{"id":868373,"date":"2026-10-02T15:16:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T15:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/868373\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T15:16:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T15:16:22","slug":"mdc-celebrates-completion-of-hartford-tunnel-pump-station-we-ha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/868373\/","title":{"rendered":"MDC Celebrates Completion of Hartford Tunnel Pump Station – We-Ha"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Metropolitan District held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday morning for the Hartford Tunnel Pump Station, marking another major step toward the completion of the four-mile-long tunnel running underground beneath Hartford and West Hartford.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal cuts the ribbon at the South Hartford Tunnel Pump Station ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. Photo credit: Mia Jaworski<\/p>\n

By Mia Jaworski\u00a0<\/p>\n

About 60 people attended a ceremony Thursday on Brainard Road, where MDC CEO Scott Jellison opened the event at 10:45 a.m. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal cut the ribbon, joined by federal, state and local officials, project partners, and community members.<\/p>\n

A New Step for the Tunnel<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The tunnel begins 200 feet below ground at the Metropolitan District Water Pollution Control Plant on Brainard Road. Photo credit: Mia Jaworski<\/p>\n

The pump station will play an essential role in the operation of the four-mile-long deep rock tunnel, which is designed to capture and temporarily store excess combined wastewater and stormwater during heavy rain.<\/p>\n

The tunnel can store approximately 41.5 million gallons of combined sewer overflow, or CSO, protecting local waterways and improving water quality throughout the region. <\/p>\n

It is expected to begin operating Jan. 1, 2027.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes a team to do this multimillion dollar investment,\u201d Blumenthal said. \u201cThis is not spending, this is an investment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blumenthal said the project is an investment in rivers and streams across Connecticut and the Long Island Sound.<\/p>\n

Addressing Combined Sewer Overflows<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Tunnel Pump Station Overview. Oct. 1, 2026. Photo credit: Mia Jaworski<\/p>\n

The tunnel is part of the MDC\u2019s Integrated Plan\/Clean Water Project, a multibillion-dollar wastewater infrastructure program that has been about 20 years in the making. <\/p>\n

The project aims to reduce combined sewer overflows, improve water quality and address flooding caused by the region\u2019s combined sewer system.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Graphic courtesy of the City of Lynchburg.<\/p>\n

A combined sewer system collects both rainwater and wastewater. During heavy storms, the amount of water entering the system can overwhelm it, causing the mixture of stormwater and sewage to overflow into local waterways.<\/p>\n

For residents, the effects of the system have been especially noticeable in Hartford\u2019s North End, where flooding has closed businesses and has caused severe basement flooding across the region. <\/p>\n

The overflow also affects the environment, with runoff eventually making its way into the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound.<\/p>\n

The new tunnel will hold that excess water during storms, allowing it to be stored until the rain stops. The water can then be treated before being released, reducing wastewater entering local waterways.<\/p>\n

Funding a 20-Year Project<\/p>\n

The MDC received $2.4 billion over 20 years to complete the project, with the budget increasing over time. DEEP Acting Commissioner Emma Cimino said the state has also provided significant funding for the tunnel, including $550 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a huge day for Connecticut and a huge day for DEEP and the MDC,\u201d Cimino said.<\/p>\n

Officials Reflect on the Project<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, left, and Congressman Joe Courtney attend the South Hartford Tunnel Pump Station ribbon-cutting ceremony. Photo credit: Mia Jaworski<\/p>\n

The ceremony featured speeches from Blumenthal, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-2nd District), state Rep. Tami Zawistowski, state Rep. James B. S\u00e1nchez, members of the River Alliance, DEEP, EPA, and MDC, as well as Hyacinth Winnie, chair of the Maple Avenue Revitalization Group.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hyacinth Winnie at Tunnel Pump Station ribbon-cutting ceremony on Oct. 1, 2026. Photo credit: Mia Jaworski<\/p>\n

Courtney, who described the inside of the tunnel as looking like \u201cStar Trek,\u201d congratulated the MDC and everyone involved in the project.<\/p>\n

