The Pendulum, East Greenwich, RI
BY HEIDI SWEENEY 08/28/2003
The day following one of the worst environmental disasters to happen in Greenwich Bay in more than 50 years, East Greenwich town officials were at the scene.
When one million juvenile menhaden, or bait fish washed ashore Wednesday in Warwick, primarily Apponaug Cove and Greenwich Cove, East Greenwich Town Manager William Sequino grew concerned, gathering a handful of officials to assess the situation.
"Every time there is something to do with the cove or the bay, people think the wastewater treatment plant is responsible," said Sequino.
The misconception amongst those in the community, he said, is that sludge is being discharged from the East Greenwich Wastewater Treatment Plant on Crompton Avenue.
"That absolutely does not happen," said Sequino.
Harbor Master Jim Cullen, Public Works Director Joseph Duarte and Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent Joseph Macari joined Sequino, Thursday when the group examined the bay, ensuring nothing had run awry at the plant.
The town officials observed the approximate 1.3 miles of the East Greenwich shoreline, and continued past Long Point just 1.5 miles to the site of the catastrophe.
Heavy rain this season is to blame for the nutrients that flooded into the bay, from sources such as lawn fertilizer, pet feces, leaky septic systems and wastewater treatment plants. Once in the water the nutrients provided an abundant food source to the algae blooms, which reproduce at a rapid pace and subsequently produce oxygen.
However, once the nutrients are depleted, the algae blooms have lose their food source and start to die and decay. As the bodies decomposed, oxygen was sucked from the water and the fish were killed.
This week, oxygen levels in the cove remained at a record low.
"There is zero oxygen in the water down to significant depths," said Spokesperson for Save the Bay John Martin.
The shoreline of Greenwich Bay in Warwick held over a million lifeless silvery fish, causing a stench that would drift a 1.5 miles to Greenwich Cove and the town's bustling waterfront.
"We are disheartened to see all this massive kill that we've never seen before," said Martin of Save the Bay, which was founded in 1970.
The tragedy in the bay has to be looked at in a sense, said Martin, that it grabbed attention for the environment.
"It effects people's lifestyles, it effects tourism and it effects the fishing industry," said Martin. "There is an economic aspect. The bay is out of balance and most of the problems are manmade."
In the works for Greenwich Bay's 5.5 miles stretch is a Special Area Management Plan (SAMP), being devised with the involvement of state agencies and municipalities from East Greenwich and Warwick, advocacy groups such as Defenders of Greenwich Bay and industry organizations such as the Rhode Island Shellfishermen's Association.
The SAMP will recommend policies and actions that local governments can use to protect the complex watershed of the bay.
Sue Kennedy spokesperson with the Rhode Island Sea Grant/University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center has been involved in shaping the plan for the past year and expects it to be officially adopted by the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) in the spring of 2004.
East Greenwich said Kennedy has been at the "cutting edge" in terms of wastewater treatment."
Since 1995, East Greenwich has offered sewer hook-up to 888 residences, with 333 connecting. In June, the town installed an ultra violet system at the East Greenwich Wastewater Treatment Plant, making it the first municipal facility with the state-of-the-art technology.
The $510,000 system cleans bacteria out of the water using ultraviolet light instead of chemicals.
Upgrades to the facility will continue with a denitrification system providing additional nutrient removal. The final design has been received by DEM and is pending Department review and approval. Construction of the $6.5 million project is expected to begin next year, with an anticipated two-year completion date.
"They are right on schedule," said Gail Mastrati, a DEM spokesperson, who noted numerous issues contributed to last week's disaster and the town of East Greenwich has not at all been negligent.
Sequino pointed out that though leaky septic systems are cited as one contributor to the nutrient discharge, East Greenwich's water front neighborhoods, themselves, are "just about at 100 percent" sewer hook-up.
"The cove is a small body, you can ride up and down the street and see manholes everywhere," he said, which indicate sewer lines.
Kennedy referred to the SAMP as a crucial step to the ten years of work already accomplished by the agencies.
"The fish kill, last week, showed there is a great amount of work to be done," she said. "The next step is what the next generation can do as a watershed community, not just from a municipality standpoint, to improve water quality."
Once established and adopted by the CRMC the Greenwich Bay SAMP will have regulatory status and its conditions will be enforceable. For that reason a Greenwich Bay SAMP is Citizens Advisory Committee will soon enable community organizations to contribute to its review process, while a technical committee is reviewing the SAMP's draft chapters.
Community involvement is significant, said Kennedy, because the policies and recommendations in the SAMP are going to have CRMC standing and should be those that people want to follow.
One aspect, many officials would like to see in the Greenwich Bay SAMP is making tying into sewer lines mandatory and perhaps offering homeowners incentives to the financial barrier, estimated at $1,200 per tie-in.
"It's a real problem if you have a leaky roof and a leaky septic system...it's out of sight, out of mind," said Martin.
Individuals, who know their septic systems are outdated and believe the problem does not effect the bay, are mistaken.
Last Wednesday, said Martin, was a an example of the "strife and the stress caused by these nutrients that run off into the bay."
On Monday, Governor Donald L. Carcieri met with representatives from both the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and Save the Bay to address the cause of the fish kill, as well as to discuss preventative measures for the future.
Upon conclusion of the meeting, the governor asked DEM Director Jan Reitsma to investigate the incident and submit a report within 10 days.
Upon receiving the report, a team comprised of scientists will be formed to identify and provide any actions that could take place to address any problems seen in the bay.
"The incident [fish kill] highlights why we must continue to be aggressive in our efforts to clean up Narragansett Bay. While we've suffered problems with oxygen levels and fish kills for years, [the incident] dramatically demonstrates the importance of developing a comprehensive plan to this problem," said Carcieri.
People are under the impression that runoff from leaky septic systems, highways, roadways and lawn fertilizers will eventually flush into the bay.
Martin said the fish kill emphasizes that it does not always happen effectively, leaving the bay out of balance.
"This is more than a stretch of bad weather. We are not doing enough to make it better and this is what happens when the bay can't cope," said Martin.
Anyone interested in joining the Greenwich Bay SAMP Citizens Advisory Committee can call Sue Kennedy at 874-6107.