Thursday, August 7, 2008 11:44 AM EDT
Countdown to Kenyon cleanup
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EPA ready to start work this month
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 EPA plans to begin cleanup at former Kenyon Dye dump site, south of factory building. |
 Location of Kenyon Dye dump site in Charlestown. |
Concerned about the threat of groundwater contamination posed by hazardous waste buried at a former Kenyon Dye dump site, the federal Environmental Protection Agency announced it will begin a six-month cleanup of the site later this month.
Investigations at the landfill, which is located in the woods north of the South County Trail/ Route 112 intersection and south of Sand Plain Road, have revealed seven pits containing decaying drums of contaminants, including lead and potentially dangerous substances known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Not only might these contaminants migrate into private drinking water supplies, but they also pose a threat to people who might trespass on the property, the agency noted in a press release announcing the cleanup.
“This is very good news,’’ said Geoffrey A. Marchant, director of the Community Development Consortium — a group that has long been concerned about the safety of drinking water in Columbia Heights, a neighborhood near the former landfill.
People who live in Columbia Heights have dealt with groundwater contaminants and their impact on well water for years, Marchant said.
The EPA agreed to the cleanup because the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management was able to convince the federal agency that the decaying drums posed an imminent threat that required immediate action, according to Marchant and others. The site qualified for an EPA program that undertakes emergency removal of hazardous waste.
The cleanup will involve excavating the rotting drums and other containers, then filling the empty area with clean dirt. The total cost of the project, which will be undertaken in cooperation with the DEM and town of Charlestown, has not been determined since it is not known exactly how many drums are buried on the site, the EPA said.
A dumping ground for a defunct textile company, the landfill itself measures only about an acre or two, but it is part of larger 62-acre parcel once owned by Kenyon Industries. It is located in the northwest corner of Charlestown and is fenced off to cars. But pedestrians have been able to walk on the site — though they do so at their risk, as some of the toxic compounds underground can travel up through the dirt and be released into the air.
“You want to be careful of them,’’ said Jeanethe Falvey, an EPA spokesperson.
Kenyon Industries abandoned the property about 20 years ago as part of bankruptcy proceedings, according to Eve Vaudo, enforcement counsel for the EPA. The EPA objected to the abandonment, resulting in a settlement that required Kenyon Industries to pay $75,000 to the EPA, which the company paid.
Since then, the abandoned property has become popular with dirt bikers, while becoming a source of concern to environmental groups and residents in Columbia Heights, a development that consists of 43 houses dating back to 1910. Aseries of environmental investigations took place, one by DEM, another by the Community Development Consortium, and a partial investigation by the EPA, which ultimately led to the EPA’s announcement Tuesday.
“We did neighborhood well water testing eight years ago,’’ said Marchant.
At that time, they did not find any volatile organic compounds in the water, but they did find other contaminants such as fecal coliform, he said. As a result of these findings, the Consortium is planning to build a water treatment storage facility to benefit Columbia Heights residents, he said.
One woman in Columbia Heights used bottled water for 20 years before she passed away last year, Marchant said.
DEM’s own water testing in Columbia Heights found that while previous contamination has declined in recent years, the rotting barrels pose a constant threat of new contaminants entering the groundwater, according to Cynthia Gianfrancesco, principal environmental scientist for DEM. These barrels poses a “potential imminent threat’’ that triggered the EPA’s announcement, she said.
The Kenyon Piece landfill has been on the EPA’s list of potential SuperFund sites since 1981. It has not been deemed a Superfund site, but instead qualified for a program for quick cleanup of smaller hazardous sites.
Investigations at the landfill, which is located in the woods north of the South County Trail/ Route 112 intersection and south of Sand Plain Road, have revealed seven pits containing decaying drums of contaminants, including lead and potentially dangerous substances known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Not only might these contaminants migrate into private drinking water supplies, but they also pose a threat to people who might trespass on the property, the agency noted in a press release announcing the cleanup.
“This is very good news,’’ said Geoffrey A. Marchant, director of the Community Development Consortium — a group that has long been concerned about the safety of drinking water in Columbia Heights, a neighborhood near the former landfill.
People who live in Columbia Heights have dealt with groundwater contaminants and their impact on well water for years, Marchant said.
The EPA agreed to the cleanup because the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management was able to convince the federal agency that the decaying drums posed an imminent threat that required immediate action, according to Marchant and others. The site qualified for an EPA program that undertakes emergency removal of hazardous waste.
The cleanup will involve excavating the rotting drums and other containers, then filling the empty area with clean dirt. The total cost of the project, which will be undertaken in cooperation with the DEM and town of Charlestown, has not been determined since it is not known exactly how many drums are buried on the site, the EPA said.
A dumping ground for a defunct textile company, the landfill itself measures only about an acre or two, but it is part of larger 62-acre parcel once owned by Kenyon Industries. It is located in the northwest corner of Charlestown and is fenced off to cars. But pedestrians have been able to walk on the site — though they do so at their risk, as some of the toxic compounds underground can travel up through the dirt and be released into the air.
“You want to be careful of them,’’ said Jeanethe Falvey, an EPA spokesperson.
Kenyon Industries abandoned the property about 20 years ago as part of bankruptcy proceedings, according to Eve Vaudo, enforcement counsel for the EPA. The EPA objected to the abandonment, resulting in a settlement that required Kenyon Industries to pay $75,000 to the EPA, which the company paid.
Since then, the abandoned property has become popular with dirt bikers, while becoming a source of concern to environmental groups and residents in Columbia Heights, a development that consists of 43 houses dating back to 1910. Aseries of environmental investigations took place, one by DEM, another by the Community Development Consortium, and a partial investigation by the EPA, which ultimately led to the EPA’s announcement Tuesday.
“We did neighborhood well water testing eight years ago,’’ said Marchant.
At that time, they did not find any volatile organic compounds in the water, but they did find other contaminants such as fecal coliform, he said. As a result of these findings, the Consortium is planning to build a water treatment storage facility to benefit Columbia Heights residents, he said.
One woman in Columbia Heights used bottled water for 20 years before she passed away last year, Marchant said.
DEM’s own water testing in Columbia Heights found that while previous contamination has declined in recent years, the rotting barrels pose a constant threat of new contaminants entering the groundwater, according to Cynthia Gianfrancesco, principal environmental scientist for DEM. These barrels poses a “potential imminent threat’’ that triggered the EPA’s announcement, she said.
The Kenyon Piece landfill has been on the EPA’s list of potential SuperFund sites since 1981. It has not been deemed a Superfund site, but instead qualified for a program for quick cleanup of smaller hazardous sites.
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