Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

PROVIDENCE -- State officials this afternoon will celebrate the completion of the first phase of the $359 million combined sewer overflow (CSO) project.

The project is dedicated to former Gov. J. Joseph Garrahy, who created the task force on Narragansett Bay pollution that in 1980 resulted in the birth of the Narragansett Bay Commission.

The state agency took over the Fields Point plant after the City of Providence had allowed it to fall into such disrepair that it polluted the Bay every day.

The city's CSO problems began more than 100 years ago, when city officials chose to combine the city's storm water sewer lines with their new sanitary sewer lines.

The new system will reduce litter in the Bay. Over time, state officials hope the CSO will allow shellfishing beds to remain open longer.

The CSO system is designed to capture all the water in a rainstorm of up to 1½ inches, so shellfish beds should be hit with far fewer closures. DEM officials say it will take months of testing to see how successfully the CSO cleans up the Bay.

-- With archival reports

 Tags  CSO Narragansett Bay Providence RI

Leave a comment

Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish.

Name:

Email:

URL:  

Remember personal info?

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.