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News Release RI Department of Environmental Management 235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908 (401) 222-2771 TDD/(401) 222-4462
DEM ISSUES ORDER OF APPROVAL FOR FINAL PORTION OF FIRST PHASE OF CSO ABATEMENT PROJECT, AND ESTABLISHES DEADLINE PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management has issued an order of approval to the Narragansett Bay Commission for the main spine tunnel pump station for the combined sewage overflow (CSO) abatement project. Much of the project's first phase was previously approved and is now underway. Approval of the pump station clears the way for full construction of Phase I.The order of approval allows NBC to go out to bid for construction of the pump station. In addition, DEM has set forth deadlines that NBC must adhere to in completing the first phase of the project. The final, enforceable deadline for completion of Phase I is August 29, 2007. One of the largest public works projects in Rhode Island history, the CSO abatement project will improve water quality in and around the greater Providence metropolitan area and the upper Bay by controlling the discharge of sewage from combined sewer overflows during rain events. Such discharges now occur, on average, about 70 times a year, and lead to shellfish closures in the upper Bay. The centerpiece of the $227 million CSO abatement project is construction of two large, deep rock storage tunnels, measuring some six miles in total length. Untreated combined sewage will be conveyed to either the main spine tunnel in the Field's Point service area (covering Providence) or the Pawtucket Tunnel in the Bucklin Point service area (covering Pawtucket, Central Falls, and East Providence). The huge tunnels will collect and store the entire volume of untreated combined sewage generated by most rain events. After the rain events, pump stations will send the combined sewage from the tunnels to the treatment plants. NBC has divided Phase I into 10 construction contracts. The first, the Moshassuck River interceptor project previously approved by DEM, will be completed by October of this year. This project will divert combined sewage flow from the India Point and downtown areas of Providence to the main spine tunnel, which will convey it to the Field's Point wastewater treatment facility. Construction of the three-and-one-half mile long main spine tunnel began this spring, after approval last year by DEM. The 26-foot diameter tunnel will run about 250 feet below ground from NBC's Fields Point wastewater treatment facility to the vicinity of the Foundry complex in Providence. Near-surface structures that will divert combined wastewater and stormwater to the storage tunnel are also being constructed as part of the first phase. Upgrades to the Bucklin Point wastewater treatment facility are also part of Phase I. Work on the comprehensive $60 million four-and-a-half year improvement project at the treatment facility began early this year. Also as part of the CSO abatement program, last fall NBC constructed a floatables control facility at the Bucklin Brook CSO in Pawtucket. The structure includes trash nets that capture floatable pollution before it can flow into Bucklin Brook, so far removing 39 tons of debris that would have otherwise been discharged to Narragansett Bay. The entire CSO abatement project is being undertaken in three phases over the course of approximately 20 years. Phases II and III of the CSO plan will address the remaining CSOs that discharge to the Woonasquatucket, Moshassuck, West, Seekonk, and Blackstone Rivers. Phase II of the CSO plan will include CSO interceptors to transport flows from remote CSOs to the main spine tunnel, separation of sanitary and storm sewers, and a constructed wetland treatment facility. Phase III will include the Pawtucket tunnel, CSO interceptors, and sewer separation. The remaining outfalls that have smaller CSO flows will be either blocked or controlled. Throughout the entire project, NBC, with DEM's assistance, will continue to work with municipalities in the NBC service area to encourage them to take steps to reduce stormwater runoff. Development of the CSO control plan was a requirement of the federal Clean Water Act and Rhode Island's water quality regulations. To meet those requirements, DEM and NBC entered a Consent Agreement in 1992, which compelled NBC to undertake the project. -30- |
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