By Avice Meehan

The Town of Norfolk will receive a final $585,000 insurance settlement resulting from the 2022 gasoline spill that shut down Route 44 and caused significant environmental damage. The amount comes on top of earlier payments totaling $321,000.

“In a perfect world, we would get more than that,” said First Selectman Henry Tirrell, noting that the case would have gone to trial if the town did not accept the result of the months-long mediation. Such a trial would likely not have occurred until sometime in 2027, and the town would have run the risk of losing the case. “We can now put this whole thing more clearly in the rearview mirror,” Tirrell said.

He said Federated Service Insurance Co., which insured trucking company Soundview Transportation, balked at paying $750,000 in claims filed by then-First Selectman Matt Riiska. The case went to mediation in November 2026.

The Board of Selectmen intends to sign the settlement agreement before the end of April, and the town can expect to see a check in June, according to Tirrell. The funds will be allocated for three different purposes: $145,000 to offset legal fees already paid; $270,000 for the acquisition of a second new dump truck; and $130,000 toward the eventual purchase of a new firetruck.

The gasoline spill was the largest in state history and occurred early on the morning of Nov. 5, 2022, when a tanker truck enroute to Canaan from New Haven crashed and overturned on Route 44. The entire load of 8,200 gallons of gasoline spilled out, flooding the area and flowing into the yards of nearby homes before heading into the town’s stormwater sewer system and ultimately into a nearby drainage channel leading to the Blackberry River. Remediation efforts took several years to complete.

Soundview Transportation earlier agreed to a $350,000 settlement with the state of Connecticut and is responsible for ongoing environmental monitoring. Several residents and property owners are suing Soundview, the driver, the truck rental company and the insurer for damages. At last report, the case was set to be heard in September in Superior Court in Stamford.