1973

• Connecticut General Assembly passes and Gov. Thomas J. Meskill signs into law Public Act 73-549 establishing the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority.
• Malcolm Baldrige is appointed the first CRRA chairman by Gov. Meskill.
• CRRA Board of Directors names Richard W. Chase CRRA’s first president.
• CRRA board votes to select Bridgeport as its first site for a regional trash-to-energy (TTE) project.

1974

• Bridgeport, Darien, Easton, Fairfield, Greenwich, Monroe, Stratford, Trumbull and Westport sign agreements establishing the Greater Bridgeport Regional Solid Waste Commission (GBRSWC).
• CRRA purchases 7.98 acres in Bridgeport for the site of its first TTE facility.

1975

• GBRSWC signs interlocal agreement with CRRA for development of a TTE facility.
• Charles Stroh is appointed CRRA chairman by Gov. Ella T. Grasso.

1976

• CRRA issues bonds for construction of the GBRSWC TTE facility.
• CRRA contracts with CEA-OXY Resources Recovery Associates Inc., a joint venture of Combustion Equipment Associates, Inc., and Occidental Petroleum Corporation, to design, construct and operate the GBRSWC facility and project transfer stations.
• Russell L. Brenneman is voted president of CRRA.

1978

• CRRA selects South Meadows area of Hartford as the site of its second regional TTE project, the Mid-Connecticut Project.

1979

• Fuel system at Bridgeport plant malfunctions.
• CRRA and the Metropolitan District (MDC) enter into Joint Planning Agreement for the Mid-Connecticut Project TTE facility.

1980

• CEA-OXY seeks Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and halts construction of Bridgeport facility. Project towns are protected by CRRA’s contract with the vendors from any financial loss due to the facility’s failure.

1981

• Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection updates its solid waste management plan, adopting goals of continued landfill availability and development by CRRA of two TTE projects.
• Michael Cawley is voted president of CRRA.

1982

• CRRA begins planning for redevelopment of Bridgeport facility.
• City of Hartford executes CRRA Municipal Services Agreement, officially committing to the Mid-Connecticut Project. CRRA also leases from the City 120 acres adjacent to the Hartford landfill for interim waste disposal services for project member towns.

1983

• Justin DeNino is appointed CRRA chairman by Gov. William A. O’Neill.
• CRRA awards contract for reconstruction of Bridgeport Project facility to Signal-Resco, a subsidiary of Wheelabrator Environmental Systems, Inc.
• CRRA purchases Shelton landfill to serve Bridgeport Project.

1984

• CRRA awards contract for construction of Mid-Connecticut Project TTE facility to Combustion Engineering.
• James F. Shugrue is appointed CRRA chairman by Gov. O’Neill.

1985

• CRRA issues bonds for reconstruction of Bridgeport Project facility.
• CRRA issues bonds for construction of Mid-Connecticut Project TTE facility and four transfer stations.
• Southeastern Connecticut Regional Resources Recovery Authority (SCRRRA) is formed. Nine towns execute Municipal Services Agreements with SCRRRA which, in turn, contracts with CRRA for facility development services.
• CRRA leases Meriden and Wallingford landfills.

1986

• CRRA issues bonds for construction of Wallingford Project TTE facility.
• CRRA purchases Ellington landfill.
• Marian R. Chertow is voted CRRA president.
• CRRA acquires Waterbury landfill.

1987

• Connecticut General Assembly passes Public Act 87-544 establishing statewide recycling, setting a goal of recycling 25 percent of Connecticut’s solid waste by 1991.
• Thomas H. Fitzpatrick is appointed CRRA chairman by Gov. O’Neill.
• CRRA awards contract to American Ref-Fuel for construction of SCRRRA TTE facility in Preston.

1988

• William R. Darcy is voted president of CRRA.
• Bridgeport Project TTE facility begins operations. The Bridgeport Project is governed by the Solid Waste Advisory Board (SWAB).
• Mid-Connecticut Project facility begins operations.
• CRRA issues bonds for construction of SCRRRA facility.
• DEP issues updated solid waste management plan which lists materials municipalities are required to recycle and provides grant funding for local recycling program development.

1989

• Wallingford Project TTE facility begins operations.
• CRRA begins working with the newly formed Southwest Connecticut Regional Recycling Operating Committee (SWEROC) for development of regional recycling facility.
• CRRA purchases property at 211 Murphy Road in Hartford; future site of Mid-Connecticut Project Container Processing Facility and CRRA Trash Museum.
• General Assembly passes legislation increasing CRRA’s statutory limits on bonding and hiring and providing CRRA authority to override local zoning to site ash landfills.

