WOONSOCKET – The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management has advised the city to evaluate and provide a schedule to install a portable gravity thickener at the city’s waste treatment plant until the permanent gravity thickener is repaired, which is expected to take about a year.
RIDEM spokesperson Michael Healey said the city and its contractors, Jacobs and Synagro Technologies Inc., are working to address the “elevated solids issue” through various measures, including the use of a filter and limiting the amount of biosolids being processed at the Synagro incinerator, which discharges into the Woonsocket Wastewater Plant.
The Breeze previously reported on the city’s possible break from Synagro as the company has struggled to perform its operations.
During a special meeting on Monday, Public Works Director Steve D’Agostino informed the local General Assembly delegation that the city will be making a decision soon on where to go next with the company. Synagro has not been accepting sludge for about week as the parties assess potential upgrades needed for the facility to continue to operate. D’Agostino said that in his opinion, Woonsocket should not be paying for any upgrades that the plant could need.
“We’re getting calls from plants that are critical, they need to remove their sludge, because there’s nowhere to go, because the closest place is Jersey, Midwest, Canada,” said D’Agostino.
During a City Council meeting later Monday, D’Agostino invited Anthony Turchetta and Anthony Rose of Jacobs to speak about facility operations and to back up his claims that a leak into the Blackstone River last week was due to Synagro’s inability to process solids and had nothing to do with the maintenance of the gravity thickener.
“In normal circumstances, our facility can run efficiently,” said Turchetta. He said Jacobs has been conducting multiple tests throughout the day.
The RIDEM said in its statement Tuesday that they thought they’d be able to lift the no-contact advisory on the Blackstone River, but the Woonsocket wastewater treatment plant had another washout Tuesday with some partly treated sewage being discharged.
“A hiccup on that side (Synagro) creates a hiccup on ours,” said Carl Stone, wastewater process specialist at Weston and Sampson, who was also invited to speak Monday by D’Agostino. Stone added that steps can be taken to limit the smells from the plant going forward, but he has a hard time believing they can be eliminated.
During Monday’s meeting, Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt said that it is important for the delegation to be aware of the situation due to how many Rhode Island communities benefit from the wastewater facility.
“Because otherwise they’re going to hear that they have nowhere to take their sludge,” she said. She added that it is important that no one points fingers.
“We’re here, and we need to solve it, and along those lines, there’s already misinformation out there, because a lot of us didn’t even really understand a lot of the workings, and we still don’t,” she said.
And in the meantime, 8.5 million gallons of literal feces and urine is flowing downstream. The DEM has not fined Woonsocket, Jacobs, or Synagro, so why fix the problem?
This is an absolute disgrace.
Like living in a third world country.
Maybe when we have a cholera outbreak, something will be done.
The Governor, the DEM, Woonsocket are all culpable.
As reported in today’s GoLocal, Michael Healey from RI DEM said “We are directing the city and its contractors to fix the plant’s gravity belt thickener, which is causing the current upset.”
Yet, D’Agostino invited Anthony Turchetta and Anthony Rose of Jacobs to speak about facility operations and to back up his claims that a leak into the Blackstone River last week was due to Synagro’s inability to process solids and had nothing to do with the maintenance of the gravity thickener.
This is a prime example of the disinformation that the Mayor and her team regularly put out.
It is indeed the failure of the gravity thickener that is at the root of the problem.
As reported in today’s GoLocal, Michael Healey from RI DEM said “We are directing the city and its contractors to fix the plant’s gravity belt thickener, which is causing the current upset.”
Last Wednesday, Healey is an email to GoLocal admitted that these incidents have not been managed well.
“The City of Woonsocket and the vendor that operates its wastewater treatment plant, Jacobs, need to get their act together. And as the regulator, DEM does too. Once the most polluted river in America, the Blackstone has seen radical improvements in water quality since the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972,” said Michael Healey, spokesperson for DEM to GoLocal.
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(9) comments
I have not read any comments from a Synagro spokesperson in any of the articles on this issue.
I am curious if they have been contacted for comment?
Wow, that's a first. The mayor saying she doesn't understand what's going on!
She's been busy doing photo ops
I'm sure she know now ! It's all over the news ! WTG Mayor !
Just another skidmark on the under pants of Woonsocket!
And in the meantime, 8.5 million gallons of literal feces and urine is flowing downstream. The DEM has not fined Woonsocket, Jacobs, or Synagro, so why fix the problem?
This is an absolute disgrace.
Like living in a third world country.
Maybe when we have a cholera outbreak, something will be done.
The Governor, the DEM, Woonsocket are all culpable.
As reported in today’s GoLocal, Michael Healey from RI DEM said “We are directing the city and its contractors to fix the plant’s gravity belt thickener, which is causing the current upset.”
Yet, D’Agostino invited Anthony Turchetta and Anthony Rose of Jacobs to speak about facility operations and to back up his claims that a leak into the Blackstone River last week was due to Synagro’s inability to process solids and had nothing to do with the maintenance of the gravity thickener.
This is a prime example of the disinformation that the Mayor and her team regularly put out.
It is indeed the failure of the gravity thickener that is at the root of the problem.
As reported in today’s GoLocal, Michael Healey from RI DEM said “We are directing the city and its contractors to fix the plant’s gravity belt thickener, which is causing the current upset.”
Yes, and the article on GoLocal also says:
Last Wednesday, Healey is an email to GoLocal admitted that these incidents have not been managed well.
“The City of Woonsocket and the vendor that operates its wastewater treatment plant, Jacobs, need to get their act together. And as the regulator, DEM does too. Once the most polluted river in America, the Blackstone has seen radical improvements in water quality since the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972,” said Michael Healey, spokesperson for DEM to GoLocal.
DEM I get but could you explain how our current Governor deserves blame for a decades old problem?
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over time through a clearly coordinated campaign. If you believe the backstory really needs to be shared,
send us a letter to the editor or a story pitch with your name and contact information.
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