RI DEM Notifies Neighbors of Hazardous Contamination on Allens Ave After Decade of Delay

RI DEM Notifies Neighbors of Hazardous Contamination on Allens Ave After Decade of Delay

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) has written to abutters, informing them that the agency is conducting an investigation and that the Rhode Island Recycled Metals site was contaminated with hazardous materials - some probable carcinogens.

"The current Responsible Party of the subject Property (AARE, LLC) is providing notice to abutters of a plan to conduct an environmental Site Investigation at the above-mentioned property. The goal of the investigation is to determine if any current or historical activities at the property have resulted in releases of oil or hazardous materials to soil or groundwater.”

AARE, LLC is the related company to Rhode Island Recycled Metals.

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The DEM notification also states that the site is a known source of hazardous materials, including PCBS -- known probable carcinogens.

 

DEM States:

•    The Site was previously impacted by releases of oil and hazardous materials (OHM), including metals and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) prior to 2009 that were remedied by excavation and removal of PCB hot spots, site-wide capping and an Environmental Land Use Restriction (ELUR) recorded in 2003.

•    RIDEM is requiring that a Site Investigation Report be completed for the Site to determine if the prior cap remains viable and to determine if new OHM releases associated with RIRM activities has occurred.

The regulatory action comes after years of legal delays and inaction by attorney generals Peter Kilmartin and Peter Neronha.

For more than a decade, the Rhode Island Recycled Metals facility has been an environmental disaster — starting in 2012, state officials began to take action against the site, but over the years, the enforcement actions have been blocked by a complex legal action. 

“Every time we find something on the site, we have to go back to court. That is the 100-plus times we have gone to court,” said Terry Gray, the Director of DEM, in an interview with GoLocal in April.

“Essentially, due to the travels of this case, the facility is unregulated,” said Gray.

“If you took this fresh and looked at these things from scratch, then it would be a significant enforcement case right as it sits today,” he said at the time.

Shortly after the interview with Gray, GoLocal flew a drone to capture video of the property.

 

In June, Superior Court Judge Brian Stern cleared the way for DEM to begin an investigation of the site.

Next Steps, according to DEM

The investigation and remediation of this property is a test for DEM's promise to enforce environmental crimes in lower-income and Black and Brown neighborhoods.

According to DEM:

•    A Site Investigation Report WP Addendum pursuant to the RIDEM Rules and Regulations for the Investigation and Remediation of Hazardous Material Releases (Remediation Regulations) was submitted on June 6, 2023 and is under RIDEM review.

•    Once approved, the SIR will be implemented with a target date for completion of September 28, 2023.

•    Site investigations are expected to include drilling, soil testing, and monitoring well installation.