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South county plant forced to clean up
Environment Rhode Island and our allies at Toxics Action Center, National Environmental Law Center and Sierra Club have successfully settled a lawsuit against Bradford Dyeing Association, Inc. (BDA), which is located in the South county village of Bradford.
For years, nearby residents had complained about powerful chemical odors emitted from the plant, and canoers and kayakers were reporting
that the normally pristine Pawcatuck River had a “dead zone” immediately downstream of the plant’s discharge.
Now that the lawsuit is settled, Environment Rhode Island is calling on the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) to explain why these violations were not pursued, to investigate and report whether other polluters are getting a free pass, and whether policy changes and better staffing are needed to improve enforcement efforts.
DEM director commits to protecting parks.
Responding to a letter from Environment Rhode Island and our allies,
the Director of the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) has agreed that the “public values” of Rhode Island’s parks and management areas not be at risk from reckless development.
Final rules protecting the state’s open space lands are set to be finalized
by Mar. 15, 2007. Environment Rhode Island is working with the Department of Environment Management to ensure the new rules will achieve their intended purposes.
The letter to DEM was also signed by the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, Clean Water Action, Conservation Law Foundation, Environment
Council of RI Education Fund, Nature Conservancy, Rhode Island Land Trust Council and Save the Bay.
DEM Agrees To Protect Public Health
In 2005, Dominion Energy Company requested that the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) modify the Manchester Street Station power plant’s air pollution permit to allow the natural gas plant to burn over 6.6 million gallons of oil a year.
Oil is a much dirtier fuel than natural gas.
Burning oil instead of natural gas increases the amount of soot and smog pollution emitted. Rhode Island already fails to meet federal air quality standards because of air pollution levels during the summer months.
Environment Rhode Island and the American Lung Association of Rhode Island opposed the permit modification to protect public health. Although the permit modification was not rejected outright, Dominion will not be allowed to burn oil during the summer smog season, which runs from May 1 to Sept. 30. |
