Media Release

For Immediate Release
Date: July 12, 2006

MIDDLETOWN SEWER MAIN BREAK

UPDATES FROM 10:20 PM TUESDAY NIGHT AND 6:00 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING

Update: 10:20 PM July 11, 2006:
As of 10:20 p.m. Tuesday night, work continued on the Wave Avenue Force Main repair. The location of the break has been identified and crews remain on the scene. We anticipate that a section of the force main pipe will be removed and replaced with a new section. Work will continue through the night and should be completed by early morning unless unanticipated problems arise. The Town of Middletown continued to pump as much sewage as possible through the night.

Update: 6:00 AM July 12, 2006:
As of 6:00 a.m. today, work continues on the force main. Two areas were found to have leaks and as a result, the trench was extended to expose more pipe. There are 50 feet of replacement pipe on site and we expect that about 40 feet of it (consisting of two 20' sections) will be used. Due to the larger than expected length of the repair, work will continue for at least the next five or six hours. Town of Middletown crews remain on the scene and work continues to pump out as much sewage as possible before it reaches the sewer overflow at the pump station.

What to do if you live/work in the Middletown area:

The Department of Health (HEALTH) requests that Middletown residents continue to help the repair efforts by:

- Avoiding use of water unless absolutely necessary.
- Not doing laundry, not running the dishwasher, flushing the toilet only if absolutely necessary, abstaining from showering if at all possible.

Drinking water is safe.

Dinking water is safe. There is no need to boil water at this time.

Beach Closures:

Related to the sewer main break incident, Easton's Beach and the Atlantic Beach Club Beach remain closed until further notice.

Unrelated to this incident, City Park Beach, Goddard Memorial State Park Beach, Camp Fuller- YMCA Beach, Conimicut Point Beach, Gorton Pond Beach, and Oakland Beach are also closed to swimming due to high bacteria counts.

Officials will continue to monitor the water quality in all beach areas, and recommend re-opening when the areas are safe for swimming.

More updates will be sent out as new information becomes available.

The Department of Health Website is back online. www.health.ri.gov

The number for the beaches hotline is (401) 222-2751.