The Providence Journal (RI) reports:

Environmental officials this week released final plans for the cleanup of industrial solvents seeping from a former oil drum disposal site in West Kingston [a.k.a. WEST KINGSTON TOWN DUMP/URI DISPOSAL AREA].

The state Department of Environmental Management and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday released the so-called record of decision [PDF, 1.5MB] regarding the cleanup of the West Kingston dumpsite on Tuesday. The voluminous document chronicles the site's history and the steps leading to the remediation effort.

The 17.4-acre former town dump east of Plains Road and adisposal area of about 17 acres at the University of Rhode Island were placed on the EPA's high-priority cleanup list in 1992.

The agencies agreed to cap portions of the former dumpsite, but were unable to trace the source of ground-water pollutants until last summer, according to the DEM.

Environmental officials determined the solvents -- tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene -- had leaked from a dozen rusted drums, apparently containing roofing tar, and seeped into the ground water. A plume extends about 2,500 feet from the drum area toward Hundred Acre Pond, traveling in a northwesterly direction along the bedrock, the decision states.

Read the full story here.

From the EPA Region 1 (New England) press release page:

Contact: Sheryl Rosner (rosner.sheryl@epa.gov), EPA Office of Public Affairs, (617) 918-1865

For Immediate Release: October 11, 2005; Release # sr051006

BOSTON - The US Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it has proposed a $215,273 penalty against a Rhode Island jewelry finishing company for failing to comply with federal and state clean air rules that regulate the release of hazardous air pollutants.

According to the complaint, issued this month by EPA’s New England office, Drew-Easton Manufacturing Company of Cranston violated state and federal regulations designed to control hazardous trichloroethylene (TCE) emissions from machines that use TCE vapor as a cleaning solvent.

EPA’s complaint comes on the heels of two previous compliance orders issued to Drew-Easton requiring the company to update its degreasing machines so that it would not violate equipment and monitoring requirements set out in federal rules and RI regulations promulgated under the Clean Air Act.

“For years, Drew-Easton failed to comply with air toxics regulations by operating an outdated and substandard degreasing machine,” said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office. “Now that EPA has ensured that the facility’s equipment minimizes TCE emissions, the Agency is seeking penalties that reflect the seriousness of the violations and the economic benefits enjoyed by the company by not complying on time.”

Until June 2004, Drew-Easton owned an outdated degreasing machine that failed to comply with equipment and operational standards. EPA issued a Notice of Violation and Compliance Order to Drew-Easton in June 2004 that cited these violations, together with numerous monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting violations. In response, Drew-Easton installed a new degreasing machine in August 2004.

EPA re-inspected the company in December 2004 and found that the new degreaser was still in violation of certain equipment and monitoring requirements. The following month, EPA issued a second Compliance Order requiring the company to install additional cooling coils to minimize TCE vapor emissions from the degreaser tank. The additional control equipment was installed and began operating in April 2005.

Drew-Easton’s violations are significant because they may have resulted in excess TCE emissions from the degreasers. Long-term exposure to TCE vapors is a potential health risk, with possible nerve, kidney and liver damage. TCE is also a probable human carcinogen.

Visit the EPA New England’s Air Enforcement Program Web site to learn more (http://www.epa.gov/NE/enforcement/air/index.html).

...to keep people safer from TCE, please encourage them to contact:



Jody Milanese (millaneese) in Congresswoman Sue Kelly's office at 202-225-5441

According to a story in the Providence Journal (RI):

Reservoir Triangle residents learned more last night about the city's plan to clean up part of the [TCE contaminated]Gorham Manufacturing complex and use it for a high school.

At last night's meeting, they learned about plans to cover the site [which was once home to the world's largest silverware maker] with two feet of clean fill to prevent public exposure to any potential contaminants.

Tim Regan, a contractor hired by the city to conduct environmental tests of the parcel, told the residents that his firm, EA Engineering, Science and Technology Inc. had found elevated levels of trichloroethylene, a vapor, in the soil. In order to remediate that, the city plans to install an underground ventilation system that will work as a vaccum to extract harmful vapors that collect.

[...]

Some residents noted that the site was formerly deemed a hazardous site by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

When one resident pressed Sepe to explain why the site was chosen, [Alan Sepe, the acting director of the city's Department of Public Property] said the city needs a four to 5 acres for a high school. He said there few, if any, parcels in the city big enough.

Also, Sepe said, any site in the city would have some level of environmental contamination.

Huh?!?

The next meeting about the site is scheduled for May 16. Meantime, you can read the full story here (free reg req'd).

The Providence Journal (RI) reports (free reg req'd):

Environmental concern about the site of a proposed school off Adelaide Avenue has delayed construction and left school administrators wondering where they will find seats for about 300 high school students this fall.

The fate of the proposed 450-pupil school and the environmental status of the site will be discussed Monday at a 7 p.m. public hearing at the Stop & Shop community room, 333 Adelaide Ave. The meeting is the first of two public hearings scheduled so city officials can present the results of an environmental investigation of the site and plans to clean up the contaminated soil. The site was once part of the Gorham Manufacturing complex.

[...]

The city filed a report on April 1 that said elevated levels of trichloroethylene were found. The amount of trichloroethylene found in a sample was four times higher than what is considered a potential health risk.

Read more here.

WOOD RIVER JCT. - Details of ongoing tests at the Charbert textile plant in Alton reveal that groundwater contamination may exist at deeper levels than village residents previously thought.

The source of the impurity, however, may not be the result of recent operations at the Church Street mill.

