Excavator leaf of hydraulic liquid in Seekonk River, says Ridot, says Ridot

“The contractor has commissioned a cleaning company to tackle this spill at their costs,” he said.

The crews have been working on it for months abrupt closure in December 2023Due to a critical failure of some of the original components of the structure from the 1960s. The bridge that the Interstate takes over the Lake Constance River in 195 is the main connection for East Bay of Rhode Island and parts of Massachusetts to Providence and Points West.

Jed Thorp, director of Advocacy for Save the Bay, the non -profit organization that is dedicated to the protection of Narragansett Bay, said on Friday that the organization watched the employees on Thursday and saw “liquid on the surface of the river to India Point Park to the Henderson Bridge”.

Although Thorp found that even a small amount of hydraulic liquid could create a considerable shine on the water surface, “it had a lot of up and down the river,” he said.

According to St. Martin, the Coastal Resources Management Council and Department of Environmental Management of the State were contacted. No violations were made from Thursday, he wrote.

“The contractor had already used a cloudy curtain a few weeks ago to contain demolition carriers,” wrote St. Martin. “This curtain contained a large part of the liquid.”

In an explanation, Evan Lacross, a spokesman, said of the estimates that approximately a gallon liquid should be buried, “some of which are contained in an area of ​​the Seekonk flow that is contained by a cloudy boom”.

Lacross said it was “minimal environmental impacts”.

“This considers this as a small incident, and potential environmental impacts have been reduced and addressed,” said Lacross.

Thorp also said that the leak should not have long -term environmental effects on the waterway on Thursday.

But he has concerns about how the demolition project is treated, he said.

“We get that the bridge has to be torn down and they had to drive the project forward, but there are fundamental best management practices. I mean, you know, bridges are torn down and rebuilt all the time. We know how to make it safe, ”he said. “And our concern is that Ridot does not ensure that its contractors pursue all proper protective measures.”

As when St. Martin replied to Thorps and told The Globe in an e -mail: “Both Ridem and CRMC have confirmed that Ridot and the contractor take the necessary precautionary measures and protective measures.”

In an online update on March 7, the Ministry of Transport said that the work to demolish the substructure was further developed, and the officials awaited this week to remove “elements of the substructure on land” in the East Providence and Providence Sides of the River “.

“Demolition teams use building hammers to break the old bridge components,” the update said.

“The demolition of substructure elements above water is expected to begin in early spring,” the update said. “Ridot remains on schedule to complete the demolition of the substructure of the bridge by the end of the year.”

Further reporting on the closure of the Washington Bridge.

Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.