Friday, December 11, 2020
GoLocal has tracked the transportation of concrete retaining wall blocks from the 6/10 construction site in Providence to the home of the daughter of Barletta Engineering’s supervisor in Weymouth, MA for the family’s private use.
The contract to Barletta and and its partners was awarded by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation — and is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Twice this week, massive concrete retaining blocks were loaded onto a trailer in Providence and then trucked to the home of Barletta’s Dennis Ferreira’s daughter’s home in Weymouth. Identical types of blocks are being installed at the taxpayer supported 6/10 project.
Ferreira is the project supervisor who oversees the day-to-day operation of the construction project that each day is working on multiple sites across acres and acres in Providence neighborhoods and involves hundreds of workers.
According to Weymouth town records, the home at 485 East Street is co-owned by Ferreira’s daughter Laken and her husband Brendan O’Brien and they purchased the property in 2019 for $488,000 — the home is now valued for as much as $540,000.
The concrete blocks are being used in a new retaining wall being installed on the privately owned Weymouth property.
Ferreira reached by phone told GoLocal, “I have no comment.”
GoLocal tried to reach Ferreira’s daughter — the homeowner of the house in Weymouth — and she did not respond to questions.
It is unclear why RIDOT inspectors did not detect the removal of the material.
Material on site. Retaining wall being built at Dennis Ferreira’s daughter’s house in Weymouth, MA – Material from RIDOT project
This is just the latest controversy tied to the 6/10 project involving Ferreira. He was the person first notified by whistleblower James White in July 2020 of the contaminated soils being trucked into Olneyville and dumped in a parcel on Plainfield Street in the middle of the neighboor.
White, President of Local 57 of the International Union of Operating Engineers told GoLocal in September, “I first brought concerns to Barletta in July and they did nothing. Our folks are trained in identifying hazardous materials and we had concerns about the soil materials they were bringing on to the site.” According to White, it was Ferreira that he first notified of the contaminated material as White worried about his members being exposed to the contamination.
White then in July reported the dumping to RIDOT officials including Director Peter Alviti who denied the material was contaminated. And, White in a letter reported the contamination and testing result that the union had paid for that show the material was contaminated to Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management’s Director Janet Coit. She never responded nor did anyone else at RIDEM until GoLocal first reported on the contamination in September. That reporting triggered an investigation by the Rhode Island State Police.
A week later RIDOT admitted that the material — stacked nearly two stories high next to homes in Olneyville — was, in fact contaminated.
As GoLocal reported in late September, Ferreira and a high ranking RIDOT offical David Walsh put pressure on one of the adjacent homeowners to the contamination to accept a one-time payment by the state of Rhode Island that would give a full release to the state of Rhode Island and the contractors working on the project from any liability for damage to their home or adverse health impacts. The total amount offered was $12,600. The homeowners, the Carmona family, says the ongoing construction has caused damage to their home and contaminated property.
Carmona family forced to endure months of living next to the contaminated soil and on going contruction
“We cannot use our backyard. This is directly all over and often when the wind blows you cannot see, because the soil goes everywhere,” said Teofilo (or “Ramon” to his friends) Carmona one of the adjacent homeowners.
“We cannot have our grandchildren play in our yard. They killed our grape plants, everything is always covered with this material,” said Carmona.
Since the initial reporting by GoLocal, RIDOT has repeatedly refused to respond to questions about the investigation into the project — repeatedly referring GoLocal to the Attorney General’s office who is now leading the state’s investigation.
In late November, after months of complaints by the union, the Carmonas and a coalition of community groups, the contaminated soil was removed and trucked to a landfill in Clinton, MA.
The Latest Controversy
Bareltta and RIDOT are tied to the improper dumping of contaminated soil in the Olneyville neighborhood.
Barletta is the lead contractor on the $410 million 6/10 project and is tied to the dumping of contaminated soil from Massachusetts and Pawtucket sites.
Of the total project cost, Barletta and its partners in the 6-10 Constructors Joint Venture’s portion of the project is $247 million, which the company claims was the low bid by “more than 80 million dollars.”
To date, the consortium of contractors on the project in which Barletta is the lead have been paid by the State of Rhode Island more than $138 million, according to state records.
Barletta has won $349 million in contracts from RIDOT in the past three years.
Federal and State Investigations
Attorney General Peter Neronha’s office has an ongoing investigation state investigation believed to be tied to the contaminated soil.
GoLocal unveiled in September that contaminated material was dumped in an Olneyville neighborhood adjacent to homes and businesses and that material was spread throughout neighborhoods as part of the project — a project that is costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
For months Alviti denied the material was contaminated and has refused to answer repeated questions.
GoLocal’s investigation has now sparked both federal and state investigations. The Department of Justice has issued subpoenas and has empaneled a grand jury. GoLocal is also aware that a State court has issued at least one search warrant tied to the investigation at another RIDOT project.
Three weeks after GoLocal requested the public documents, RIDEM is claiming that among other things that, “Requested records are exempt from disclosure pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws §38-2-2(4)(A)(I)(a) as privileged Attorney/Client communication.”
SEE TIMELINE OF THE CONTROVERSY AND INVESTIGATION BELOW
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