Raw Sewage Dumped Into Blackstone Again, DEM Admits It Has Failed to Take Enforcement Action
Thursday, March 02, 2023
Last summer, the operator of the Woonsocket sewage treatment facility repeatedly released improperly treated waste into the Blackstone River.
Twice in a week, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) officials issued a notice to the public warning of the dangers of the improperly treated waste.
Then it happened again on Wednesday.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTDEM officials admit that their regulatory action has taken too long and has been insufficient.
“The City of Woonsocket and the vendor that operates its wastewater treatment plant, Jacobs, need to get their act together. And as the regulator, DEM does too. Once the most polluted river in America, the Blackstone has seen radical improvements in water quality since the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972,” said Michael Healey, spokesperson for DEM to GoLocal.
DEM issued yet another warning to Rhode Islanders about using the now-polluted river.
As a precaution, DEM is advising the public to temporarily refrain from both primary contact recreational water activities (wading, swimming) and secondary contact activities (canoeing, kayaking, rowing, and fishing) and to avoid consuming any fish from the river from the location of the discharge, at Cumberland Hill Road in Woonsocket, to the Slater Mill Dam in Pawtucket (see map). This advisory is in effect until further notice.
The improperly treated waste is subject to a series of environmental fines — including $25,000 per occurrence and the cost of the investigation. Penalties for the ongoing discharge — creating a potential threat to the environment and public health — could rise to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The treatment plant, operated by the private contractor Jacobs, treats about 10 million gallons of sewage daily. Along with a series of unpermitted discharges between March and June of 2022, DEM is investigating the cause of this loss of treatment and monitoring steps being taken by the city and its contract operator to ensure a return to permit compliance.
“Thousands of people — mobilized by groups like the Blackstone River Watershed Council/Friends of the Blackstone, Blackstone Valley Tourism Council, ZAP the Blackstone, and others — have made the Blackstone a cleaner river where Rhode Islanders now enjoy paddling, fishing, hiking, and birdwatching. Although it is taking longer than we’d like, DEM will be bringing an enforcement action addressing these unauthorized discharges, which threaten the Blackstone’s improvements,” he added.
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