1990

• VICON, operator of Wallingford Project facility, files Chapter 7 bankruptcy. General partnership interests in facility are purchased by a wholly owned subsidiary of Ogden Projects, Inc.

1991

• CRRA purchases property at 1410 Honeyspot Road Extension in Stratford; future site of SWEROC regional recycling facility.
• CRRA purchases property at 265 Murphy Road in Hartford; future site of Mid-Connecticut Project Paper Processing Facility.
• CRRA issues bonds for the construction of the Mid-Connecticut Project Regional Recycling Center and Trash Museum.

1992

• Arthur E. Fay is appointed CRRA chairman by Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr.
• SCRRRA facility in Preston begins operations.
• Mid-Connecticut Project Regional Recycling Center and Trash Museum, begins operations. Facility accepts plastic containers which are not among items mandated by the state and project member towns are not charged processing fee for recyclables delivered to the facility.

1993

• SWEROC regional recycling facility in Stratford begins operations. Facility accepts plastic containers which are not among items mandated by the state and project member towns are not charged processing fee for recyclables delivered to the facility.
• Ground is broken for construction of multiple-lined ash landfill in Montville to serve the SCRRRA facility.
• Ground is broken for construction of multiple-lined ash landfill in Shelton to serve Bridgeport Project facility.
• CRRA closes Ellington landfill.
• General Assembly passes legislation changing statewide recycling goal from 25 percent to 40 percent of the state’s solid waste stream by the year 2000.

1994

• A survey of member towns by the Legislative Program Review & Investigations Committee shows a high level of satisfaction with CRRA.
• The SWEROC offices open, offering tours of the Bridgeport Project recycling facility. Tours become so popular that educators are hired to deal with the large number of requests.
• CRRA TTE facilities achieve a milestone, processing more than 2 million tons of trash and recyclables in fiscal year 1994.

1995

• The CRRA board approves $1 million for a system to control nitrogen oxide (NOx) at the Mid-Connecticut Project TTE plant. The system will reduce emissions to below mandated levels.
• CRRA Visitors Center & Trash Museum in Hartford holds its grand opening.
• Exhibits are installed at The Children’s Garbage Museum at the SWEROC facility in Stratford. About $650,000 in private and public donations was raised to fund the exhibits.

1996

• The NOx control system at the Mid-Connecticut Project TTE facility is already working well enough to generate emission credits for sale to other facilities that don’t meet the NOx standards.
• DEP grants a permit for expansion of the Hartford landfill.

1997

• Peter Ellef is appointed CRRA chairman by Gov. John G. Rowland.
• Robert E. Wright is voted acting president of CRRA.
• Contracts for construction of a slurry wall and phase I of the ash disposal area at the Hartford landfill are awarded. CRRA issues $8 million in bonds to finance the projects.
• The CRRA board votes to grant $500,000 to the National Geographic Society for establishment of the Connecticut Geographic Education Fund.

1998

• An odor-control system that sprays chemical deodorizers onto waste is installed at the Mid-Connecticut Project WPF.
• Robert E. Wright is voted president of CRRA.
• The Connecticut legislature restructures the electric industry. Part of the restructuring requires electric utilities to sell their generating assets. Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P) owns the Mid-Connecticut Project power generating facility.

1999

• Bids submitted to CRRA show millions of dollars could be saved by using different contractors to operate Mid-Connecticut Project facilities. CRRA and the current contractor, the Metropolitan District (MDC), go to arbitration to try to resolve the dispute.
• CRRA holds its first series of household electronics recycling collections and collects more than 66 tons of old computers, stereos and other electronic equipment.
• CRRA begins planning a new, more powerful odor-control system for the Mid-Connecticut Project WPF.

2000

• An arbitration panel rules that CRRA may replace contractors at its Mid-Connecticut Project facilities for reasons of cost, quality or responsiveness, opening the door for CRRA to realize millions of dollars in savings by replacing its current contractor, MDC.
• CRRA issues bonds to finance a $15 million Mid-Connecticut Air Processing System (MCAPS) which will dramatically reduce the number of complaints of odors emanating from the WPF.
• CL&P buys down its energy contract and sells the Mid-Connecticut Project power generating facility to CRRA. Enron, a Houston-based conglomerate, will buy the power produced at the plant and make capacity payments of $26 million per year to CRRA. As part of the deal, $220 million is transferred to Enron.

2001

• CRRA completes the purchase of the Mid-Connecticut Project power generating facility.
• CRRA hires a new contractor to operate its Torrington transfer station, which will save $971,000 a year.
• Enron, which had contracted to purchase power generated by the Mid-Connecticut Project, files for bankruptcy and stops making its $2.4-million monthly payments to CRRA.

