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 Field's Point Permit Draft Bucklin Point Permit |
News Release RI Department of Environmental Management 235 Promenade St., Providence, RI 02908 (401) 222-2771 TDD/(401) 222-4462
DEM TO HOLD HEARING ON DRAFT DISCHARGE PERMIT FOR BAY COMMISSION'S FIELDS POINT AND BUCKLIN POINT WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITIES PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management will hold a public hearing on Thursday, December 20 on draft RI Pollution Discharge Elimination System (RIPDES) permits it intends to reissue for the Narragansett Bay Commission's (NBC) Fields Point and Bucklin Point Wastewater Treatment Facilities. The new permits essentially codify the ongoing CSO abatement project and add new discharge limits governing ammonia.Both facilities -- Fields Point in Providence and Bucklin Point in East Providence -- accept and treat residential, commercial, and industrial wastewater flows from Central Falls, Cumberland, Lincoln, Smithfield, North Providence, Pawtucket, Providence, East Providence, and Johnston. The draft permit process provides the authorization necessary to enable NBC to discharge wastewater and combined sewer overflows (CSOs) from collection systems at both facilities. The Bucklin Point permit allows discharges from its effluent outfall and 28 CSOs, and the Fields Point permit allows discharges from its effluent outfall and 45 CSOs. The discharges flow into the Blackstone, Providence, Seekonk, Moshassuck, West, and Woonasquatucket Rivers. NBC last received a discharge (RIPDES) permit from DEM for its Fields Point facility in 1992, and for Bucklin Point in 1990. In order to control the discharge of sewage from CSOs during rain events, NBC was required to develop a long-term CSO control plan under the federal Clean Water Act and Rhode Island's water quality regulations. To meet this requirement, DEM and NBC entered a Consent Agreement in 1992 that compelled NBC to undertake a CSO abatement project. Last May DEM approved plans for Phase 1 of the project, which will improve water quality in and around the greater Providence metropolitan area and the Upper Bay. The new draft permit incorporates the provisions of the CSO abatement project, and include aquatic toxicity-based ammonia limits. The public hearing will be held on at 5 p.m. in Room 300 at DEM Headquarters, 235 Promenade Street in Providence, and written comments will be accepted until 4 p.m. on December 21. The draft permit is posted on DEM's website at www.DEM.state.ri.us by clicking on Programs then Water then Permits then RIPDES. A copy of the draft permit may also be obtained by calling Joseph Habarek in DEM's Office of Water Resources at 222-4700 ext. 7715. -30- |
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