PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) announced that all waters of Upper Narragansett Bay bounded by the DEM range marker on Conimicut Point to the center of the tower at Nayatt Point to the northern tip of Prudence Island to the southern tip of Warwick Point have been closed to shellfishing effective at 1 PM today.
DEM and the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) advise that shellfish harvested near the outlet of Old Mill Creek after 10:30 AM today and until further notice not be consumed. RIDOH also announces the closure of Conimicut Beach in Warwick.
At about 5:30 PM Sunday, the Warwick Sewer Authority discovered that sewage was overflowing into Buckeye Brook from a manhole near 910 Cedar Swamp Road due to a collapsed sewer line leading to the Cedar Swamp Pump Station. The sewer authority added chlorine for disinfection during the overflow, which ended at 10:30 PM after city crews set up temporary bypass pumping. The sewer authority estimates that around 300,000 gallons of sewage overflowed, and reports that a crew is repairing the sewer line today.
Status of this and any other emergency closures and of the CONDITIONALLY APPROVED areas of Upper Narragansett Bay, Greenwich Bay, Mount Hope Bay, or the Kickemuit River may be obtained by calling 401-222-2900 24 hours a day.
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