Connecticut's Bond Commission approved $1 million to fund removal of the state-owned Springborn Dam on the Scantic River in Enfield.
"The Springborn Dam is obsolete and long ago stopped serving any useful purpose. For the sake of public safety, it needs to come down," Gov. Dannel Malloy said after the commission's monthly meeting on Feb. 28.
Enfield sits 20 miles north of capital city Hartford, just south of the Massachusetts border.
According to Malloy, the funding demonstrates a commitment by the state to restore fish passage along the Scantic River that could lead to federal funds for restoration projects there. The sediment behind the dam is also contaminated with material from former manufacturing activities at the site so if the dam failed, contamination could be released downstream.
