PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – Just in time for Rhode Island Quahog Week, the director of the DEM has announced that a section of the Providence River, off limits for shellfishing for more than 75 years, will open on a conditional basis starting next week. Topher Hamblett is the Director of Advocacy for Save the Bay. He says, “It’s very exciting news, and a testament to all the great progress that’s been made in cleaning up Narragansett Bay.” The bay has a history of water pollution problems. Hamblett says, “Anyone who grew up around here in the 70s and 80s can remember the day when raw sewage was washing up on the beaches of the upper bay.”