Centredale Manor cleanup continues

NORTH PROVIDENCE – Another phase of the cleanup at the Centredale Manor Restoration Project Superfund site in North Providence has been completed, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said last week.
The agency said Emhart Industries Inc. – a company potentially responsible for pollution at the site – spent $1.7 million primarily to excavate 2,300 tons of contaminated soil alongside and under portions of the Brook Village parking lot. The EPA said the removal will limit runoff of pollution into the Woonasquatucket River.
Emhart contractor Loureiro Engineering Associates completed the work that also included stockpiling clean surface soil and topsoil for reuse as backfill, installing an impermeable cap, boring monitoring wells and monitoring the air for pollution. The contractor also re-graded the area and repaired pavement and walkways damaged by the cleanup.
Located on two properties on Smith Street, the land has hosted a woolens mill, chemical company and an incinerator-based drum reconditioning facility. The Brook Village apartments opened in 1977 and the Centredale Manor apartments opened in 1983.
The EPA found dioxin – a possible carcinogen – in 1996 from fish collected from the Woonasquatucket River. Since that time, EPA has documented elevated levels of contaminants including dioxin and other pollutants at the site.