 |
 |
 |
|
SHELLFISH
COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES
|
Sept. 27, 2007
SPECIAL MEETING
Page 1 of 1
NU/CL&P cable replacement meeting Thursday, September 27,
2007
Tindall Ave, Norwalk, CL&P office, 4PM
Attendance: SF Commission: Frank, Johnson, & Casagrande
NU/ CL&P: Raul DeBrigard and Jeffrey Martin
Kokosing Construction (Durocher Marine Division)
Tim Paquette and Aaron Harke
Nexans Norway: Jim Kennedy Prime contractor/cable mfg.
TRC Lance Haywood Environmental consultant
After introductions, Jeff Martin passed out copies of a proposal
jointly prepared by Nexans Norway and Durocher Marine, for silt containment
during cable removal. It called for starting to remove the old cables carefully,
monitoring the amount of siltation from the deck of boats, without using any
silt containment equipment. If the amount of silt is too much, then they will
deploy silt containment equipment. The equipment proposed consists of a floating
40 ft X 40 ft pipe frame supporting a turbidity screen, extending down from
the surface approximately 4 ft. The cable would be pulled up inside this enclosure.
This proposal does not meet the terms of the agreement between NU and the
Norwalk Shellfish Commission. The proposed silt containment structure will
not be effective in deeper water. After some discussion, it was clear this
proposal was not acceptable. Alternate proposals were discussed, with the
most promising being pulling the old cable up through a larger pipe attached
to the barge with the lower end maintained just off the bottom. Durocher’s
people will work out the details on this concept and get back to us.
Other issues were also discussed briefly, such as the month it took to get
the buoys, promised at the meeting on Sept 18th, for the following week, deployed,
and the not-yet-posted performance bond. Jeff Martin promised the bond would
be in place, in a form requested by the City, by Oct 1st, next Monday. They
are now planning on starting to pull cables the following Monday. The cables
have been deactivated, grounded, and the oil has been pumped out. There is
no concern now for any damage to them by shellfish boats moving product.
In discussion about monitoring the cable removal, the question of underwater
video cameras was raised and it turns out that Durocher has an ROV with an
excellent camera that can be operated from a boat on the surface. The point
was made that a DVD recording of the entire cable removal process, from underwater,
would be the best possible defense against any later damage claims, if their
silt containment process works.
By: Comm. John Frank
 |
 |