STONINGTON — New community water-testing claims have sharpened a long-running dispute over pollution in Wequetequock Cove, but the available records draw an important line between what is established and what remains under investigation.
WFSB reported October 8 that the Wequetequock Clean Water Coalition’s testing found human environmental DNA in the cove and nearby tributaries. Coalition founder Paul Goetz told the station that repeated source-tracking tests overwhelmingly indicated a human source. That claim is attributed to the coalition; an agency-issued laboratory report confirming a specific failing property was not located in this review.
Save the Sound reported that source-tracking conducted in 2025 by Clean Up Sound and Harbors with the coalition found evidence of human-origin contamination. The group also said July 2026 sampling measured bacteria as high as 12.5 times Connecticut’s single-sample swimming threshold and 2.6 times the recreational threshold, with a cove outflow sample 23% above a shellfish-consumption level. Those figures come from the organizations’ monitoring, not a newly released state enforcement finding.
The broader water-quality problem is documented by government records. A 2021 watershed plan approved by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says Wequetequock Cove was not meeting designated uses for recreation, marine habitat or direct shellfish consumption. The plan listed several suspected bacteria sources, including illicit discharges, failing septic systems, marinas, stormwater runoff and wildlife or pet waste.
Stonington First Selectman Bill Middleton told WFSB that the town is trying to identify the source, continues sampling and is considering septic-pumping and property-transfer inspection requirements. He estimated sewer service at about $10 million. Ledge Light Health District told the station it had not identified a specific failing system that could be ordered repaired. Those statements leave both responsibility and the final remedy unresolved.
A separate $545,000 stormwater project announced by the town is designed to address nonpoint-source pollution in the watershed. The plan calls for four bioretention systems, nine tree filters and ten residential rain gardens, with town public works, the Eastern Connecticut Conservation District and neighborhood volunteers involved. That project may reduce runoff, but it is not proof of the source of the recent human-DNA findings.
DEEP opened the draft 2026 Integrated Water Quality Report for public comment through November 1. Residents can review the state documents and submit written comments to DEEP through the instructions on the agency page. Private-well or septic concerns should be directed to the relevant health and municipal authorities; this report does not establish that every well or septic system in the area is contaminated.