Allens Ave “Recycling” Facility Eyed for Disposal of "Hazardous" Material, Says Special Master

Allens Ave “Recycling” Facility Eyed for Disposal of "Hazardous" Material, Says Special Master

In a Superior Court hearing before Judge Brian Stern Wednesday afternoon on the fate of the longstanding battle to force Rhode Island Recycled Metals (RIRM) to comply with environmental laws, the special master unveiled what could be a major twist in the decade-long battle.

Court-appointed Special Master Richard Land, who has overseen the activities at RIRM for the past seven years, told the court the potential proposed use by the Narragansett Bay Commission (NBC) is to dump material designated as hazardous material at the Allens Avenue site.

Land said the material has been designated by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) as hazardous and “contains high levels of naturally occurring arsenic.”

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In May, GoLocal unveiled that NBC, in conjunction with the Providence Redevelopment Agency, was looking into taking the RIRM property — and the adjacent property recently purchased by the owners of RIRM — the 9.8-acre "Cumberland Farms" site.

Land said he believes the NBC has already applied with DEM to move the material to the Allens Avenue site.

Further, Land outlined that he believed that the NBC plan for the site would be that the material would be piled upwards of 8-10 feet in height and then be capped.

The material comes from the nearly $1 billion combined sewer overflow project in Pawtucket—a critical project in the treatment of sewage and the continued effort to clean Narragansett Bay. 

See a tour of the CSO Project HERE

 

 

NBC Response, PRA No Response

Executive Director Laurie Horridge of the Narragansett Bay Commission said in an email to GoLocal that “The Providence Redevelopment Agency, not the Narragansett Bay Commission, will be the acquiring authority with respect to the property if an acquisition takes place. Any material brought to the site will be in full compliance with RIDEM and CRMC requirements.”

But, the chair of the Providence Redevelopment Agency, Manuel Cordero, refused to respond to repeated requests for comment. He is a Providence-based architect.

NBC previously tried to dispose of the material at land controlled by the Rhode Island Airport Corporation at Quonset Point in North Kingstown. That effort was rejected over environmental concerns.

Also, Land said that he had urged NBC’s outside counsel Anthony Bucci — the attorney leading the potential condemnation effort — to attend the hearing and brief the court.

Land said Bucci was non-responsive.

Judge Stern said he was open to “issue a show cause order” to compel Bucci to attend the next hearing.

 

 

NBC Letter to Owners of Metals Recycling

In the letter from Anthony Bucci, on behalf of NBC, dated April 24, 2023, to the owners of RIRM, he wrote, “The Narragansett Bay Commission (NBC) is currently investigating properties for future NBC projects. NBC is conducting a geotechnical investigation to determine the soil conditions at the aforesaid location. A boundary and topographical survey of the Property will also be performed. Some of the survey work may be performed with a drone.”

GoLocal previously reported that NBC is looking at other properties along with RIRM. One of the additional properties is the adjacent property — the so-called Cumberland Farms property.

GoLocal unveiled on April 12 that members of the ownership group who control RIRM purchased that property in March for $2.7 million.

 

 

COMING  - HOW THE COURT TOOK ACTION ON THE ONGOING ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION