Water Quality

After pollution forced the closure of Greenwich Bay to shellfishing in 1992, the contaminated beds became a stark symbol of the fragility of the bay habitat. Although efforts to clean up some pollution sources allowed the bay to partially reopen, pollution still impairs water quality. Storm water runoff, leaking septic systems, and homes with sewage pipes illegally tied into storm drains introduce nutrients-nitrogen and phosphorus-and bacteria to the bay. The nutrients foster excessive growth of algae, which consumes oxygen from the water, making it difficult for certain bay species to survive. Meanwhile, the bacteria, which causes human illness, forces closures of shellfish beds and beaches alike.

Some early steps were taken by local government to stop pollution, such as sewage, from infiltrating the bay. Decades ago, East Greenwich and Warwick started sewering portions of the watershed. The East Greenwich Wastewater Treatment Facility, built on the banks of Greenwich Cove in 1929, has been renovated, updated, and rebuilt. Shortly, the plant will be able to use a new technology to treat wastewater more safely and cleanly. In addition, a municipal $6.5-million upgrade will implement third stage (“tertiary”) treatment to remove nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater. “We will have very, very strict discharge limits for nitrogen,” said Joseph Macari, facility superintendent. “I believe we will be the first facility in the state that both discharges to salt water and is going through this denitrification process.” Presently, the facility treats one-quarter of East Greenwich homes and businesses. Upcoming sewer installations will potentially double the town’s treatment capacity.

Warwick’s sewage issues are different from those of East Greenwich. In Warwick, some septic systems discharge to the bay, but the city’s wastewater treatment facility, constructed in the early 1960s, discharges to the Pawtuxet River, outside the Greenwich Bay watershed. Therefore, as more residences tie into the sewer system, sewage discharge to Greenwich Bay will decrease. With a $137.5 million dollar bond, the Warwick Sewer Authority (WSA) continues to install sewer lines in neighborhoods along the bay, including Oakland Beach and Chepiwanoxet and portions of Warwick Neck, Buttonwoods, and Apponaug. Sewer pipes are available to about 70 percent of Warwick homes and almost all industrial properties, although the hookup rate in many parts of the city remains below 40 percent. That percentage will increase once the WSA makes sewer connections mandatory and is developing a schedule to guide those hookups.

Government, scientists and businesses unite to clean bay

Immediately after the 1992 shellfish closure, an effort was created to highlight the importance of improving wastewater treatment and motivate community support for cleaning the bay. Spearheaded in great part by then-Warwick Mayor Lincoln D. Chafee, the 1993 Greenwich Bay Initiative proclaimed it would “Bring Back the bay” and brought together government, business, academic, and community programs committed to improving bay water quality. A cadre of projects studied the Greenwich Bay habitat, identified pollution sources and impacts, recommended potential solutions for restoring the environment, and addressed inadequate sewage disposal, storm water runoff and waste discharge from boats. The initiative played a significant role in convincing Warwick voters to support the bond issue for sewer projects.

As part of the initiative the R.I. Marine Trades Association helped develop a program that taught marina employees and boaters clean boating practices. The program helped establish 11 boat pumpout facilities on the bay and created best management practices to address storm water runoff, fuel station design, solid and fish waste disposal, chemical storage, petroleum control, and boat cleaning operations. RIMTA worked with RIDEM on a bill, passed in 1999, to prohibit boaters from discharging sewage into Rhode Island waters. The law also directed federal funds to a boat pumpout program, making Rhode Island the only state where boaters are required to dispose of waste at pumpout facilities. Still, the law relies on boaters largely to police themselves, an effort that tends to thin in busy summer months when lines for pumpout stations are long, and pumpout devices malfunction.

A research collaborative based at the University of Rhode Island (URI) gathered information about the impacts of pollution and storm water on the bay environment, with funding from the R.I. Aquafund Program, Warwick, and Rhode Island Sea Grant. To assist the communities, URI researchers advised the WSA on priority areas for sewering, and URI Cooperative Extension tested alternative septic systems for hard-to-sewer areas.

In 1996, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency praised the collaborative efforts for making progress toward “the goal … to open the shellfishing beds unconditionally and to ensure that a sustainable yield shellfish management plan is in place to protect the bay in the future."

For more information concerning water quality, visit the R.I. DEM website.