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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 ANNOUNCES SHELLFISH CLOSURE IN BRISTOL HARBOR BEGINNING NOVEMBER 23 DUE TO SEWAGE OVERFLOWS PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management has announced that waters within Bristol Harbor and surrounding Hog Island will be closed to shellfish harvesting beginning at sunrise Wednesday, November 23, until further notice.Specifically, all waters North and East of a line from the southern tip of Popasquash Point, Bristol to Southwest Point on Hog Island and from the southwest point of Hog Island to the southwestern extremity of Arnold Point in Portsmouth, where a DEM range marker has been established. The closure is being enacted because of this morning's pump failure at the Bristol Wastewater Treatment facility. The failure resulted in raw sewage overflows from various points in the treatment facility's collection system including manholes and pump stations. As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, an estimated two to four million gallons of untreated sewage had been discharged into an area near the treatment facility, in the vicinity of Wood and Hope Streets between Wally and Griswold. DEM was notified of the failure this morning by the treatment facility. An inspector from the operations and maintenance section of DEM's Office of Water Resources responded to the Bristol facility this morning following the failure. Initial reports pointed to a malfunction of the facility's two screw-lift pumps and a back-up submersible pump at the plant headworks as the cause of the overflow. According to the treatment plant operators, the malfunction occurred as one of the two main pumps at the treatment facility was down for repairs, and the gear assembly on the second lift pump failed. The emergency lift pump also failed when an apparent failure of its hydraulic coupling disabled the pump. Following the failure, the wastewater treatment facility brought in an onsite portable bypass pump. Two additional pumps were expected to arrive this afternoon. Additional pumps are also being secured by the treatment facility in the event that additional rain requires the plant to pump higher flows. The Town anticipates that the full pumping capacity will be restored and overflows will be controlled early this evening. The Bristol wastewater treatment facility is operated by the Bristol Water Pollution Control Department. The plant typically treats a maximum of 3.79 million gallons of wastewater per day. For more information about the shellfish closure, contact Joseph Migliore in DEM's Office of Water Resources at 222-4700 ext. 7258. -30- |
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