attendees could also take home a small piece of the tunnel. Workers took two-inch pieces of deep rock from the tunnel core samples during the geotechnical investigation of the tunnel route. They polished the pieces and placed them among the food for attendees.

WPC operator Todd Wolowicz handcrafted the pieces and included a plaque commemorating the event and date, allowing attendees to take home what the MDC described as a “piece of Hartford.”

From Storms to Rainbows

The MDC named the tunnel-boring machine Iris in 2017 after holding a naming contest. A middle school student submitted the winning name. IRIS emerged from its years-long underground journey on the West Hartford side in 2022.

Iris, meaning rainbow in Greek, was chosen to represent what comes after nature’s storms and flooding.

After nearly 20 years of planning and construction, the pump station brings the MDC one step closer to putting the tunnel system into operation and addressing the region’s long-standing wastewater challenges.

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