NEWPORT — Public works department crews were working Thursday afternoon to repair a water line near the Sugar River in the area of Cross Street that was discovered after an earlier leak in a main to a storage tank had been repaired.

“We have identified it and know where it is,” Newport Public Works Director Todd Cartier said by phone Thursday. “It is right where it goes down to cross under the (Sugar) river.”

Cartier said they had isolated the leak so it was affecting between 150 to 200 of the system’s 5,000 users, but he was uncertain when service would be restored. The leak forced the Sturm, Ruger plant to the east to close Thursday and delay the start of its second shift, Cartier said.

Problems with the system began Wednesday when a leak in a 12-inch main line that goes to the storage tank on Summer Street was discovered. Cartier said they worked all day and through the night, including using jackhammers to remove some ledge, to repair the main. However, despite running 850 gallons a minute, the tank was still losing water and it was determined there was a second leak, which was eventually found in the vicinity of Cross Street on a line that runs along the old railroad bed.

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