Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

PROVIDENCE -- The heavy rains of during the last two days gave the Narragansett Bay Commission its first opportunity to put its newly completed, $359 million combined sewer overflow project to work gathering contaminated runoff from the city's sewers. The conclusion: it worked!

From the time the sewer line gates were opened late Wednesday night, some 39 million gallons of contaminated overflows were collected in the new, 3-mile tunnel under downtown Providence. No contaminated sewage was allowed to overflow into the city's rivers or Narragansett Bay, according to the commission.

During the day today, a battery of massive pumps transferred the overflows from the pipe, 300 feet underground, to the Fields Point Sewage Treatment Facility, where it is receiving full secondary treatment.

"It caught everything, which was great. Everything got full treatment all around," Bay Commission spokesperson Jamie Samons said.

Nearly an inch of rain (.83") fell on Providence during the storm, according to the National Weather Service. Following its protocols, the state Department of Environmental Management closed much of the upper Bay to shellfishing until Nov. 15. DEM officials say it will take some time to assess the effectiveness of the new CSO, so it can reduce the number of closures following rains.

-- Peter B. Lord, environmental writer, Providence Journal

Watch the video: Phase I complete: Combined Sewage Overflow project

 Tags  CSO Providence tunnel

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