UPDATED: DEM Hazardous Investigation Team Deployed to 6/10 Project, Testing for More Contamination

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Wednesday, October 07, 2020

GoLocalProv News Team

DEM investigator onsite at Plainfield Street RIDOT property PHOTO: GoLocal

On Tuesday morning, a swarm of Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management hazardous waste investigators and enforcement officers were deployed to the Rhode Island Department of Transportation’s site where hazardous waste has been discovered.

About a dozen investigators and Enforcement officers of DEM were onsite, with a backhoe and investigative trailer on location.

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Latest Development

The state's investigation began after a series of GoLocal stories unveiled that whistleblower James White President of Local 57 of the International Union of Operating Engineers began raising concerns about contaminated materials on the 6/10 project.

According to White, the hazardous material was shipped to the Providence location on Plainfield Street by one of the lead contractors on the project — Barletta Engineering and Heavy Machine of Canton Massachusetts.

Barletta’s CEO Vincent Barletta has repeatedly refused to respond to questions about the contamination.

Both RIDOT and RIDEM had ignored White’s claims. In the case of RIDOT Director Peter Alviti -- he had refused to take action for weeks.

Over the past month, GoLocal has unveiled that both state and federal investigations have begun.

"Today teams from DEM’s Office of Emergency Response and Division of Law Enforcement are sampling soil at multiple locations at the 6/10 interchange site as part of an ongoing investigation," said Michael Healey of RIDEM.

"Every sample that’s being collected at the site is under DEM’s direct supervision. DEM is directing the operator exactly where to dig and our team is collecting the soil samples at each sampling location. It is a controlled and orderly process," he added.