Rhode Island
Partly Treated Sewage Is Still Running Into Blackstone River
WOONSOCKET, R.I. (AP) — A wastewater therapy plant in Rhode Island has been discharging sewage that is solely partly handled into the Blackstone River all week, state environmental officers stated Friday.
The Rhode Island Division of Environmental Administration warned residents on Sunday to keep away from the stretch of the river close to the Woonsocket Regional Wastewater Therapy Facility.
The division stated Friday that the problem on the facility had not been fastened and that partly handled wastewater was nonetheless being discharged. Division spokesperson Michael Healey stated officers are involved that it is taking this lengthy and are investigating whether or not it is an tools or course of failure.
Healey stated the a part of the system that is imagined to deal with and separate strong human waste just isn’t working. Usually that waste can be eliminated and incinerated, however now it is going into the river, he added.
“Of the issues that may go flawed at a therapy facility, that is the worst,” Healey stated.
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The therapy facility is owned by the town of Woonsocket. Town has a contract with Jacobs, a Texas-based consulting and engineering agency, for the operations and upkeep of the plant. The mayor’s workplace and Jacobs didn’t instantly reply to telephone and electronic mail messages looking for remark Friday.
The ability treats 6 million to eight million gallons of sewage from Woonsocket and close by areas every day. The environmental administration division stated it beforehand issued letters of noncompliance to the power in November 2021 and March 2022 concerning “operations and upkeep considerations.”
Residents are being urged to keep away from swimming, boating or fishing within the river from Cumberland Hill Highway in Woonsocket to the Slater Mill Dam in Pawtucket, and to keep away from consuming any fish from the Blackstone River.
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