Point Judith Pond Partially Closed To Shellfishing Following Rain

NARRAGANSETT, RI — Two areas of Point Judith Pond in Narragansett were closed to shellfishing as of 12 p.m. on Tuesday, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management announced. The waters will reopen at 12 p.m. on Jan. 7.

The closure comes after 1.4 inches of rain fell in the area on Sunday night and all day Monday. Water samples collected after previous rainstorms indicate that bacteria levels will be at unsafe levels, the department said. '

Two areas of the pond are closed. The first includes all waters of Point Judith Pond and Wheatfield Cove north of a line drawn from a light pole at Turner Point, or Senior Hill, on Camp Fuller Road at the western shore of the pond to the extension of the CRMC R.O.W. C-12 near the intersection of Isle Point Rd. and Cedar Island Road on Harbour Island in Narragansett and south of line from the DEM range marker located in Smelt Brook Cove to the DEM range marker located at the northwest tip of Pine Tree Point, the department said.

The second area covers Point Judith Pond east of Ram Island, south and east of a line from the extension of Flintstone Road on Harbour Island in Narragansett that follows the old submerged road to Ram Island and south of a line from the northern most corner of the rip-rap bulkhead at the Briggs Farm Improvement Assoc. parking lot to the northeast landward end of CRMC dock # 1690 on the opposite shore and north of a line from the most southeast point of Ram Island to the end of Indian Rock Farm Road at the northern tip of Locke Point in Narragansett including Walcott Cove, the department continued.

More information about closures is available on the DEM's interactive shellfishing closure map, along with the 24-hour shellfishing hotline at 401-222-2900, which provides information about emergency and conditional closures.