New England Grassroots Environment Fund

Group Resources

Caring for Your Septic System Brochure
2004 Action Plan
Watershed Action Plan

Group Details

The Kickemuit River is one of four rivers flowing into Mount Hope Bay, the northeastern corner of Narragansett Bay. The Kickemuit River Council (KRC) is an all volunteer representative organization founded in 1973, dedicated to the preservation, protection, and improvement of the river and was recognized by the Rivers Council in 2001. Council membership represents approximately 350 families and 10 organizations or neighborhoods. Major issues for the council continue to be air and water pollution from the Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset, Massachusetts; a proposal to site a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Fall River; and “non-point” sources of water pollution causing shellfish bed closures on the upper river. The council is working to improve the environment of the Kickemuit by working to remove fecal discharges from the storm system, restoring blue crabs, removing invasive plants, carrying out river clean-ups, advocating for stricter regulation of the Brayton Point plant, opposing LNG development and protecting the aquifer.

The group’s successes include uniting 10 organizations and neighborhoods to participate in the united effort to keep the Kickemuit River clean; receiving the “2007 Conservation Project of the Year Award” from the Eastern RI Conservation District for the successful completion of the Kickemuit Fish Ladder; and gathering over 700 petition signatures and composing a testimony to oppose the siting of an LNG terminal in Fall River, MA.

The group, located in Warren (RI) received its latest NEGEF grant in June 2008 to republish the ‘Caring for Your Septic System’ brochure with updated septic regulations from the RI Department of the Environment and to mail it to approximately 600 homeowners with septic systems on the fresh & salt water Kickemuit River to improve water quality.