New London — With the passage of a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal last week, $106 million has been allocated to restore and preserve Long Island Sound.

Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, New London Mayor Michael Passero and environmental stakeholders held a news conference Tuesday at Ocean Beach Park to discuss projects the money will fund.

The $106 million will supplement the Long Island Sound Geographic Program, which supports the Long Island Sound Study. The study is funded by federal and state dollars through a joint effort from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Connecticut Sea Grant and New York Sea Grant, and it focuses on improving water quality and restoring the Sound’s ecological balance, among other initiatives.

“Today we’re here to talk about Long Island Sound, which is going to receive $106 million for an infrastructure upgrade for stormwater technology to make sure that the overflows that happen with storms are not going to soil Long Island Sound and degrade the water quality and environment,” Courtney said Tuesday. He credited Connecticut U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, for making sure the states on the Sound would secure the funding.

Meant to be spent over five years, the $106 million is in addition to yearly federal allocations, including $40 million for the upcoming fiscal year. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection will manage Connecticut's share of the money, though it has not been determined yet how much of the funding the state will receive. Organizations and municipalities will be able to apply for grants.

Blumenthal said the more than $100 million is “the most significant single investment in Long Island Sound in our history.”

“It’s not only about the money. It’s about the federal commitment. It’s a recognition that the entire nation has a stake in Long Island Sound,” Blumenthal said Tuesday. “This is also about climate change. We’re going to see more flooding, more erosion. The purpose of this $106 million is not only to protect wildlife and Long Island Sound but to prevent flooding and erosion.”

Gesturing to a nearby cove, Passero said the money for the Sound will have a local impact. “I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Alewife Cove, which is right here to the west, which is a very, very important estuary that feeds the Sound and really needs money to help us to dredge it.”

Long Island Soundkeeper Bill Lucey said that while the state and its environmental groups have had to work with limited budgets for a long time, the infrastructure deal funding is “real” and “long-term money.”

“We want to have hundreds of acres of restored coastal wetlands, eelgrass beds. Everyone wants to enjoy abundant local seafood that’s clean, that’s healthy. Nobody wants to be swimming around in sewage-strewn beaches,” Lucey said.

“We’re going to construct miles of dunes and living shoreline," he added. "We are going to restore coastal wetlands. And we’re going to protect the wildlife as well as our homes and businesses with this type of funding. We need state-of-the-art wastewater treatment systems so that while we do all this work to clean up the Sound, we’re not putting the pollution right back in.”

Blumenthal said New York also must enhance its efforts to preserve the Sound.

“You cannot keep Long Island Sound clean if you don’t treat the wastewater, and it isn’t just Connecticut, it’s New York as well. I’m going to be very blunt: New York is the environmental bane of our existence. Its wastewater plants are decrepit, degraded and ineffective, and we are the victims,” Blumenthal said.

“No one should think this $106 million is going to solve this problem for every town and city along the shore in Connecticut or Long Island, for that matter," he added. "It’s going to take additional investment from the state and localities. The reason we’re here today is because New London has done it right and is at the forefront of trying to keep the Sound clean.”

New London remains the only municipality in Connecticut with a stormwater authority. Meant as a way to address consistent flooding on Bank Street, the utilities department, as the result of the creation of the Stormwater Authority in 2019, took over operation of the pump station from the Public Works Department and has been mapping the city’s entire stormwater system and investigating the causes of flooding in parts of the city.

Gov. Ned Lamont earlier this year signed Public Act 21-115, “An Act Concerning Climate Change Adaptation,” which allows municipalities to establish a stormwater authority.

s.spinella@theday.com