2002

• Peter Ellef, who had been chairman, resigns from the CRRA board. Edward St. John resigns his post as vice chairman but remains on the board. Richard Belden is voted vice chairman.
• CRRA hires a new contractor to operate its Watertown transfer station, which will save $750,000 a year.
• A three-person panel chaired by William J. Cibes Jr., chancellor of the Connecticut State University system and former Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, issues a report that recommends that the Mid-Connecticut Project phase in disposal fee increases needed to cover the revenue lost in the Enron bankruptcy. To learn more, click Cibes Report on Disposal Fee Increases at Mid-Connecticut Project.
• Robert E. Wright signs a separation agreement ending his tenure as CRRA president.
• The General Assembly passes a sweeping reform of CRRA. Gov. Rowland names Michael A. Pace, first selectman of Old Saybrook, to chair the new CRRA board. The legislation requires CRRA to submit a financial mitigation plan to the legislature and allows for CRRA to borrow up to $115 million from the state – a loan that must be repaid with interest. The legislation also designates the Attorney General to represent CRRA in all Enron-related litigation, including proceedings in bankruptcy court and lawsuits against those responsible for the Enron deal.
• The new CRRA board adopts a mission statement declaring that CRRA works in the best interests of the state.
• Thomas D. Kirk is voted CRRA president.
• The CRRA Steering Committee issues a report outlining actions the board will take to restore the organization’s financial and operational stability and credibility. To learn more, click CRRA Steering Committee Final Report.

2003

• CRRA and its education centers in Hartford and Stratford receive the Beth Brown Boettner Award for Outstanding Public Education from the National Recycling Coalition.
• The CRRA board votes to enter mediation with MDC in an attempt to resolve their long-standing dispute.
• The CRRA board asks for an opinion from the Attorney General on the propriety of CRRA’s 1997 donation to help establish the Connecticut Geographic Education Fund.
• CRRA renegotiates lease for headquarters. New deal will save $850,000 over the life of the lease.
• CRRA and its previous board and management, along with numerous other parties, are sued over the Enron loss by West Hartford and, in a separate action, the towns of New Hartford and Barkhamsted.
• The CRRA board approves a study of the feasibility of expanding the Hartford landfill.

2004

• As part of an ongoing outreach program developed by CRRA's new management, CRRA holds its first Annual Meeting for member cities and towns.
• CRRA commissions a comprehensive study to identify all potential landfill sites in Connecticut.
• CRRA ends mediation with MDC and hires a new contractor to run its Essex transfer station, which will save $424,000 a year.
• Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announces his opinion that CRRA’s donation for the establishment of the Connecticut Geographic Education Fund was improper; the National Geographic Society returns the donation in full.
• The CRRA board votes to end the Hartford landfill expansion study and focus on developing long-term ash and waste disposal solutions.
• The CRRA board votes to accept a proposed settlement of the Enron bankruptcy case. The settlement, which developed through the efforts of the Attorney General’s office, will be worth $82.7 million to CRRA.
• CRRA hires a new contractor to run its Ellington transfer station, which will save $590,000 a year.

2005

• At its second Annual Meeting, CRRA announces it has received the proceeds of its Enron bankruptcy claim. After the claim was awarded, global financial houses expressed interest in purchasing the claim. The CRRA Board of Directors conducted an auction and sold the claim to Deutsche Bank Securities for $111.2 million.
• Michael A. Pace is appointed to another term as CRRA chairman.
• An arbitration panel rules that MDC has overcharged CRRA by more than $12.7 million since 1996 and orders MDC to lower the price it charges for operating the Mid-Connecticut Project waste processing facility and landfill. The panel orders about $5 million that had been escrowed from fees billed by MDC to be returned to CRRA.
• Mid-Connecticut Project towns can begin recycling junk mail and other mixed paper in October, and the project will get a new state-of-the-art recycling facility.

2006

• The CRRA Board votes to lower the Mid-Connecticut Project tip fee to $69 per ton effective July 1, a decrease from the $70 rate charged in fiscal 2004, 2005 and 2006.
• CRRA submits to DEP a revised closure plan for the Hartford landfill. The plan calls for the installation of an enhanced synthetic cap and, for the first time, sets a date certain for closure. Under the plan, if approved by DEP, the landfill would close in 2008.

