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Active Autumn at Centredale Manor Restoration Project in Rhode Island

Release Date: 09/30/2002
Contact Information: Alice Kaufman, EPA Press Office, 617-918-1064

Boston - EPA this week begins a survey by boat of Allendale Pond and kicks off an active autumn at the Centredale Manor Restoration Project in North Providence, R.I.

This investigation, called a geophysical survey, will characterize the layers of sediment on the bottom of the river and evaluate how the shape (or geometry) of the river channel and the flow of water over time have come to deposit or move bottom contamination in these areas of the river and ponds. The surveyors will start in the Allendale Pond at the beginning of October and will move down to Lymansville Pond in late October.

Loureiro Engineering Associates, Inc. (LEA) of Plainville, CT will, in late October, begin work on the eastern shores of the Allendale and Lymansville ponds. EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be overseeing the work which includes the excavation of soil and sediment from the locations where sampling conducted this July confirmed dioxin levels greater than one part per billion (ppb). An earlier phase of the work included restoration of the Allendale Dam which was completed in March 2002.

An estimated 200 cubic yards of soil and sediment will be excavated using hand tools and light construction equipment. In preparation for the excavation work, the water in Allendale Pond will be lowered gradually beginning in mid-October, using controls built during the recently reconstructed Allendale Dam. The excavated material will be transferred to the containment pad by Allendale Way, next to the Allendale Dam, and then transported to a licensed facility for treatment and disposal. Water levels in the Allendale Pond are expected to be restored by December 2002 and the areas that were excavated will be backfilled with clean soil and then re-vegetated.

These activities are expected to be completed in approximately one day for each of the twelve areas of excavation with the entire excavation and soil transfer process expected to occur over a period of two to three weeks. LEA representatives will be contacting each affected property owner to discuss testing results, access and specific work anticipated for each area.

"We continue to make steady progress on this important project," said Robert Varney, EPA's regional administrator. "This is another step in reducing health threats and improving the Woonasquatucket River for North Providence and Johnston residents."

The work is being conducted in response to an Administrative Order issued by EPA in March 2001, following a public comment period on the Non-Time Critical Removal Action. The private parties named in the order have hired LEA of Plainville, CT to perform the work with EPA's oversight.

Additional EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers field activities that are scheduled to take place this autumn include: a second round of groundwater sampling at 33 existing monitoring wells near Centredale Manor and Brook Village; and soil sampling in the former tailrace behind Centredale Manor. Once completed, groundwater and soil sampling data, as well as information from the ongoing risk assessment study, will be used to determine a final cleanup approach for the site.

EPA reminds the public in North Providence and Johnston to follow the "Do's & Don't's for the Woonasquatucket River" and to use the river responsibly. This includes:

• not eating fish, turtles, eels or plants from the Woonasquatucket River;
• not wading in the shallow water or swimming in the river;
• avoiding coming into contact with exposed sediments in the river; and,
• obeying the warning signs posted along the river.