Residents at a public hearing Wednesday blasted a proposal that would continue to allow part of the Long Island Sound to be used as a dumping ground.
They took fire at an Army Corps of Engineers plan to continue dumping 30 to 50 million cubic yards of dredged sand from Connecticut harbors into the Sound over the next 30 years.
Corps officials claim the material is safe, but environmentalists call it toxic.
"That material is runoff," said Adrienne Esposito. "It contains trace amounts of metals, trace amounts of pesticides."
All eight people who testified at the public hearing said they were adamantly opposed to the dumping.
In the past, elected officials have also called on the Corps to drop the proposal.