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News Release
RI Department of Environmental Management
235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908
(401) 222-2771 TDD/(401) 222-4462
For Release: September 3, 2009
Contact: Gail Mastrati 222-4700 ext. 2402

SHELLFISH AREAS IN UPPER NARRAGANSETT BAY TO RE-OPEN TWO DAYS EARLY AS A RESULT OF ACCEPTABLE POST-STORM MONITORING DATA
Shellfishing Areas Will Reopen at Sunrise on Friday, September 4

PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management announces that Conditional Area A and Conditional Area B in upper Narragansett Bay will re-open to shellfishing beginning at sunrise Friday, September 4, two days earlier than the scheduled September 6th re-opening. The area has been closed to shellfishing since noon on Saturday, August 29 following the 1.72 inches of rain that fell beginning late Friday night and throughout the day on Saturday. The "early" opening is possible due to operation of Narragansett Bay Commission's Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) tunnel, which went on line in November 2008.

The US Food and Drug Administration requires DEM to monitor water quality conditions throughout the Bay to ensure the state's waters are safe for shellfish harvesting and that shellfish harvested in Rhode Island waters meet FDA standards before being shipped outside the state. In January of this year, DEM and FDA reached agreement on the post storm monitoring procedures which allow DEM to re-open Conditional Areas A & B to shellfish harvesting as soon as the data demonstrates it is safe to do so. DEM developed this plan to expedite the benefits associated with the tremendous investment in construction of NBC's Phase I CSO storage tunnel.

Under this plan, DEM continues to enact a seven-day closure of the shellfish Conditional Area A after a half-inch of rainfall and Conditional Area B after an inch of rainfall; however, as conditions allow, DEM uses post-storm monitoring data and operational information from NBC to determine whether these areas can be opened earlier.

Weather patterns, staff availability and the effectiveness of NBC's combined sewage treatment limit opportunities to conduct the post-storm monitoring. As a result, Conditional Area A has been opened an additional 7 days and Conditional Area B an additional 2 days in advance of when they would have otherwise opened. This week's samples were collected by NBC and analyzed by the RI Department of Health Laboratory. DEM will continue to seek NBC's assistance to maximize implementation of the new monitoring plan.

DEM maintains a 24-hour shellfishing hotline with recorded updated information on shellfish closure areas. That number is 222-2900.

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