Zawistowski emphasized that water issues extend beyond town and state lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cCT needs to be treated as a whole,\u201d she said, urging Massachusetts to make similar investments. \u201cWe need to ask Massachusetts to step up.\u201d<\/p>\n

S\u00e1nchez said he is looking forward to future projects in Hartford\u2019s North End.<\/p>\n

\u201cBest water in the country,\u201d S\u00e1nchez said. \u201cThis proved to the state and country that it can be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

The People Behind the Project<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Tunnel Pump Station ribbon-cutting ceremony on Oct. 1, 2026. Photo credit: Mia Jaworski<\/p>\n

Tom Tyler, director of facilities at the MDC, focused his remarks on the people behind the project, especially those wearing the MDC yellow vests and Tunnel Start Up Team shirts.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach and every person played a specific role. Inspectors, engineers, those on the line,\u201d Tyler said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Tunnel Pump Station ribbon-cutting ceremony on Oct. 1, 2026. Photo credit: Mia Jaworski<\/p>\n

He called the MDC and everyone involved in the project \u201cstewards of the environment,\u201d while also commending residents for demanding better services and improvements for their communities.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

MDC CEO Scott Jellison speaking at the Tunnel Pump Station ribbon-cutting ceremony on Oct. 1, 2026. Photo credit: Mia Jaworski<\/p>\n

Jellison also recognized the workers who spent years building the tunnel, pointing to the difficulty of constructing a project of this size while keeping the rest of the region\u2019s wastewater system operating.<\/p>\n

A Piece of Hartford<\/p>\n

The ceremony itself was more than speeches and a ribbon cutting. Food and drinks were available for attendees, with fall decorations, mums and pumpkins surrounding the event.<\/p>\n

The MDC also brought its homemade ice cream truck, which it had used in neighborhoods during construction. The goal was to give ice cream to children while construction crews were ripping up their roads.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

MDC ice cream truck parked outside Tunnel Pump Station ribbon cutting event on Oct. 1, 2026. Photo credit: Mia Jaworski<\/p>\n

Attendees could also take home a small piece of the tunnel. Workers took two-inch pieces of deep rock from the tunnel core samples during the geotechnical investigation of the tunnel route. They polished the pieces and placed them among the food for attendees.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Rock samples from the South Hartford Tunnel were polished and given to attendees as souvenirs on Oct, 1, 2026. Photo credit: Mia Jaworski<\/p>\n

WPC operator Todd Wolowicz handcrafted the pieces and included a plaque commemorating the event and date, allowing attendees to take home what the MDC described as a \u201cpiece of Hartford.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Storms to Rainbows<\/p>\n

The MDC named the tunnel-boring machine Iris in 2017 after holding a naming contest. A middle school student submitted the winning name. IRIS emerged from its years-long underground journey on the West Hartford<\/a> side in 2022.<\/p>\n

Iris, meaning rainbow in Greek, was chosen to represent what comes after nature\u2019s storms and flooding.<\/p>\n

After nearly 20 years of planning and construction<\/a>, the pump station brings the MDC one step closer to putting the tunnel system into operation and addressing the region\u2019s long-standing wastewater challenges.<\/p>\n

Like what you see here? Click here to subscribe to We-Ha\u2019s newsletter<\/a> so you\u2019ll always be in the know about what\u2019s happening in West Hartford! Click the blue button below to become a supporter of We-Ha.com and our efforts to continue producing quality journalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Metropolitan District held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday morning for the Hartford Tunnel Pump Station, marking another major…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":868374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[366214,20244,192,831,366215,98513,366216,4910,366217,79,344782,128053],"class_list":["post-868373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-combined-sewer-system-overflow-cso","tag-deep","tag-environment","tag-featured","tag-hartford-storage-tunnel","tag-mdc","tag-metropolitan-district-commission","tag-newsletter","tag-river-alliance","tag-science","tag-sen-richard-blumenthal","tag-west-hartford"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=868373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/868374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=868373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=868373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=868373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}