Newtown wants more scientific studies done on the Pootatuck River, improvements to the regional water utility control process, assurances a proposed water extension project will not go beyond Greenridge and that if further extensions were sought, United Water would seek a water diversion permit.

"I raise serious concerns this community has in trusting United Water," said First Selectman Pat Llodra, who along with the borough and other Newtown officials presented their case during a Thursday public hearing held by the state Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) at the Newtown Municipal Center to discuss plans to extend the water line into Brookfield's Greenridge district.

The case highlights a much larger issue with how a water company goes about extending its service area and could have statewide implications, according to Margaret Miner, executive director of River Alliance of Connecticut, who was at the meeting and said the group is thinking about asking the Attorney General to render an opinion.

The area has long suffered from water contamination problem, specifically with high levels of naturally occurring radium and uranium. Exposure to high levels of uranium over time may lead to kidney damage.

Greenridge residents appeared at the meeting to make their pitch for the project to resume, saying that the plans underwent much scrutiny several years ago and should not be delayed further.

"We need to have an expeditious conversation," said Susan Stoeppel, who advocated on behalf of Greenridge in 2007 and 2008 when the district lobbied to have United Water solve its contamination problems. "This uranium is still hanging over our head. The issue is still there all of these years later… I just don't want you to forget where we were and where we need to get to in a relatively quick manner for these residents."

Work on the water line extension project started last month but Newtown was able to get a temporary cease and desist order put in place after appealing to Rep. Chris Lyddy, D-Newtown, and Sen. John McKinney, R-Fairfield, for help in getting the town an audience with state regulators, which eventually led to Thursday's hearing.

Newtown said it is concerned United Water may have plans to extend the water line further than Greenridge because maps recently made available show the water company's service area has been extended to include Whisconier Middle School.

United Water and Brookfield First Selectman Bill Davidson said there are no discussions about extending the water line to the school.

"Never in the town of Brookfield has there been discussion of that," Davidson said. "There has never been conversation about extending this line to anywhere but to Greenridge residents."

United Water also had engineers present evidence they said shows the Pootatuck aquifer has more than enough capacity for Newtown and Greenridge now and into the future.

Newtown said it wanted the water company to fund the installation of streamflow gauges that the municipality said would help assure that the water system was not depleting the flow of the Pootatuck River. It also asked United Water to participate in a more detailed study of the overall impact to the river. Those requests were rejected by the company because they were seen as premature, Llodra said.

Additionally, Newtown officials accused the water company of using a legislative loophole that allowed it to sidestep a more rigorous permitting process for the extension project. United Water went to the Housatonic Water Utility Control Committee and asked for an extension of its "exclusive service area." When that was granted, it exempted the company from seeking a water diversion permit, which would have required a much more rigorous evaluation.

"The WUCC process is flawed but that is the body from which springs this plan, so I'm suggesting that you've built a plan on a very shaky, flawed plan," Llodra said.

Newtown's health director, Donna Culbert, who attended the Housatonic WUCC meetings, testified that the agendas for the meetings were unclear and relevant maps went missing from meetings where the group was asked to make decisions.

"Informed decisions are not being made without those maps," she said. "We need to acknowledge the problem exists and there is a bigger problem with the process."

DPUC Commissioner John Betkoski, III, acknowledged that improvements needed to be made with the utility control committee.

"We really need to get our arms around it," he said. "It's long overdue."