Tuesday, February 26, 2013
DEM to close area to shellfishing in Narragansett Bay.
The Department of Environmental Management announces that the Conimicut Triangle and Area A of Upper Narragansett Bay will be closed to shellfishing beginning at sunrise on Tuesday, Feb. 26. The closure is being enacted due to a period of inadequate disinfection at the Narragansett Bay Commission’s Bucklin Point Wastewater Treatment Facility located in East Providence, which resulted in the facility discharging effluent to the Seekonk River with elevated fecal coliform levels. The Bucklin Point Wastewater Treatment Facility is currently under construction to meet stricter effluent quality discharge limits. Facility staff is reviewing procedures to mitigate further impacts to treatment resulting from construction activities. DEM is …
Monday, February 25, 2013
DEM seeks to grant funds to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops grown in the Ocean State.
The Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is making $150,000 in farm viability grant funds available through to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops grown in Rhode Island, according to a press release. The funds are from the US Department of Agriculture's Specialty Crop Block Grant program. Specialty crops are defined by this federally-supported program as fruits and vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts, and nursery crops including floriculture and turf grass production. Grant awards will range from $10,000 to $50,000 with no direct match required. Funding will be provided in two stages, with 50 percent of the monies given up front and the remainder provided at the satisfactory completion of the project. The grants may be…
Friday, August 19, 2011
Today's event will feature cooking demonstrations and music, along with locally-grown produce, baked goods, and lobsters available for purchase.
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Friday, August 19, 2011
Get your fresh fish dockside today. The Department of Environmental Management's Division of Agriculture will hold a grand opening celebration at the Pier Nine Farmers Market in Newport on Friday, August 19, between 2 and 6 p.m. The Pier Nine Farmers Market, a collaborative effort with the Pier Nine Fishermen, is the newest farmers' market in the state and in a beautiful location at the edge of Newport Harbor. The event will feature a cooking demonstration by chefs from Kids First, who will show how to prepare the many vegetables and fruits grown on Rhode Island farms, cook up local favorites, and teach healthy cooking to market-goers, rain or shine. A Celtic band will play music to enhance the festive atmosphere at the Grand Opening event…
Friday, August 5, 2011
The Department of Environmental Management says shellfish harvesting may be conducted again in Mount Hope Bay and Kickemuit River starting at sunrise on Saturday, Aug. 6.
The waters of Mount Hope Bay and the Kickemuit River, which recently closed in response to the recent pump station failure in Fall River, will reopen to shellfish harvesting beginning at sunrise on Saturday. The Department of Environmental Management (DEM) decision to reopen these areas is based on test results from sampling done by the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries shellfish program this week in Mount Hope Bay and the Lees and Cole River area. On Aug. 3, DEM had announced the closure and scheduled the reopening of the conditionally approved areas of Mount Hope Bay and the Kickemuit River for sunrise on Aug. 11. With these bacteriological sampling results, DEM finds that the sanitary condition of these shellfishing waters have now …
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
The air quality warning has been issued for southern Rhode Island.
It's not summer in Rhode Island without an ozone alert day. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is predicting air quality will reach unhealthy levels Wednesday in the southern half of the state, according to a news release issued Tuesday. DEM predicts that conditions will be at their worst in the mid to late afternoon as a "very warm and very humid" air mass will be present at that time. Regular RIPTA bus services will be free Wednesday, according to the DEM announcement. The Department of Health warns these unhealthy levels of ozone can cause throat irritation, coughing, chest pain, shortness of breath, increased susceptibility to respiratory infection and aggravation of asthma/other respiratory ailments – all …
Saturday, July 2, 2011
The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management has a new Rhode Island State Parks mobile application for Apple and Google Android devices.
The Department of Environmental Management (DEM) announces the availability of an advanced Rhode Island State Parks mobile application for Apple and Google Android devices. Rhode Island’s state parks system is the first in the country to offer the Pocket Ranger Mobile Tour Guide, which was professionally created by ParksbyNature Network of New York in conjunction with DEM’s Division of Parks and Recreation. Users are given the option to download the free Lite version or the enhanced Pro GPS version of the app for the Apple iPhone and Android smartphones. Last fall, DEM made the Lite version of the mobile app available to parks users through the DEM Web site. This basic version allows visitors to find a state park by location or activity…
