Narragansett Bay Clean Water Project: Ground Broken In Pawtucket

PAWTUCKET, RI —Friday marked a historic day in a years-long effort to clean the waters of Narragansett Bay and the rivers that feed it.

Dignitaries joined the Narragansett Bay Commission to break ground on the Pawtucket Tunnel — a 2.2 mile underground conduit that will gather wastewater and stormwater from Pawtucket and Central Falls. It will store the polluted water and feed it into the Bucklin Point Wastewater Treatment Plant in East Providence. The treated water will then be discharged.

Live in Pawtucket? Click here to subscribe to breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox and mobile devices. You can also download our Patch mobile app on Android or iPhone.

A who's who of environmental advocates and government officials gathered under a large white tent at a construction site on School Street near the treatment plant. U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin, Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien, Central Falls Mayor Maria Rivera, and East Providence Mayor Bob DaSilva delivered remarks, while NBC chairman Vincent Mesolella served as master of ceremonies.

Janet Coit, director of the R.I. Department of Environmental Management, made what will likely be her last public appearance in the Ocean State before heading to Washington D.C. to take a job in the Biden administration.

"I couldn't have scripted a better way to close out my ten-and-a-half years serving the people of Rhode Island," Coit said. She said it has been gratifying to help clean up Narragansett Bay. She noted that the lower Providence River was opened to quahogging this year for the first time in 75 years. Coit thanked everyone, including the construction crews doing "dirty and dangerous work" to build the infrastructure.

Mesolella said before Phases I and II of the project, that 2 billion gallons of combined stormwater and raw sewage would enter the bay, and that at one point, the US EPA was levying fines in the amount of $25,000 per day. Phase I was completed in 2008. He said that Phase III will dramatically reduce remaining pollution.

Langevin and Whitehouse both said the project will support jobs, economic development, and the environment.

"The Narragansett Bay is the sparkling center of our state and vitally important to our economy," Whitehouse said.

"You can't be from Rhode Island without being pro-environment," said Langevin. "To quote Joe Biden, 'This is a big deal.'"

The deep rock tunnel is the centerpiece of Phase III of the NBC’s Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Project, a multi-year project to protect the Seekonk and Blackstone rivers from sewer overflow events. Such events typically happen during periods of heavy rain when wastewater treatment plants overflow. The overflows have polluted the Narragansett Bay for decades.

The tunnel itself is expected to take five years to complete, and boring is scheduled to begin in about two years. The tunnel will run along the east side of the river. Nine properties will be demolished to make way for the project, officials said.

The NBC's wastewater treatment plant at Bucklin Point

The NBC manages Rhode Island’s largest wastewater treatment operation.

On a bright note for Pawtucket and East Providence, Mesolella — the Narragansett Bay Commission chairman — said a public park will be built near Bucklin Point when project construction is completed.