Rhode Island
GoLocalProv | News | Raw Sewage Dumped Into Blackstone Again, DEM Admits It Has Failed to Take Enforcement Action
Thursday, March 02, 2023
PHOTO: File
Final summer time, the operator of the Woonsocket sewage remedy facility repeatedly launched improperly handled waste into the Blackstone River.
Twice in per week, Rhode Island Division of Environmental Administration (DEM) officers issued a discover to the general public warning of the hazards of the improperly handled waste.
Then it occurred once more on Wednesday.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE — SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST
DEM officers admit that their regulatory motion has taken too lengthy and has been inadequate.
“The Metropolis of Woonsocket and the seller that operates its wastewater remedy plant, Jacobs, must get their act collectively. And because the regulator, DEM does too. As soon as probably the most polluted river in America, the Blackstone has seen radical enhancements in water high quality because the passage of the Clear Water Act in 1972,” stated Michael Healey, spokesperson for DEM to GoLocal.
DEM issued yet one more warning to Rhode Islanders about utilizing the now-polluted river.
As a precaution, DEM is advising the general public to quickly chorus from each major contact leisure water actions (wading, swimming) and secondary contact actions (canoeing, kayaking, rowing, and fishing) and to keep away from consuming any fish from the river from the placement of the discharge, at Cumberland Hill Street in Woonsocket, to the Slater Mill Dam in Pawtucket (see map). This advisory is in impact till additional discover.
The improperly handled waste is topic to a sequence of environmental fines — together with $25,000 per incidence and the price of the investigation. Penalties for the continued discharge — creating a possible menace to the atmosphere and public well being — may rise to a whole bunch of 1000’s of {dollars}.
The remedy plant, operated by the personal contractor Jacobs, treats about 10 million gallons of sewage every day. Together with a sequence of unpermitted discharges between March and June of 2022, DEM is investigating the reason for this lack of remedy and monitoring steps being taken by town and its contract operator to make sure a return to allow compliance.
“Hundreds of individuals — mobilized by teams just like the Blackstone River Watershed Council/Pals of the Blackstone, Blackstone Valley Tourism Council, ZAP the Blackstone, and others — have made the Blackstone a cleaner river the place Rhode Islanders now get pleasure from paddling, fishing, mountaineering, and birdwatching. Though it’s taking longer than we’d like, DEM will probably be bringing an enforcement motion addressing these unauthorized discharges, which threaten the Blackstone’s enhancements,” he added.
Associated Articles