PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Department of Environmental Management has announced a public meeting to discuss study findings and recommended strategies for restoring water quality in the Woonasquatucket River.
The meeting is set for Thursday, Jan. 4, at 5:30 p.m., in Room 300 at DEM Headquarters, 235 Promenade St., Providence. Attendees may park in the visitor parking area on Promenade Street and enter the building via the side door at 3 Holden St., across from the parking lot.
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The DEM said its Office of Water Resources has completed a water-quality restoration study, known as a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), to address the river’s contamination with bacteria and dissolved metals.
The study included data from water-quality testing in both wet weather and dry throughout the Woonasquatucket’s 52-square-mile watershed, in Smithfield, North Smithfield, Johnston, North Providence and Providence; the river flows through Waterplace Park before discharging into the Providence River and Narragansett Bay.
Mandated by the federal Clean Water Act, TMDLs establish the maximum pollutant load that a body of water can assimilate and still meet water-quality standards.
The TMDL shows that most of the river consistently fails to meet water-quality standards for fecal coliform bacteria, and various portions of the river showed levels of dissolved metals such as copper, lead and zinc that exceeded water-quality criteria for the protection of aquatic life. It also outlines a watershed-wide pollutant-reduction strategy, targeting both point and nonpoint sources of pollution, for restoring the river’s water quality.
The department said it has spent several years conducting field investigations and analyzing pollution-source databases and land-use information, to identify pollution sources and determine what abatement activities might be necessary. The elevated bacteria counts can be traced to tributaries, storm water outfalls and both dry- and wet-weather combined sewage overflow (CSO) discharges, the DEM said, while sources of dissolved copper, lead and zinc include the Smithfield Wastewater Treatment Facility, storm water runoff and CSOs.
The TDML’s findings have also been used to develop revisions to the R.I. Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit for the Smithfield wastewater facility, the DEM said.
The public comment periods for those draft permit revisions and for the TMDL will both run from Jan. 4 through Feb. 5, to make it easier for interested parties to review and comment on both documents, the DEM said.
The draft water-quality restoration study will be unveiled at the Thursday meeting, where copies of the draft document’s executive summary will be available.
The entire TMDL for the Woonasquatucket River and its watershed will be available at www.dem.ri.gov, by clicking on “Topics,” then “Water Quality,” then clicking on “Restoration Studies.” Copies may also be obtained by contacting the DEM’s Brian Zalewsky at 222-4700, ext. 7145, or brian.zalewski@dem.ri.gov.
(A public hearing on the draft RIPDES permit for the Smithfield Wastewater Treatment Facility has been set for Thursday, Feb. 1, at 5 p.m., in Room 280 of the DEM Headquarters. The draft permit, fact sheet, and a copy of the public notice are available at the DEM’s Web site www.dem.ri.gov by clicking on “Topics,” then “Water Quality,” and then on “RIPDES.” Or they may be obtained by contacting the DEM’s Samuel Kaplan at 222-4700, ext. 7046, or samuel.kaplan@dem.ri.gov.)
