Buckeye Brook, one of Rhode Island's many freshwater streams,  originates deep in Warwick, flows across the airport property, through ragged woods and under busy roads, to empty into Narragansett Bay at Mill Cove.  Steve Insana, who grew up on the banks of the brook, says it represents a powerful force in the history of Rhode Island, and deserves special protection. The native Shawomet people used the brook for hunting, trapping, transportation, and a source of clean drinking water. Later, European settlers built one of the country's first tidal-powered mills at the mouth of the river. The annual spring herring runs attracted fishermen from miles around for generations.

For years, Insana and other neighbors of the brook have lobbied to protect it. In the 1970s, a landfill operated on its banks and leached toxic waste into the water. Runoff from the airport carries with it de-icing fluids, spilled fuel, grease, and oil from the tarmac. "Buckeye Brook was here before all of us and it's not replaceable," says Insana. "The entire Buckeye Brook system has become a wildlife refuge. The river otter has returned along with the turkey, white-tailed deer, and the fisher."

Insana is lobbying to have the brook designated a "Wild and Scenic River." This would help to give it extra protections under the law. "Given Buckeye Brook's history, the impact on native American and colonial culture, its importance as a wildlife refuge, and the fact that it is a free-flowing stream with no dams and a natural run of river herring, which is rare, it should be recognized," he says.

You can learn more about Buckeye Brook at a DEM public meeting, coming up next Thursday, October 2, at the Warwick Public Library, at 7 p.m. State officials will discuss the water quality issues and offer recommendations for restoring the brook and its tributaries.

For more details about the DEM meeting, click on "More..." For more info about local efforts to protect the brook, visit the Buckeye Brook Coalition Web site. For more background about the brook, click here for a Rhode Island Monthly story from a few years ago.

*_PUBLIC NOTICE_*

 RI Department of Environmental Management

        *Public Meeting*

*October 2, 2008 at 7:00 P.M.*

      * Room 100 at the Warwick Central Public Library, 600 Sandy Lane,

      Warwick, RI*

*SUBJECT: Water Quality Restoration of Buckeye Brook *

Warwick - The Department of Environmental Management will hold a public

meeting to discuss water quality findings and recommendations to restore

Buckeye Brook and its tributaries located in Warwick, RI.  The meeting

will be held on Thursday, October 2nd at 7:00 P.M. in Room 100 at the

Warwick Public Library, 600 Sandy Lane.  DEM representatives will

discuss the findings and recommended strategies contained in the draft

Pathogen Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for Buckeye Brook Watershed.

The water quality restoration study addresses pathogen related

impairments to Buckeye Brook, Lockwood Brook, Warner Brook, Parsonage

(Knowles) Brook, Old Mill Creek, and the tributaries to Warwick Pond

located north of Airport Road. These impairments affect both

recreational uses of the streams and shellfish harvesting in Old Mill

Creek estuary. TMDLs are mandated by the federal Clean Water Act and

establish the maximum pollutant load that a waterbody can assimilate and

still meet water quality standards.

DEM utilized data collected by volunteers working with URI Watershed

Watch Program as well as data collected by DEM staff from 2004 through

2006 to characterize water quality conditions of the watershed. The

study reports that nearly all segments of Buckeye Brook Watershed fail

to meet water quality standards for fecal coliform and for enterococci. 

Elevated pathogen concentrations were found in all sections of the

watershed with the highest concentrations originating in Knowles and

Lockwood Brooks.   Sources of pathogens include stormwater runoff,

waterfowl, failed or inadequately maintained septic systems, pets and

farm animals.

Additionally, DEM will be discussing the current field investigation

that is being conducted on Buckeye Brook to assess biodiversity

impairments.  This study includes dry and wet weather water quality

sampling and biodiversity assessments for selected stations on Buckeye

Brook and its tributaries including several sample sites in and around

T.F. Green Airport and Truk-Away Landfill located southeast of the airport.

DEM will present the draft Pathogen TMDL document to the public at the

October 2^nd meeting.  Interested parties will have until November 3,

2008 to provide written comments to DEM.  The entire TMDL document is

available online at:

http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/benviron/water/quality/rest/reports.htm

Copies of the TMDL are also available by contacting Skip Viator at DEM

at 222-4700 ext. 7608 or by e-mail at  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

<mailto: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it >.