Crab shells washed up on shore as a result of a chemical spill
The state Department of Environmental Protection has issued a notice of violation to a Branford company, Atlantic Wire Co., in connection with an acidic discharge that may have been responsible for killing hundreds of crabs in the Branford River last week, DEP spokesmen said. The DEP was called in Sept. 4 after a caller reported “a significant number of dead crabs,” DEP spokesman Dennis Schain said. “The crab kill appeared to be in the vicinity of where Atlantic Wire discharges into the Branford River, which … goes into the Sound,” Schain said. Atlantic Wire is located at 1 Church St., which is two blocks south of Main Street and one block west of Montowese Street. A DEP inspector spoke to company officials and “they acknowledge that during that day they had an acidic discharge — a discharge with a pH in the acidic range, and out of compliance with the permit range” specified by the company’s discharge permit, Schain said. “We are working with the company” to determine what happened, whether Atlantic Wire was solely responsible for the crab kill and how to prevent any recurrence, and the DEP eventually will make a determination with regard to what further action, if any, to take, Schain said. Another DEP spokesman, Duane Gardner, said Atlantic Wire’s discharge point is about a mile upriver from Long Island Sound itself. “No other aquatic life appeared to be affected,” said Gardner. He estimated the number of dead crabs in the hundreds. Atlantic Wire Executive Vice President Scott Thayer, who was out of state on business, said he was aware that a notice of violation had been issued to the company last week but not aware of any crab die-off. The problem with Atlantic Wire’s discharge was related to a broken pipe that carries sulfuric acid, said Thayer. The pipe has since been fixed, he said. Atlantic Wire, which manufactures wire and processed rod, was founded in Branford in 1906 by the Hitchcock family. In 2006, it entered into an agreement with Petron Atlantic Inc., a subsidiary of Chantilly, Va.-based Petron Pacific Inc., for Petron Atlantic to buy the assets of both Atlantic Wire and Northeast Steel and Machine Products, which is located at the same address in Branford. William Davis, chairman of the Branford Shellfish Commission, said there’s no crabbing industry to speak of in or around Branford. “It’s more of, I guess, a recreational hobby that some people indulge in” and “the DEP monitors them, not us,” he said. Atlantic Wire was one of five Connecticut manufacturing facilities that the Connecticut Fund for the Environment has served with notices of intent to sue concerning pollution problems, CFE announced Tuesday.