PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management and the Rhode Island Department of Health are advising the public to avoid contact with Meshanticut Brook in Cranston following a pump station failure at the Cranston Wastewater Treatment Facility's (WWTF) Sherman Avenue Pump Station located at 90 Sherman Avenue. An estimated 30,000 gallons of sewage spilled into the brook as a result of the pump station failure, which took place today at 7 a.m.
The sewage release into the brook occurred in the vicinity of the Route 37 and I-295 interchange; the brook flows south along I-295 into the Pawtuxet River west of the Warwick Mall. Cranston WWTF is in the process of resolving the pump station failure and has been in communication with DEM.
In an abundance of caution, DEM and Health are advising that residents and pets avoid contact with the brook through Monday, August 17.