Opponents of the plan to develop State Pier into an offshore wind hub, led by Steve Farrelly, whose salt distribution business was based at the pier for the past seven years, rallied outside the state Capitol Monday to illustrate the business and job loss they say will result from the development.

“As much as the wind industry is important to us moving forward with renewable energies, what we do is important too. All these jobs here are important. All these people supporting their families are important,” said Farrelly, owner of DRVN.

Farrelly was joined by his employees, the longshoremen who’ve long provided labor at the pier, and contractors who have relied on DRVN for their salt supply.

“There should’ve been more of a collaborative effort to make it work for everybody, not just the strong and powerful,” Farrelly said.

Parked behind Farrelly, as he spoke on the north side of the Capitol, was a dump truck with a trailer carrying a large sign, painted red, white and blue, with the words “Save the CT State Pier” and “Stop the Monopoly!" Dozens of trucks, some of them operated by DRVN, lined the streets around the Capitol.

“I’ve got some hard decisions to make over the next 90 days to see if I can stay in business," Farrelly said.

DRVN operated out of State Pier until February when the company had to vacate the premises in preparation for construction to start at the pier.  

John Henshaw, executive director of the Connecticut Port Authority, said in an emailed statement Monday that DRVN has known since last year that it had to relocate given State Pier will be a construction site for the next two years.

"The Connecticut Port Authority has stated publicly and consistently since March of 2020 that the State Pier would not be able to accommodate salt after 2020 because of a planned reinvestment in that facility for future growth,” Henshaw said.

The port authority granted DRVN several extensions over the past year in order to give the company time to sell its remaining inventory, Henshaw said.

Last year, Danish offshore wind company Ørsted and the utility company Eversource entered into an agreement with the state and port authority for $157 million in upgrades to use the pier as a staging area in support of its planned offshore wind farms. The latest estimate shows the project is now expected to cost more than $200 million.

Following the agreement, tenants at the pier were told they had to make plans to vacate the facility, and the longshoremen were notified that they would be out of work when construction began.

Peter Olsen, the former longtime president of the International Longshoremen's Association 1411, said the last of the longshoremen were laid off recently. Many are having a hard time finding work, he said, adding that to date, Gateway Terminal, which operates the ports in New London and New Haven, has not offered to employ any of the longshoremen in New Haven.

Several contractors who have purchased salt from DRVN said at Monday's event that if the company goes out of business, their bottom line would be impacted.

"There's a lot of small contractors that provide public safety for municipalities, state buildings, colleges," said Mike Lenares, co-owner of Lenares Landscape & Design in Newington. "The lack of competition is going to impact the market."

Gateway said through a spokesperson Monday that it is "committed to working with all of Connecticut's salt suppliers to ensure that the state will have ample salt supply."

The company sells salt to private contractors out of the New Haven port, while Morton and Champion, which are based at the port, serve the Connecticut Department of Transportation and municipalities.

The statement also notes that Gateway tried to help Farrelly find an alternate location for his business.

"DRVN had ample opportunity to pursue alternative locations in eastern Connecticut and New Haven with Gateway's assistance, but they were not interested in collaborating with us," the statement says.

Kevin Blacker, a longtime critic of the State Pier deal, said the rising cost of the project, the ongoing investigation by Connecticut’s attorney general into the port authority, as well as news reports and audits showing financial mismanagement at the agency in recent years, all point to a need to restart the negotiations.

“The solution is the deal needs to be rebid. It was made by the port authority. The port authority is corrupt,” Blacker said.

Blacker noted that no legislators were present at Monday's event. "That speaks to volumes to what we’re dealing with," he said.

j.bergman@theday.com