Curing Narragansett Bay's Pollution Problems

Dissolved oxygen problems on Narragansett Bay prompted the Rhode Island legislature to require sewage plants to remove half the nitrogen they currently dump into the bay as part of their wastewater. Fifty percent is not quite as difficult as the 58.5 percent reduction that treatment plants on Long Island Sound are responsible for, but it’s a big deal nonetheless.

Curt Spalding, executive director of Save the Bay, explains why it’s needed and also says that four treatment plant operators have appealed the new limits.

Filing permit appeals can be a step toward finalizing the consent agreements and settling details of timing and technical requirements. Or appeals can mark the beginning of a fight over limits, which indefinitely prolongs the status quo.

A legal fight over the limits would be a disaster for Narragansett Bay.

Read what he has to say in the Providence Journal.