United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-97-036
May 1997
National Brownfields
Assessment Pilot
State of Rhode Island
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower States, communities, and other
stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and
an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. Between 1995 and 1996, EPA funded 76 National and Regional Brownfields
Assessment Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of brownfields
solutions. EPAis funding morethan 27 Pilots in 1997. The Pilots are intended to provide EPA, States, Tribes, municipalities,
and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified
approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND
EPA selected the State of Rhode Island for a
Brownfields Pilot. The State is focusing its project on
communities in the watersheds of the
Woonasquatucket and Blackstone Rivers. Decades
of industrial use have left many properties
contaminated, which led to under-use, vacancy, and
decay at these sites. There are 50 brownfields sites in
the watersheds, but inventories of contaminated sites
are incomplete and not cross-referenced with
development potential. Sites not on the State's
inventory may pose threats to the health of surrounding
communities. The stigma of possible contamination
has affected local economies and impeded
implementation of amaj or proj ectto create agreenway
along the Woonasquatucket River.
OBJECTIVES
The State is developing a model ecosystem-based
program to return to beneficial use vacant or under-
used contaminated properties in the communities. A
key to the success of the State's approach will be
coordinating revitalization efforts being conducted
by multiple State and local agencies in these
watersheds. The State strategy is to provide: 1) a
degree of certainty in the level of contamination that
PILOT SNAPSHOT
State of Rhode Island
Date of Award:
June 1996
Amount: $200,000
Site Profile: The Pilot
targets sites within the
watersheds of the
Woonasquatucket and
Blackstone Rivers. The
watersheds contain 50
known brownfields.
Contacts:
Terrence Gray and
Tim Regan
Rhode Island Department
of Environmental
Management
(401)277-3872
Lynne Jennings
U.S. EPA Region 1
(617)573-9634
jennings.lynne®
epamail.epa.gov
Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfieids
-------
will allow accurate estimates of cleanup costs; and 2)
to leverage additional resources, support, or assistance
for addressing brownfields.
AND
The Pilot has:
* Conducted a regional survey of both ecosystems in
the watershed, identifying 50 preliminary
brownfields sites for further assessment;
* Completed 50 Phase I environmental assessments;
* Conducted roundtable meetings of all stakeholders
to prioritize 20 of the 50 sites based on Phase I site
assessments, community concerns, potential
beneficial reuse, and environmental threat; and
* Conducted Phase II site assessments at two of the 20
priority sites to identify the nature and extent of
contamination.
The Pilot is:
• Conducting Phase II site assessments at other priority
sites in the target area. Work plans have been
completed for two additional site assessments and
field work is expected to be initiated in the Spring of
1997;
* Conducting Phase II investigative work at the former
H&H Screw property. The work is expected to
begin this quarter and may involve a cooperative
environmental assessment effort between the Pilot
and the prospective purchaser; and
• Working with other communities within the
watershed to identify additional high priority sites.
Experience with the State of Rhode Island Pilot has
been a catalyst for related activities including the
following.
* Constructed four monitoring wells on the Collyer
Wire Building site in the Town of Lincoln. The
prospective purchaser installed the monitoring wells
and the Pilot agreed to pay for the analytical testing.
This cost-sharing by the prospective purchaser
reflects confidence in the Brownfields Program.
Cleaned up a spill from a leaking underground
storage tank on the Lincoln Lace and Braid site
following a complaint that the Woonasquatucket
River was being contaminated. The Coast Guard
contained the spill and removed approximately
23,000 gallons of #4 fuel oil and water from the site.
The City of Providence, in cooperation with a non-
profit corporation The Providence Plan, is
negotiating purchase of the six-acre Riverside Mills
site. The City would like to include the site as a bike
path in the Woonasquatucket River Greenway
Project.
The City of Woonsocket has applied for grants to
purchase and develop the Narragansett Knitting
site. The City is considering developing the site into
an incubator for high tech projects. An adjacent
building also suspected of contamination has recently
been purchased by a developer. The Pilot is
investigating the possibility of sharing costs of
environmental investigation.
National Brownfields Assessment Pilot
May 1997
State of Rhode Island
EPA 500-F-97-036
------- |