Contractor failed to obtain clearance prior to commencement of works.
The demolition company whose work at an old mill site was blamed for causing a major sewage spill into the Blackstone River in Rhode Island last week did not have an active “Dig Safe” clearance for the job, as required by state law, city officials say.
A notice alleging a violation by Coventry Building & Wrecking was sent to the state Division of Public Utilities and Carriers Tuesday, said Michael Debroisse, the city’s solid waste superintendent.
Debroisse said the company was doing demolition work at the defunct Seville Dyeing Company when a piece of excavation equipment ruptured an underground sewer pipe Friday afternoon. At the time, the company was razing what was left of the long-vacant textile plant, heavily damaged in an arson fire on Feb. 27.
Up to 920,000 gallons of partially treated sewage may have poured into the Blackstone before a neighbor noticed the spill and it was contained, more than two days later, the state Department of Environmental Management says.
Any company or individual planning to do excavation work is required by law to notify the Woburn, Mass.-based Dig Safe System, Inc. in advance. Dig Safe uses the information to notify utility operators of the impending work, to give them a chance to mark the location of fixtures in the construction zone.
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