State officials worked over the weekend, collecting more water and shellfish samples to test for a toxin produced by algae blooms. Concerns about health risks associated with the toxin prompted an emergency shellfish harvesting closure that is still in effect for most of Narragansett Bay. Ernest Julian, the Health Department’s food safety chief, said the first set of results are in.
“The good news is that all of the samples, but one, from throughout the bay and the salt ponds are negative for the toxin,” said Julian. “The one that is not negative is inconclusive.”
That one is on its way to another lab for confirmation this Monday. The Department of Environmental Management will gather more samples from the bay to see how the rain affected the level of algae blooms in the water. The bay will reopen for harvesting when algae bloom levels go down and shellfish is verified as safe to eat.