On June 27th, CT DEEP sent a letter to the City of Bridgeport Parks Department instructing them to repair the damage to the mudflat and prevent further damage.
The City was told to “prepare and submit a plan to restore the impacted tidal wetlands and intertidal flats. The restoration plan shall at minimum include re-establishing the pre-disturbance ground surface elevations (fill in the holes), install tidal wetland plantings in clearly disturbed areas and implement measures that restrict access to the tidal wetland restoration area. On-going restoration areas shall be restricted through the installation of fencing or roping off access pathways above Mean High Water to deter park visitors. Appropriate signage may be used….”
ACCA, Aspetuck Land Trust, and Chadwick Schroeder, Sustainability Manager in Bridgeport Public Facilities, and Bret Caulfield, Bridgeport Parks Superintendent, will be working together on a restoration plan to submit to CT DEEP.
The City has temporarily blocked off the entrance on the mudflat side of the barrier spit. The City has put up the signs shown above, while the area is being restored. The City’s Restoration Plan was originally scheduled to be submitted to DEEP by early October, but they will likely ask for an extension. The public access path will be re-opened after the plantings have taken hold.