During a water quality meeting between state agencies, town officials and local residents Thursday at the Chariho Middle School, a recent analysis of groundwater samples taken from several hundred feet below the plant containing perchloroethylene (PCE) and tetrachloroethylene (TCE) was discussed. The study indicated contaminants above the agency's groundwater advisory level of 5 parts per billion.

Read the full story in The Westerly Sun (RI)

Today's Woonsocket Call (RI) reports:

State and federal environmental officials will continue their five-year review of the Stamina Mill Superfund site in Forestdale by holding an informational meeting tonight from 6 to 8 at the Municipal Building, 575 Smithfield Road.

...Stamina Mills was a 19th century textile mill that required federal intervention after an unknown quantity of trichloroethylene (TCE), a solvent to clean cloth, spilled in 1969. The EPA initiated the cleanup in the early 1980s and completed it in 2000.

...Anyone wishing further information is encouraged to contact [EPA community coordinator for the Stamina Mills cleanup, Sarah] White at 1-888-372-7341, ext. 81026

Read the full story here.

More from the GAO Report, as promised. Please bear in mind:

· 85% of the sites below were discovered 15 yrs ago or more
· over 60% of the potentially eligible sites and over 35% of all sites below report no clean-up activities

---
Table IV.1: Sites Classified as Awaiting an NPL Decision in Each State, by Eligibility for Listing and Status of Cleanup Progress
+
Table VI.1: State Officials’ Assessments of States’ Financial Capabilities to Clean Up Potentially Eligible Sites

State	Number of sites classified as awaiting an NPL decision	Number of sites unlikely to become eligible for the NPL	Number of potentially eligible sites with some cleanup activities	Number of potentially eligible sites with no reported cleanup activities	Number of sites for which no surveys were received	State officials’ assessment of state’s financial capability to clean up potentially eligible sites
Alabama	25	10	7	8	0	Very poor
Alaska	28	14	8	6	0	Excellent
Arizona	34	16	10	8	0	Excellent
Arkansas	4	3	0	1	0	Good
California	a 189	64	51	74	0	Fair
Colorado	30	12	10	6	2	Very poor
Connecticut	290	74	98	118	0	Poor
Delaware	1	1	0	0	0	Excellent
District of Columbia	a 1	0	0	1	0
Florida	269	74	85	110	0	Fair
Georgia	74	39	8	27	0	Poor
Guam	2	2	0	0	0
Hawaii	17	12	4	1	0	Fair
Idaho	16	5	5	6	0	*
Illinois	207	95	43	69	0	Fair
Indiana	54	21	15	18	0	Very poor
Iowa	33	29	4	0	0	Very poor
Kansas	37	28	4	5	0	Very poor
Kentucky	20	15	2	3	0	Good
Louisiana	10	6	4	0	0	Poor
Maine	56	28	17	11	0	Poor
Maryland	20	8	4	8	0	Other b
Massachusetts	a 201	11	19	171	0	Fair
Michigan	50	22	18	10	0	Excellent
Midway Island	1	1	0	0	0
Minnesota	17	6	6	5	0	Good
Mississippi	9	4	1	2	2	Very poor
Missouri	91	73	7	11	0	*
Montana	11	2	7	2	0	Very poor
Navajo Nation	14	0	0	14	0
Nebraska	a 36	16	4	15	1	Very poor
Nevada	12	8	3	1	0	Poor
New Hampshire	42	24	9	9	0	Poor
New Jersey	172	60	49	63	0	Good
New Mexico	15	7	6	2	0	Very poor
New York	a 192	135	15	41	1	*
North Carolina	57	18	21	18	0	Poor
North Dakota	4	2	1	1	0	Poor
Northern Mariana Islands	1	0	1	0	0
Ohio	79	25	23	31	0	Very poor
Oklahoma	7	4	1	2	0	Very poor
Oregon	29	7	6	16	0	Fair
Pennsylvania	73	35	18	20	0	Excellent
Puerto Rico	16	3	4	9	0
Rhode Island	121	14	23	84	0	Poor
South Carolina	45	32	8	5	0	Good
South Dakota	8	6	2	0	0	Other b
Tennessee	102	51	19	32	0	Poor
Texas	21	18	1	2	0	Poor
Utah	48	17	8	16	7	*
Vermont	30	16	5	9	0	Poor
Virginia	22	8	2	12	0	*
Washington	28	11	8	9	0	Fair
West Virginia	11	7	4	0	0	Other b
Wisconsin	53	34	8	11	0	Excellent
Wyoming	1	1	0	0	0
Total	3,036	1,234	686	1,103	13

a California, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and Nebraska did not respond to surveys. For these states, the data in table IV.1 are based on EPA’s survey responses alone and, for that reason, may be less reliable than for states having responses from both EPA and states. New York provided responses to only a few questions in our survey.

b “Other” indicates that the respondent was uncertain about the state’s financial capability.

* State officials in Idaho, New York, Missouri, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming declined to participate in [the] telephone survey.

From today's Woonsocket Call (RI):

Federal EPA employees on Thursday plan to poll dozens of residents living in the area of the Stamina Mills Superfund site in Forestdale on their use of well water.

The work is an effort, done every five years, to survey active and inactive wells under the EPA’s review of the cleanup initiated in the early 1980s and completed in 2000.

...Nine questions listed on the mailed surveys include: whether the residents use well water for domestic consumption or alternative uses, such as swimming pools; if a well on the property contains electrical equipment; whether there’s an abandoned well; and when one might have been installed, its depth and flow rate.

Read the full story