During Sunday morning’s heavy rain storm, a circuit breaker failure at the Fall River Wastewater Treatment Facility on Bay Street caused an estimated 10 million gallons of partially treated and untreated sewage and stormwater to discharge into Mt. Hope Bay.
Mr. Ferland says all environmental regulatory authorities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island were promptly alerted of the discharge and they took action in regard to fishing in affected areas.
The city says the wastewater treatment facility did not sustain any damage as a result of the breaker failure and an electrical vendor will be on-site to inspect the breaker to ensure continued proper operation.
Mr. Ferland says the city will often have what are called combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharges when there are heavy rainstorms.
Mr. Ferland says because the city alerted parties in a timely matter as required under clean water statutes, and the discharge came via a permitted CSO, at this time he does not foresee the city being in violation or fined as a result of Sunday’s discharge.
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