United Illuminating will have to pay up for breaking a promise to remediate a Fair Haven power plant after state utility regulators formally accused the company of mismanaging English Station — and of failing to prioritize New Haven residents over profit. In a nearly 300-page decision filed on Friday rejecting a proposed rate hike by the regional company, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) further cracked down on United Illuminating for stalling on its commitment to clean up the power plant at 511 Grand Ave. that they formerly owned and operated for decades. In that partial consent order, the company agreed to put $30 million towards investigating and completing a remediation of the site known as English Station — which is reportedly polluted with carcinogens, polychlorinated biphenyls, heavy metals and other contaminants produced over the years UI burned coal and oil on scene — over three years. PURA wrote that the penalty, which UI estimated would amount to a fine of around $1.63 million per year, is warranted to “incentivize the company to fulfill its obligation to remediate the site.”
https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/ui_fined_for_english_station_mess