A major win for Narragansett Bay occurred Monday night in Warwick.
On Monday, December 9, the Warwick City Council voted 6-2, in the second of two required votes, to authorize the City to borrow $56 million to extend sewer lines, upgrade the Warwick wastewater treatment plant, and construct a protective berm to protect the plant from flooding.
The seeds of this major victory were sewn in 2006, when Save The Bay succeeded in securing the passage of a statewide law requiring property owners with cesspools, which have been outlawed since the 1960s, and living within 200 feet of the Bay to tie into sewer mains or replace them with advanced on-site septic systems by the end of 2012 (subsequently delayed by the Legislature to 2014).
Negative publicity related to repeated and persistent beach closures, and the statewide cesspool phase-out law forced the City to confront this challenge at long last this summer.
The City Council, Mayor Scott Avedesian’s administration, and the Warwick Sewer Authority all deserve praise for pushing ahead with a funding solution for a serious pollution problem decades in the making. While much work remains to be done to complete the necessary improvements, this City Council vote ensures the financial resources to move forward.
This success story, like so many of the water quality issues we confront today, highlights the extraordinary complexity of protecting the Bay, as well as the fish, shellfish, birds and marine mammals who call it home.
Today is one of those days we can celebrate.
