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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 CLOSURE OF CONDITIONAL AREA A TO SHELLFISHING ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27 DUE TO SEWAGE DISCHARGE PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management announces that Conditional Area A in upper Narragansett Bay will be closed to shellfishing beginning at sunrise Wednesday, August 27.The closure results from a failure of the chlorination system at the Narragansett Bay Commission's Fields Point Wastewater Treatment Facility that took place Monday night, which caused over 500,000 gallons of partially treated sewage to be discharged into Narragansett Bay. As reported by NBC, the failure of the plant's chlorination system resulted in inadequate disinfection of the sewage prior to its release into the Bay. NBC is taking samples of the receiving waters today to determine the level of fecal coliform bacteria. Pending acceptable results from monitoring tests measuring the levels of bacteria in the upper bay, Conditional Area A is scheduled to re-open for shellfishing on Thursday, August 28. However, if the sample results are not acceptable, the closure will be extended beyond tomorrow. DEM maintains a 24-hour shellfishing hotline with recorded updated information on shellfish closure areas. That number is 222-2900. -30- |
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