Two RI Landfills Refused to Accept Contaminated Soil from RIDOT 6/10 Site, Documents Show
GoLocalProv News Team
Two RI Landfills Refused to Accept Contaminated Soil from RIDOT 6/10 Site, Documents Show
GoLocal has been blocked by state attorneys from other requested public documents, claiming, in part, attorney-client privilege.
The emails and documents secured by GoLocal weeks after requesting them show that Rhode Island Resource Recovery, the agency overseeing the Central Landfill in Johnston, refused to accept the contaminated soil after initially agreeing to take the waste.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation (RIRRC) must retract the approval dated September 23, 2020 for the material disposal request dated September 22, 2020, submitted by Mr. Patrick Haskell of AECOM. This request was for approximately 2,500 tons of currently stockpiled material at the US 6 / RI Route 10 Interchange site on the Plainfield Avenue in Providence, RI, which consists of a mixture of soils generated from various locations of the US 6 / RI Route 10 Interchange Project and stone material originated in Massachusetts," wrote Samantha Putlak of Resource Recovery on November 9 to RIDOT officials.
And, RI Department of Environmental officials blocked the contaminated soil in Olneyville from being disposed of at the Tiverton landfill due to the volume and amount of contamination.
Robert Smith, a supervising engineer for RIDEM wrote in an October 22 letter blocking the use of the Tiverton landfill:
• The Landfill is unlined and is the source of contamination that has created documented exceedances of groundwater and surface water quality criteria.
• The Landfill is surrounded by wetlands, that have had documented violations, therefore the addition of contaminated material with exceedances of the State’s Industrial/Commercial criteria increases the risk to groundwater and neighboring sensitive environments.
• Existing practices of erosion and stormwater controls have been ineffective and a chronic source of pollution to the environment.
In one email from RIDEM’s Kelly Owen to James "Jay" McGinn of RI DOT, the top man overseeing the 6/10 project, she had to “remind” him that the material already improperly dumped in Olneyville needed to be properly removed and disposed of.
“Per our conversation, just wanted to remind you about item #4 of page 2 requiring disposal [of the contaminated soil] at a licensed disposal facility,” Owen wrote to McGinn.
State officials refused to alert the community of the issues relating to the disposal and GoLocal unveiled the removal of the soil and tracked trucks filled with contaminated soil to a landfill north of Worcester, MA located in the town a Clinton — a landfill under orders to close by MA State officials.
RIDOT Director Peter Alviti, who has repeatedly refused to answer questions from GoLocal about his involvement in the dumping of the contaminated soil citing an ongoing investigation, appears weekly on local radio hosted by Gene Valicenti. During a segment on November 12, Alviti minimized the risk of the material dumped in Olneyville -- the same material that two of Rhode Island's landfills have refused to accept due to environmental standards.
Alviti admitted that the soil came from an out-of-state facility -- an MBTA contruction project in Massachusetts. The lead contractor at that site is also Barletta.
He also confirmed that another pile of contaminated soil was dumped in Olneyville -- that material was from another Barletta contruction project -- the Pawtucket/Central Falls Train Station project. GoLocal previously reported that the RI Attorney General secured a court-authorized search warrant to that site.
"Some of the soil from that pile is used behind bridge abutments," said Alviti in the radio show on WPRO.
"Plus it is in an area where human contact is nearly impossible unless you went into the 6/10 interchange and started digging and playing in the dirt," said Alviti.