RICHMOND – Following allegations that it violated the Clean Water Act almost 1,800 times over five years, Kenyon Industries and its parent company have agreed to pay $50,000 in penalties and take steps to reach compliance standards as part of a settlement reached with Environment Rhode Island.
The proposed settlement, announced by the national nonprofit Environment America on Monday, directs Kenyon Industries and Brookwood Companies to pay a $10,000 civil penalty, as well as an additional $40,000 to the Wood-Pawcutuck Wild and Scenic Rivers Stewardship Council. The textile manufacturer must also develop and implement a plan to reach compliance with permit limits on copper and whole effluent toxicity for 12 consecutive months.
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The agreement now awaits acceptance by a U.S. District Court judge.
Environment America and its state chapter, Environment Rhode Island, filed the lawsuit against Kenyon in August 2022, alleging that the company had, since at least 2010, discharged high amounts of copper into the Pawcatuck River, polluting the water and endangering aquatic life.
Since 2017, Environment America said, the Richmond facility at 36 Sherman Ave. in the Kenyon section of town discharged copper concentrations of more than two-and-a-half times the allowed rate of into the adjacent Pawcatuck River, constituting 1,784 permitting violations.
“Despite completing a major overhaul of its wastewater treatment system in 2016, Kenyon has continued to experience numerous problems with the quality of its wastewater,” Environment America said in a statement. “With insights from Environment Rhode Island’s wastewater engineering expert, the parties identified ways to optimize the treatment system’s performance.”
The agreement will “bring Kenyon into sustained compliance within two years,” Matthew Donahue, an attorney Environment Rhode Island, said in a statement. Environment Rhode Island and Environment America were represented the Boston-based National Environmental Law Center.
“The settlement agreement incentivizes early action and leaves Kenyon some discretion in determining how best to achieve compliance within the required timelines,” Donahue continued in a statement.
Brookwood and its legal representation, Robin L. Main of Hinckley Allen & Snyder LLP, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday morning.
The approximately 34-mile long Pawcatuck River is part of the larger Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed, a National Wild & Scenic River. The state has designated a 2.16 mile portion downstream from the Kenyon textile mill an “impaired” body of water “too toxic for fish and wildlife,” Environment America said.
Kenyon Industries, a textile manufacturer, does business as both Brookwood Finishing and Brookwood Companies. The New York-based company has locations in Rhode Island, Connecticut and California, and last month also announced that it has acquired Swan Fabrics in Fall River.
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.
