The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fined two companies for alleged environmental violations in Bridgeport.

Fairfield-based Connecticut Transfer Co. faces a penalty of up to $37,500 per violation, per day, after the EPA accused the company of pumping out nearly 900 gallons of PCB-tainted waste oil from the former Bridgeport Brass facility in Bridgeport, and attempting to deliver it to an oil disposal operator in New York.

A subsequent site inspection by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection found multiple violations involving leaked PCBs and areas not marked as potentially contaminated with PCBs, which are suspected of causing cancer.

Bridgeport United Recycling Corp. paid $26,000 to settle claims it misidentified 5,000 gallons of waste containing PCBs that it picked up in April 2007 from the Bridgeport Brass site at the request of the Connecticut Transfer Co.

The former Bridgeport Brass property is sandwiched between Housatonic Avenue and North Washington Avenue in Bridgeport. DEP is developing a cleanup plan for the property.

 

Diageo, GE make Working Mother list

Working Mother magazine included Diageo North America and General Electric Co. among its annual list of the 100 best employers of women.

Diageo, a United Kingdom-based spirits company with its North American headquarters in Norwalk, was touted for a casual work atmosphere and freedoms allowed employees, including extensive use of flex time.
At Diageo, 37 percent of managers and executives are women ”“ one manager named Mela Prasens was promoted while on maternity leave.

At Fairfield-based GE, women comprise 31 percent of the managerial and executive ranks. GE was recognized in part for its new myConnections initiative, which helps introduce employees to influential mentors.

 

County still a tax oasis

Fairfield County remains a bargain compared with many of its tri-state area neighbors for home property taxes, particularly as ranked as a percentage of a home”™s value.
The median Fairfield County homeowner paid nearly $6,300 in property taxes in 2008, according to U.S. Census Bureau data published by the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation. While that ranked 15th in the country, of the closest counties to New York City only Middlesex County, N.J. boasted a lower median property tax.

What”™s more, Fairfield County had easily the most attractive median property tax as a percentage of home value among metropolitan New York City counties, at 1.2 percent. The closest competitors were Westchester County, N.Y. and Monmouth County, N.J., with both at 1.5 percent.

Fairfield County residents also enjoy an enviable median home property tax as a percentage of family income, at 5.9 percent a half-percentage point better than Morris County, N.Y.

Westchester County again led the country in highest median taxes paid, with its nearly $8,900 median tax slightly ahead of Nassau County, N.Y.

With nine counties among the top 15, New Jersey had by far the highest median home property tax in the nation at more than $6,300, while Connecticut was second highest at $4,600.