Saturday, September 19, 2020
Six weeks after top Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) officials including director Peter Alviti were notified that there was contaminated material on Plainfield Street — a staging area for fill material for the $410 million 6/10 project — the adjacent homes owners, local businesses, and the community leaders have yet to be notified.
The story broken by GoLocalProv nearly two weeks ago has sparked both state and federal investigations into the contamination.
Now, days after the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RI DEM) confirmed the contamination and RIDOT has agreed to direct the contractor — Barletta Engineer/Heavy Machine — to remove the contaminated soils, neither agency has taken any action to notify the public. Each points fingers to each other.
Virginia Carmona, one of the homeowners directly abutting the pile of the contaminated materials, was made aware of the issue by GoLocal.
Carmona said no one from the state had told them about the contamination.
On Friday, GoLocal informed her of the contamination and the order to remove the contaminants — some which are just a few feet from her backyard stone fire pit and patio.
Her home on Pilsudski Street is just one of those directly adjacent. The pile of material stacks up to her home’s second-story window.
Carmona said that there are two children living in her home and two children living in the next-door home.
Providence City Council President Sabina Matos, who represents the area, tells GoLocal that state officials have yet to notify her.
How far the contaminated soil can be blown to other sections of the neighborhood is unknown — the concern must be growing because GoLocal, on one site visit to the contaminated area, saw a rusted Barletta Engineering water truck spraying water on some of the material on site.
While one pile is partially covered with plastic, the rest of the site and other materials are being removed.
RI DEM’s spokesperson Michael Healey told GoLocal in an email on Friday, “In DEM’s role as the regulatory agency, we reviewed the relevant rules and determined there is no specific requirement to compel notice to the community or signage for this kind of situation. That said, any questions about this project and this site should be directed to RIDOT.”
RIDOT’s spokesperson Lisbeth Pettengill in an email to GoLocal wrote, “we have been asked to refer all media inquiries to DEM as they have this matter under investigation.”
RI DEM regulation requires “No work (remediation or construction), shall be permitted at the property until the public meeting and comment period regarding the site’s proposed reuse has closed except where the Director determines that such work is necessary to mitigate or prevent: (1) An imminent threat to human health, public safety or the environment; or (2) Off-site migration of known or suspected contamination.”
The regulations further state, “Any investigation or remediation undertaken prior to the completion of the public comment period shall be limited to measures necessary to define and/or mitigate the imminent threat and/or off-site migration.”
No Enforcement Action, Testing Found Potential Cancer-Causing Material
As of Friday, there is no written order, nor has RI DEM issues a Notice of Violation to RIDOT or Barletta, an unusual delay for a situation in which thousands of tons of contaminated material has been dumped.
According to testing conducted independently by James White, President of Local 57 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, for some pollutants, the material has multiple-times the legal limit of at least two potentially cancer-causing substances.
White paid for testing of soil samples material with one of New England’s leading testing firms. The union hired RI Analytical to analyze samples that the union collected from soil trucked in and dumped at the 6/10 project site.
In an email from Ruben Parrilla of RI Analytical to White, Parrilla wrote, “This soil does not meet the industrial/commercial standards for re-use or land application. Seeing that you are in Rhode Island the disposal option would be to send this to the Johnston landfill (see attached) as alternative cover material “urban fill/contaminated (impacted) soil.”
One of the materials found in the samples according to RI Analytical’s results was benzo(a)pyrene, “A chemical that comes from certain substances when they are not burned completely. It is found in car exhaust, smoke from wood fires, tobacco, oil and gas products, charred or grilled foods, and other sources. It may also be found in water and soil. Benzo(a)pyrene can cause a skin rash, a burning feeling, skin color changes, warts, and bronchitis. It may also cause cancer,” according to the National Cancer Institute.
Two of the samples provided by White to RI Analytical measured 3.4 and 3.5 part per million for benzo(a)pyrene and that is more than four-times the Rhode Island standard of .08 according to the testing firm.
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