PROVIDENCE – Despite no readily available funding, state officials after a three-year hiatus are renewing calls for a private vendor to remove a piece of abandoned industrial wreckage from the Providence River: a 114-foot-long "sunken barge" that has been “largely undisturbed" since 2017, according to bidding documents.
The R.I. Department of Environmental Management on Jan. 25 released a request for qualified vendors interested in an initial six-month "Phase 1" contract to remove the steel barge and mounted crane weighing 150-200 tons that has sat partially submerged yet jutting out of the river about 80 feet from the nearest pier. The deadline to respond is Feb. 22.
RIDEM hopes the removal will be completed by March 31, 2025.
The contract would begin Oct. 1 and could be renewed for an additional six-month period “based on vendor performance and the availability of funds."
Mark Jarbeau, Narragansett Baykeeper for Save The Bay Inc., said the six-year delay shows that cityside waters have not been enough of a priority for state officials.
"It remains Save The Bay’s position that if it was located anywhere [else], it would have been removed years ago," he said. "South Providence residents should expect the same clean, debris-free water as anywhere else in Rhode Island. It is our hope that barge removal and future improvements at the Public Street right of way will help the community exercise their right to enjoy the bay."
Once any work begins, the vendor would be prohibited from working at night and would be limited to working from Oct. 15 to Jan. 31 in order to protect marine life.
Permits would be required from RIDEM’s Division of Fish and Wildlife if the removal of any federally protected osprey nests, which have been observed in the past atop the crane, is needed. No work can take place while the osprey nest is active, which is typically between April and August.
Another permit from the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council would be required, as well as various others depending on the methods chosen, which are limited to “one or a combination” of floating, lifting, using divers to cut the structure into pieces, or opting to "guillotine the crane and barge."
Josh Estrella, spokesperson for Mayor Brett P. Smiley, on Friday said the orphaned barge still "poses a safety and environmental hazard in our waters" and the city hopes the state expedites its removal.
The barge was owned by the now-defunct MG Marine Inc., whose owner, Mark Ginalski, is now deceased.
"When the owner of the sunken barge passed away in 2020, we believe that the state became responsible for its removal," Estrella said, citing the state's Derelict and Abandoned Vessel and Obstruction Removal Commission overseen by RIDEM.
Messages to a spokesperson for Gov. Daniel J. McKee regarding any funding schemes in the works were not immediately returned.
However, the RFQ said “The State may, at its sole discretion, accept and pay interim bills at clearly defined project milestones designated in the proposal.” Salvaged materials must be recycled "to the maximum extent practicable" and any revenue generated must be documented and credited against the price tag.
Michael Healey, RIDEM spokesperson, on Friday declined to offer any cost estimate and said that no funding has been requested or appropriated for the project in the department's fiscal 2025 budget.
RIDEM has applied for a federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris grant to help pay for the barge's removal.
Previous request for proposals were retracted because CRMC had pushed back against the guillotining process, which entails a contractor dropping a large steel beam on the vessel to break it into smaller pieces, arguing that could contaminate the waters.
However, the agency has since revised its policy, Healey said.
Messages to the CRMC were not immediately returned.
"As we’ve been doing for two or three years, DEM is actively trying to identify funding options, including grant opportunities to help pay for the removal of the barge,” Healey said.
“DEM has a long narrative of how we tried to hold the owner accountable before he died and previous removal plans that didn’t work out,” he added. “We’re still at it.”
Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.
