For the tenth consecutive year, the Narragansett Bay Commission has been named on of Rhode Island’s Best Places to Work by the Providence Business News.

According to the PBN, “Each of the companies recognized for this year’s program were judged based on human resources policies and confidential surveys of employees put together by Best Companies Group.”

Companies will be recognized in a virtual ceremony held Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 4 p.m. and profiled in a special section to be included in the Oct. 2-8 print edition of PBN.

The NBC is one of 66 companies recognized for 2020.

The Narragansett Bay Commission (NBC), along with sixty-four other clean water utilities worldwide, has been recognized as a Utility of the Future (UOTF) for transformational initiatives in the clean water sector. The UOTF designation lauds utilities for recovering resources from wastewater, leading community engagement, forming unique partnerships, and building an internal culture of innovation.

The Utility of the Future Today program was launched in 2016 by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), the Water Environment Federation (WEF), the Water Research Foundation (WRF) and the WateReuse Association, with input from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The recognition celebrates the achievements of water utilities that transform from the traditional wastewater treatment system to a resource recovery center and leader in the overall sustainability and resilience of the communities they serve. The NBC has received UOTF designation twice since the award’s inception.

“The innovations coming to the water sector present an opportunity for a paradigm shift in the way utilities think about and solve long-standing challenges to clean and reliable water,” said Jackie Jarrell, WEF President. “WEF is excited to recognize the Narragansett Bay Commission for embracing innovative ways to better serve their communities.”

The UOTF lauded the NBC’s leadership in renewable energy, robust environmental monitoring program, excellence in water treatment and management, and commitment to community support.

“This agency has made great strides for Narragansett Bay and our urban rivers,” said NBC Chairman Vincent Mesolella. “Narragansett Bay is cleaner than it has been in 150 years. Our shellfishermen have access to thousands of additional acres of grounds. The NBC generates 80 percent of our own energy through renewable sources and we operate award-winning community and education programs. Thanks to an engaged and committed Board and a staff of environmental professionals, the NBC truly is embracing the future today.”

A virtual celebration will publicly honor all UOTF recipients on October 9.

The Narragansett Bay Commission (NBC) has launched a live on-line map that tracks the status of combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and dry weather overflows (DWOs) into the Providence, Moshassuck, Woonasquatucket, West, and Seekonk Rivers.

“Reliable infrastructure—including pipes, treatment plants, trained and committed staff—is critical for clean water,” said NBC Chairman Vincent Mesolella, “and so is information. This map offers the public an important tool to see what’s happening in our rivers.”

The map, on the NBC’s website at https://narrabay.com/csomap, uses a real-time web-based notification system to provide advanced monitoring and will show overflows as they occur and keep them visible for up to 48 hours. The development of this interactive tool was required by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and is based on efforts in other states and wastewater jurisdictions to notify the public of sewage overflows. The NBC map is the first of its kind in Rhode Island.

CSOs are the legacy of an historic sewer system. In the late 1800s, most larger cities across the nation built sewer systems to carry rain water and sewage in the same pipe. This is called a combined sewer. During dry weather conditions, the sewer system typically works very well. But, during heavy rainstorms, these combined flows can exceed the capacity of the sewer system and overflow into local rivers and Narragansett Bay. This is a combined sewer overflow, or CSO. CSOs violate the Federal Clean Water Act.

The NBC embarked on a three-phase project in 2001 to construct deep rock storage tunnels to temporarily store the flow from these CSOs during the storm and then transport it to the wastewater treatment facility when the storm ends. Phases I & II of NBC’s Comprehensive CSO Project have eliminated approximately 60% of CSOs to upper Narragansett Bay, at the rate of 1.1 billion gallons of combined sewage per year. Phase III, which begins construction in 2021, will eliminate another 38% resulting in an 80% reduction in shellfish bed closures, fewer bathing beach closures and a cleaner healthier Bay for all Rhode Islanders.

Development of the map included input from several stakeholder groups including the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council, Save the Bay, and the Community Boating Center. “The Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council (WRWC) has been a long-time partner with the NBC to make the Woonasquatucket cleaner,” commented Alicia Lehrer, Executive Director of the WRWC. “We share a long-term vision of making the Woonasquatucket swimmable and fishable for all. We are so excited about NBC’s real-time CSO map so we can all watch together as the river improves and know when we need to be cautious.”

“Through the efforts of DEM, NBC and many partners, we have made incredible progress in cleaning up Rhode Island’s waters,” said DEM Director Janet Coit. “Today our bays, rivers, and coastal waters are cleaner and healthier, supporting our economy and increasing shellfishing and recreational opportunities. Kudos to NBC for implementing this new alert tool and for their investments in sewer system operations, maintenance, and monitoring.“

“I’m very proud of the work the NBC team, in conjunction with DEM and our stakeholders, to bring this project to fruition,” Mesolella added. “It speaks to the high quality and reliability of the NBC’s flow monitoring program and enables more Rhode Islanders to safely experience and enjoy our rivers and bay, which is of course the goal we’re all striving for.”

The website also provides information about the NBC sewer system, the possible causes of sewer overflows, and general language about recreation and contact with urban rivers

The Narragansett Bay Commission (NBC) has selected Kimberly Heon, a second-grade teacher at Agnes Little Elementary School, as its 2020-2021 NBC Watershed Explorer Environmental Educator of the Year. The NBC’s Watershed Explorers program provides hands-on water quality education to students in grades 2-5 and has won numerous national awards for excellence.

Heon, a thirty-year veteran of the Pawtucket system, has participated in the NBC’s Watershed Explorer program for over fifteen years, engaging her students in hands-on water quality science and weaving important environmental lessons into other parts of her curriculum to reinforce her students’ knowledge of key environmental science concepts.

NBC Environmental Education Coordinator Cynthia Morissette presented Heon with inaugural award during Teacher Appreciation Week. “I am extremely proud to present the first NBC Watershed Explorer Educator of the Year Award to Mrs. Heon,” Morissette said. “She is an exceptional educator who works tirelessly to create the most comprehensive educational experiences for her students. Her compassion and dedication, ensuring that all students love learning is what makes her so special.”

Over the last year, even with all the difficulties and challenges of distance learning, Heon continued to support the Watershed Explorer Program. Her students’ involvement with NBC remained strong through virtual lessons, conducting water testing, building models of a watershed, learning about macroinvertebrates, and creating informational posters about a variety of water-dependent critters.

“I am a proud graduate of Pawtucket Schools- attending Baldwin Elementary, Slater Junior High School and Shea Senior High School,” remarked Heon. The University of Rhode Island graduate says her favorite subject to teach is Science, and over the past year she and her students have virtually followed the progress of a Robin family, from nest-making to fledgling and completed a virtual dissection of  owl pellets in conjunction with the Audubon Society.

“Mrs. Heon is a shining example of what every educator should strive to be,” said Morissette as she delivered the award.