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News Release RI Department of Environmental Management 235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908 (401) 222-2771 TDD/(401) 222-4462
WASTEWATER TREATMENT OPERATORS TO ATTEND DEM-SPONSORED NUTRIENT REMOVAL COURSE TO ASSIST EFFORTS IN WATER POLLUTION CONTROL The day-long session will be attended by a number of operators from facilities throughout Rhode Island that are undertaking voluntary and interim system changes to remove as much nitrogen and ammonia as possible from their systems prior to any state-required upgrade. The Warwick facility itself recently upgraded to remove nutrients like ammonia, nitrogen, and phosphorous after first implementing temporary measures that reduced the discharge of nitrogen by as much as 90 percent in 2001 and 2002. Excess nutrients stimulate algae growth, which robs water of the oxygen necessary to fish and shellfish. Studies have demonstrated that wastewater treatment facilities are a significant source of nutrients to upper Narragansett Bay. Since 1998, DEM has been working with wastewater treatment facilities to implement interim and permanent system changes to reduce the amount of nutrients discharged. DEM's report to Governor Carcieri after the massive fish kill of 2003 noted that although Rhode Island has had much success in improving water quality in Narragansett Bay, events like the fish kill show that the progress made to date is not good enough. There is a need, the report said, to accelerate the state's pollution control efforts and adopt more ambitious targets, in particular for nitrogen removal. DEM made a number of recommendations in the report, including the acceleration of interim and permanent nutrient upgrades at sewage treatment facilities. Earlier this year, the Governor's Narragansett Bay and Watershed Planning Commission endorsed a 50 percent reduction in nitrogen from Rhode Island wastewater treatment facilities to the Upper Bay, which was also signed into law. The upcoming DEM-sponsored course, presented by the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission, will present the latest concepts in nitrogen removal. Instructors will examine ways to retrofit a facility to achieve nitrogen removal as well as process control changes that facilities can make. Jeanette Brown, superintendent of the Stamford, CT wastewater treatment facility and a national expert on the biological removal of nutrients in wastewater, will be a course instructor. Recently she provided assistance evaluating the feasibility of interim nutrient removal to five Rhode Island facilities. A number of operators from facilities throughout Rhode Island are working toward nutrient removal. Currently, Cranston, Warren, and East Providence are experimenting with interim process control changes. East Greenwich is continuing to evaluate whether interim process control changes are feasible. Narragansett Bay Commission's Field Point wastewater treatment facility, the largest in the state, is investigating the feasibility of facility modifications to temporarily reduce nutrients. In addition, DEM has required, or has drafted permits, that will require construction of wastewater treatment facility upgrades. Currently, two facilities - Westerly and Woonsocket - have completed construction (but further reductions are needed at Woonsocket); one - Burrillville - achieved reductions through operation controls, (design of enhanced controls is underway); and six - Cranston, Warwick, West Warwick, Smithfield, East Greenwich, and Narragansett Bay Commission's Bucklin Point - will complete construction by March of 2006. (NBC Bucklin Point may require further modifications.) Narragansett Bay Commission has initiated planning and pilot testing at its Fields Point Facility in anticipation of a final permit from DEM requiring nitrogen reduction. For additional information, call Bill Patenaude of DEM's Office of Water Resources, at 222-3961 ext. 7264. -30- |
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