The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-09-20
HOW MANY
 MILLIONS FOR SEWERS?
ZaImon GOodseIl Treats Enorm- ous Cost of Conforming and
 Paying For Oyster Industry Herring Plan, For Which Mayor Would Create Debt, Aban-
 doned by Herring Him. self

dOned by Herring Him.
 E self In further discussing Mayor Wilson's attempt to revive the Herring sewer system, Hon. zaln1on GoodseH shows that it would cost millions to pay for ! oyster grounds. His comnunicati ton follows:
 To the Editor of The Farmer. Sir How is it but short time Since MT. Herring planned that by spending $45e,OO0 we could construct a modf- l fled form of sewers to meet the fu- ture needs of Bridgeport for many years to come, without the use of Mayor mediate1y makes request for S1,2OO,Oo0 for the pumping sta tions, against MT. Heying's judgment and explicit statements. MT Hering's 1 judgment then. cannot be considered of much value.
 1 The adoption of the Herring sys- ] tenn would necessitate the forfeitiug of the present sewer outlets zon our water front already ours by right Of prior possession; that is. our pre- seriptive rights of use to our water front for sewage purposes since the l first settlement of our town. Amy damages. against the town and city at the present time under the above iconditions would be a hard matter to prove on the one hand or collect isfor on theeother hand:
 i After connecting the present sewer outlets with larger intercepting trunk sewers. leading to the proposed bum in e stations, and then pumping
 from these stations millions of gall
 Ions of accumulated sewage out into
 Long Island Sound for distribution
 every day at say two points instead
 f,far
 tainly be the means of creating q
 positive nuisance to the oyster in- i dustries, thus giving these oyster in dustries ample cause for excessive 1 damages against the city
 No one can compute how many millions of dollars of damage might be proved or claimed by the oyster industries if the citizens of Bridge port should vote to adopt the Herring
 Sewer System. With this contingent cost added to the present proposed first bonding issue Of $1,20o,OOO with added cost of other items not plan
 ned for at the present time, would
 bring about a condition whereby the taxpayers would Sfnally find it much
 cheaper to do away with the pump
 ing stations. discard the large inter- cepting trunk sewer systems leading
 thereto, and return once again to our
 present plan of distributing the sew
 age by many outlets over large areas
 of water front; and they would con-
 slider the experience gained by the
 large expenditure incurred, and the enormous loss of the first cost of the
 same a very cheap proposition for the taxpayers to contemplate, in pref erence to being obliged to pay the
 enormous. damages that would be fn- ally and surely asked for by the
 oyster industries, if the damage done
 up to that time could not be in some
 other manner remedied. The tax
 payers would have to pay all demands
 without redress, and the present
 good credit of our city would be a
 past number. The taxpayers must
 decide this question by their votes. Yes or No.
 There will be end to the cost
 of maintenance of pumping stations
 which with annual fixed payments on
 the total cost and interest on the
 principal would be an unbearahle
 taxpayers.
 The Herring System calls for some
 eighty-five miles of eight inch sewer pipe as 1atera1s iii our public streets
 when it is we'll known fact that
 hundreds of private houses in our city have eight inch or larger sewer pipe connections with our present sewer system. Is it possible that we are going back to the primitive age again in the manner of doing things?
 MT. Herring could not locate one city of 100000 inhabitants using his system. He names and speaks of many inland cities bordering on i'm land fresh water streams that are proposing changing, rebuilding or re- modelling their sewer systems, but none of them as I can ascertain, (and l I have made diligent inquirfes) are the product of his engineering skill. 1 He is proficient in furnishing plans 1 at a large cost to innocent fadists. | When MT. Herring can state or show any city of any size comparable to | and located as our city is upon un- l limited tide water facilities for sew l age purposes, whereby we can make l a comparison with these other cities. l that are using his system and when | he can prove that our present Sco- | field Sewer System is a blight upon | the health of community, chen | will be ample time to give his sys- | tenn any consideration whatever. 1
 During the next twenty-five years 1 many new systems will be tested per | taining to sanitation of sewage that | will probably discount present meth | ods You must remember that in a pro l fessional sense, it is q very hard pro- position to have one engineer con- demn another engineers plans in a l