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ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNAL - Groups Urge Tougher Standards for Sewage Treatment

Posted on: Tuesday, 2 August 2005, 18:00 CDT

Two state environmental groups are pressing the state Department of Environmental Management to demand that some of the state's biggest sewage treatment plants do more to remove nitrogen from their effluent.

The Conservation Law Foundation is appealing for the DEM to set even tougher restrictions than it recently imposed on the Woonsocket and East Providence sewage plants and the Fields Point and Bucklin Point plants operated by the Narragansett Bay Commission.

"Throughout the country, sewage facilities are meeting water quality standards using demonstrated technologies that achieve higher levels of nitrogen removal," said Christopher D'Ovidio, the foundation's staff attorney. "RI DEM should require these facilities to do the same."

Save the Bay is urging the operators of the four plants to engage in "substantive discussions" with the DEM to implement the new standards as quickly as possible.

All four plants have appealed the new standards.

The Bay Commission, whose Fields Point plant is the largest in Rhode Island and the second largest in New England, says it has already done a lot to reduce nitrogen outputs.

But bay commission Director Paul Pinault said the commission doesn't want to do more until the state has done more research and set a "total maximum daily load" as required by federal clean water laws.

Without the additional research, Pinault said, there is neither a clear, scientific justification for the new restrictions nor a definite schedule or endpoint.

Also, while nitrogen is linked to the algae growth that causes low oxygen conditions in the Bay, Pinault warned that nitrogen also is important for the growth of desirable fish life in the Bay, so dramatic reductions could harm fisheries.

"We are reluctant to burden our ratepayers with additional increases without firm justification and investigation of the best solutions for this regional issue," Pinault wrote earlier this year.

In response to the fish kill in Greenwich Bay two summers ago, the General Assembly passed legislation requiring 50-percent cutbacks in nitrogen outputs by state sewage treatment plants by 2008.

The Conservation Law Foundation noted that the DEM's own reports say lower limits are technologically feasible to meet water quality standards, so they should be imposed.

D'Ovidio also said the foundation wants to be at the table as the plant operators negotiate new limits and timetables for complying.

"We want to be sure any consent decree doesn't lessen limits," D'Ovidio said. "If we want to restore the health of our rivers and the Bay, we should take the most aggressive steps in reducing these pollutants.

Save the Bay Director Curt Spalding said that excessive sea lettuce growth this summer has already begun "choking upper Bay beaches with green, rotting vegetation."

"Our hope is that the negotiations between the plant operators and DEM lead quickly to a consent decree, because with every passing day that efforts to reduce Bay nitrogen are put on hold, the Bay's health remains at risk."

Save the Bay also plans to intervene in the permit process.

Workshops offer tick-protection tips

The University of Rhode Island's Office of Community Tick Control is offering two workshops to help people rid their yards of ticks and to better protect families.

The workshops are from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Exeter Public Library and 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Village at Indian Lake at 141 Tablerock Rd. in South Kingstown.

The workshops are offered as part of the "Do You Hate Ticks as Much as We Do?" outreach program and are free to the public. Experts will talk about getting rid of ticks, and venders will be there with tick-control products.

For more information call (401) 874-2928.

Forestry group plans woods walk

A two-acre clearcut will be the focus of a woods walk starting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday with the Rhode Island Forest Conservator's Organization.

The walk will take place rain or shine at the organization's 10- acre demonstration woodlot on Howard Hill Road, at the end of Brigg's Road off Route 102 in Foster.

According to Milt Schumacher, president of the forestry organization, "The establishment of the clearcut is part of our overall forestry and wildlife-management program guided by a Forest Stewardship Plan developed for the demonstration woodlot."

The clearcut provides a brushy area that benefits certain types of wildlife and will help establish a new generation of oak sprouts. The site was established with assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program. The program encourages landowners to enhance wildlife habitats in a variety of ways.

For more information about the walk, call (401) 568-3421.

New map shows Big River trails

If recent news stories about efforts by the state police to use a tiny slice of the Big River Management Area for its new headquarters building have you wondering what exactly is in this 8,600-acre swatch of open space in West Greenwich and Coventry, Cliff Vanover has some answers.

Vanover, through Great Swamp Press in Carolina, has just published a topographic map of hiking trails and old roads within the management area.

Vanover said he literally walked each trail himself and marked the pathways with a global-position device. He imposed the pathways onto maps made with reference to U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps and various local maps and maps on the Rhode Island Geographic Information System.

The map, printed on waterproof paper that folds to pocket size, includes a larger scale image of Carr Pond and the surrounding trails and wetlands.

It is selling for $9.95 at various outdoor stores around the state.

Vanover, of Charlestown, has previously published a trail book for the North South Trail along the Connecticut border, and individual maps of the Arcadia Management Area, South County bikeways, Long and Ell Ponds, Pachaug State Forest and Carolina/ Burlingame.

The Environmental Journal is a listing of brief news items about the actions of individuals, organizations and businesses that affect the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the landscape that surrounds us. If you have comments or suggestions, please contact environment reporter Peter B. Lord at (401) 277-8036, by e-mail at plord@projo.com, or by writing him, care of The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI 02902.

Source: Providence Journal

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