2007

• DEP approves CRRA's revised closure plan for the Hartford landfill and grants a permit for the new Mid-Connecticut Project recycling facility.
• CRRA introduces Phillup D. Bag who reminds people to recycle their junk mail and other forms of paper by stuffing those items into a brown paper bag.
• The new recycling facility opens, enabling residents of Mid-Connecticut Project towns to recycle a wider variety of items.
• A Superior Court judge awards Mid-Connecticut Project towns $35.8 million -- $8.9 million of which will be paid to the towns' lawyers -- in a lawsuit filed by the Town of New Hartford in 2003 stemming from the Enron deal. The CRRA Board votes to appeal the ruling to the Connecticut Supreme Court. CRRA maintained that the best use of funds would be to ensure that disposal fees are mitigated and stabilized as the Legislature directed in Public Act 02-46.
• CRRA starts installing a state-of-the-art synthetic cap on sections of the Hartford landfill that have reached capacity. Portions of the landfill will be able to accept ash and non-processible waste until Dec. 31, 2008.

2008

• Participation in programs offered through the Garbage Museum in Stratford and the Trash Museum in Hartford sets a record for the second straight year.
• A prominent trash-to-energy engineer examines the Mid-Connecticut Project waste processing facility and concludes that with normal maintenance it will operate efficiently "at least until 2028."
• CRRA pays off a loan extended by the state to help the Authority operate following the Enron bankruptcy. CRRA Chairman Michael A. Pace declares "Enron is behind us."
• A three-year study concludes that a site in the Town of Franklin is the best location for the new ash landfill CRRA needs to construct to serve its trash-to-energy facilities.
• The CRRA Board votes to spend $3.5 million to convert the Mid-Connecticut Project recycling facility to accept single-stream recycling, the easiest and most effective means of recycling.
• CRRA pays out over $700,000 in recycling rebates to Mid-Connecticut Project towns. West Hartford, Sharon, Salisbury and Coventry are recognized for being the Project's best recyclers.
• The Connecticut Supreme Court hears oral arguments in New Hartford v. CRRA. A ruling is not expected for several months.
• A surplus in FY 2009 will be good news for Mid-Connecticut Project towns in 2009, as the CRRA Board votes to use some of that extra cash to provide a six-month discount on Project disposal fees effective Jan. 1, 2009.
• CRRA offers a new disposal agreement to Bridgeport Project towns effective Jan. 1, 2009. Twelve towns sign on, with six others deciding to use other means to dispose of their trash.
• The five Wallingford Project towns, facing a deadline related to the end of the Project in 2010, sign individual disposal agreements with Covanta, which will take ownership of the Wallingford trash-to-energy facility at the Project's end. Concurrently, CRRA signs a long-term deal with Covanta ensuring the Authority can deliver up to 25,000 tons per year to the facility at a favorable price.

2009

• For a third straight year, more people than ever took part in education programs from the Garbage Museum and Trash Museum, with participation totaling more than 59,000. However, sudden turns of events leave the Garbage Museum scrambling for funding to remain open after June 30.
• The Garbage Museum gets some good news when the IRS rules contributions to the Museum may be tax-deductible.
• CRRA distributes $26.67 million to Wallingford Project towns after an audit determines those funds will not be needed when the Project ends in 2010.
• The Connecticut Supreme Court upholds a lower court's ruling in New Hartford v. CRRA.
• Despite a plunge in commodity prices caused by the worldwide recession, Mid-Connecticut Project recycling bucks a statewide trend by increasing over the previous year, and CRRA rewards Project towns with over $400,000 in rebates. West Hartford, Portland, Sharon and Salisbury are this year's stars.

2010

• CRRA awards a contract to NAES Corporation to operate both sections of the Mid-Connecticut trash-to-energy facility. NAES will begin operating the waste processing facility in December 2011 and the power-generating facilities in May 2012. MDC, which has run the waste processing facility since it began operating in 1988, sues to overturn the contract selection claiming CRRA was biased.

2011

• A Superior Court judge rules in favor of CRRA in MDC's suit over CRRA's selection of a new contractor to run the Mid-Connecticut trash-to-energy plant. MDC does not appeal the ruling.
• Due to a lack of funding, the CRRA board votes to close the Garbage Museum immediately on Aug. 25. Since their inception in 1993, 358,077 people participated in the Garbage Museum's education programs.
• Michael A. Pace retires as first selectman of Old Saybrook and chairman of CRRA.

2012

• Donald S. Stein, first selectman of Barkhamsted, is named chairman of CRRA by Governor Dannel P. Malloy. Stein's nomination is confirmed by the General Assembly in April.
• CRRA receives a CQIA Innovation Prize from the Connecticut Quality Improvement Partnership. The prize honors CRRA for its unique combination of public education and single-stream technology that produced substantial recycling-rate increases for CRRA recycling towns.
• On Nov. 15, CRRA retires the Mid-Connecticut Project bonds by making a final payment of $4,248,712.50. On Nov. 16, the Connecticut Solid Waste System begins serving 50 cities and towns through contracts expiring as soon as June 30, 2015, and as far in the future as June 30, 2027.