Save the Bay and Legislators Criticize Lack of Enforcement of RIRM Facility: Court Hearing Monday
GoLocalProv News Team and Josh Fenton
Save the Bay and Legislators Criticize Lack of Enforcement of RIRM Facility: Court Hearing Monday
The pending environmental violations at the RIRM date back a decade.
Last week, GoLocal first reported that the owners of the facility via a separate corporation have purchased the adjacent property -- the 9.8 acres of so-called "Cumberland Farms" land.
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Save the Bay Blasts Failure to Enforce Environmental Crimes
"The site is an ongoing environmental disaster and the fact that they continue to operate is an insult to anyone who cares about the Providence River and Narragansett Bay. Strong and timely enforcement at the time these violations were discovered could have prevented more than a decade of unchecked pollution,” said Mike Jarbeau, Narragansett Baykeeper at Save The Bay.
“We continue to urge the state of Rhode Island to use all tools at its disposal to immediately bring the site into compliance with all environmental laws. Environmental violations within the Port of Providence should be taken as seriously as they are in any other community,” Jarbeau said.
“While we don't know the plans for the recently-purchased property, we hope the City of Providence and state will closely monitor and stringently enforce all applicable regulations,” said Jarbeau.
The two legislators who represent the Allens Avenue area held a press conference at Collier Park on Wednesday.
Rep. José F. Batista voiced frustration in comments to GoLocal, "The fact that RIMR has been subject to litigation for about a decade re environmental violations and was able to purchase *more* land without the community being made aware is a systemic failure for us as a state and our press conference today is our way of saying “we need to do better as a state.” He represents District 12.
Senator Mack (D-Dist. 6, Providence) said in a statment, “The people of our districts deserve to be listened to about their needs, their concerns and their hopes about the future of their neighborhood. What does it say for our state when we continue to use a neighborhood that is predominantly Black, Brown and low-income as the place for everything people don’t want in their own neighborhoods, and continue to do so without even accepting public comment? Our constituents deserve a voice in all these matters and we will not sit silent as our neighborhood is harmed time and time again. We hope to be true partners with state leaders as we build a Providence that works for everyone.”
Superior Court Judge Brian Stern has scheduled a hearing on the ongoing litigation.
The genesis of this case began in 2016 when a special master was appointed to oversee the property and the removal of a group of vessels. Seven years later the environmental violations go unremediated and one of the vessels has yet to be removed.
Sitting Attorney General Neronha has repeatedly refused to answer questions about his office's enforcement efforts on the case. He has served as the state's chief prosecutor for more than five years.
The site was first cited for environmental violations a decade ago.
Three weeks ago, the Director of the Rhode Island Department, Terry Gray, told GoLocal that his agency has been hamstrung by the court proceeding.
“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 Gray on Saturday.
“Essentially, due to the travels of this case, the facility is unregulated,” said Gray.
"DEM will go into the status conference on April 24 with the Attorney General’s Office and with the same purpose that we’ve always had: to force this company to clean up the egregious water pollution and soil contamination violations on its property and restore the site to compliance," said Michael Healey, DEM's Chief Public Affairs Officer.
Rhode Islander Attorney General Peter Nehrona, who is the lead on this prosecution, has refused to answer questions about the lack of progress.