SMITHFIELD – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced last week that The removal of contaminants is now underway at the former Providence Barrel site.
The federal agency is working with local offials and the R.I. Department of Environmental Management to accomplish the task. Last week, they began removing contaminants from the site, and this week, the agencies have been removing contaminants from nearby private sites, according to the EPA.
Remediation of the 2-acre property began in May, the agency said. The goal is to remove soil and curb potential groundwater contamination, according to EPA.
Soil samples collected at the site during an October 2005 Superfund Technical Assessment and Response Team investigation uncovered elevated levels of lead, arsenic, semivolatile organic compounds, perchloroethelene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE).
The site – where a barrel-reclamation facility operated from 1972 to 1980 – is located off Oak Street in the residential section of Smithfield’s Esmond Village.
For more information about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s New England office, and its efforts to clean up Superfund sites, visit www.epa.gov/region1/superfund.
