A recent state audit is critical of the quasi-public agency that handles nearly a third of Connecticut’s trash. The Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority, or MIRA, was cited for a persistent lack of communication with state officials.
In a new report, state auditors say MIRA repeatedly missed deadlines for submitting required financial and personnel reports to state officials.
From 2015 to 2016, the Office of the Auditors of Public Accounts say the quasi-public’s failure to submit those reports resulted in diminished legislative oversight.
MIRA officials told auditors they weren’t aware of any “set deadlines” for filing the reports.
The auditors also say MIRA failed to submit an annual operating plan to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which they say is required by state law.
But MIRA said DEEP plans to modernize the plant under the direction of a Spanish firm, have rendered the need for those plans moot.
State auditors rejected both of MIRA’s explanations for its non-compliance.
MIRA’s been under a lot of scrutiny lately. Plans to upgrade its aging trash-to-energy plant in Hartford have encountered repeated delays. And this winter, the plant was offline for weeks, which caused trash from surrounding towns to pile up outside in Hartford.
