Fall River Wastewater Spill Closes Shellfishing Areas

Environmental officials say an estimated 600,000 gallons of non-disinfected wastewater was discharged from a Fall River treatment facility into Mount Hope Bay.

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management says a pump that feeds bleach to the wastewater on the last step of the process failed for about an hour earlier this week.

The fluid had gone through 99 percent of the process.

The spill subsequently closed areas of Mount Hope Bay and the Kickemuit River to shellfishing.

The Herald News reports that technicians were able to reboot the computer system to restart the pumps.

The agency says it plans to reopen the conditionally approved areas of Mount Hope Bay and the Kickemuit River to shellfishing at sunrise next Thursday.