The reputation of Rhode Island’s superfund sites is changing.
Long thought to be poisonous land devoid of future development capabilities, today to the delight of environmental agencies, these federal designated sites are becoming a haven for new development, and in some cases preservation.
More than $64 million has been spent to clean up Rhode Island superfund sites in the last two decades, and to date 10 of the state’s 13 designated sites have undergone, or are undergoing a cleanup process, which would make them eligible for reuse.
But it hasn’t been easy to get past the stigma of the word superfund – a federally designated site where serious hazards exist or have existed which are considered a serious threat to health. Just ask Paul Bolduc.
For the general manager of the Supreme Mid-Atlantic Corporation, the idea of building a new state-of-the-art facility for his truck body manufacturing company was a dream come true, but the risks associated with doing it on one of Rhode Island’s designated superfund sites seemed too high.
It was two years ago that Bolduc first began looking at potential sites to expand his business. And while officials from the federal Environmental Protection Agency were encouraging him to the buy the 25-acre Western Sand and Gravel, a designated superfund property in Burrillville, he still had questions and concerns, especially when it came to liability.
"I had some big concerns," he said. "EPA began sending me information on the laws, and the coveted not to sue clause. At the meeting I had with the (Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management) and with EPA they were encouraging."
So encouraging that Bolduc is hoping to break ground on his new 19,000-square-foot facility in the next two months.
"It’s a nice piece of property without the stigma of a superfund," he said. "It’s good for me because of the nature of my business, and it was the only reasonably priced property."
According to the EPA, Bolduc’s isn’t the only success story.
Nationwide, superfund redevelopment has turned more than 300 toxic waste sites into community assets. Over 15,000 on-site jobs have resulted from a variety of commercial uses including retail stores, office buildings, golf courses, transportation centers and sports complexes. According to EPA these jobs have resulted in over $500 million in annual income.
"We have learned so much since we started doing this more than two decades ago," said Alice Kaufman, an EPA spokesperson. "One of the most important things we have learned is that when a site is cleaned up you can use it again. There are some that you need to keep the engineering in place for, which could mean limitations on foundations, but when communities have sites like this in their town, they can be used for golf courses, soccer fields … pretty much anything."
According to Kaufman, EPA began designating superfund sites – thought to be the dirtiest properties in the nation — in the 1980s. Kaufman said 110 sites have been designated in New England, and 1,200 have been designated nationwide.
But the numbers can be a little deceiving. For example, Rhode Island has only 13 designated superfund sites, but there are at least 10 more contaminated sites that are on EPA’s official "watch list" and there are still more which are considered brownfields — where they is either real or perceived contamination.
"Superfund sites are technically, very complicated areas to clean. There are often multiple levels of contamination," Kaufman said. "These properties are considered the dirtiest. They are often the most expensive to clean."
Most of the money needed to clean the properties, Kaufman said comes from two places – a tax on the oil and gas industries, and from companies found to be responsible for contamination at individual sties.
"Seventy percent of the time the cost of cleaning these sites comes from the current or former companies on the site. Everyone that contributed to the pollution of these sites is held responsible, " she said.
To be officially designate a superfund, a site has to be nominated by the state their in. Once nominated, the EPA is required to do engineering studies to determine the level of contamination. If it is determined that the site has "enough of a contamination" problem, a formal application process is begun which requires the approval of the local state government and ultimately the federal government.
And while designation used to equate to closing these areas down for potential redevelopment, Kaufman said it’s definitely not that way today.
"We want to encourage companies, and cities and towns to come up with redevelopment plans," she said. "We now know that you can do this, and do it safely."
The towns of Lincoln and Cumberland are hoping that they can be the next to do that. The two municipalities have recently been presented with a $100,000 grant from the EPA to study the redevelopment of a 500-acre superfund site, known as the Peterson/Puritan Property, which stretches between the two. Two portions of the site, which straddles the Blackstone River, have major cleanup underway, while other portions are still active in commercial, industrial or recreational uses. Most of the 40 separate parcels are privately owned, with some owned by local and state governments.
According to EPA officials, both municipalities will use the funding to come up with a vision for the site, getting input from both business owners and residents in the area.
"What I am excited about is having the opportunity to go in there, work with the neighbors on both sides of the river, talk to business owners, talk to property owners and have everyone speak about their concerns, about what they think the opportunities are," said Edward Donnelly, planning director the town of Cumberland. "It’s about developing a vision for the future."
