Superfund Sites in Reuse in Rhode Island
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Central Landfill
The Central Landfill Superfund site consists of a 154-acre landfill where disposal of municipal and hazardous material occurred prior to 1980. In 1982, the state ordered the site owner to close the hazardous material disposal area. EPA placed the site on the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL) in 1986. Cleanup activities at the site included construction of a multi-layer cap; containment and treatment of groundwater; deed restrictions on groundwater use and land use; and evaluating the existing landfill gas collection system. Central Landfill, owned and operated by the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, continues to operate as a landfill, receiving over 90 percent of Rhode Island’s municipal solid waste. Broadrock Renewables, LLC owns and operates a facility on the site that turns gas collected from the landfill, including from the Superfund site, into electricity. The company expanded the energy-generating facility in stages. Currently, the facility includes 15 engine generator sets that can produce about 20 megawatts of electricity. The Superfund site area of the landfill contributes about 12 percent of the total landfill gas collected and used in the energy generation project.
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Centredale Manor Restoration Project
The Centredale Manor Restoration Project Superfund site includes a 9-acre property in North Providence, Rhode Island, and downstream areas. A chemical company and a drum reconditioning facility operated on the property at different times beginning in the early 1940s. Operations ended in 1972 when a fire destroyed most of the facility. Disposal practices at the site included burying waste or releasing chemicals directly onto the ground or into the river. Waste handling practices resulted in widespread contamination both on site and downstream from the site. The Brook Village apartments opened in 1977 and the Centredale Manor apartments opened in 1983 on the property where former operations took place. EPA found contamination in soil, sediment, groundwater, surface water, plants and animals on site. EPA placed the site on the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL) in 2000. EPA’s early actions included capping and fencing the site, as well as removing some contaminated soil from low-lying residential properties and restoring the Allendale Dam. Today, the Centredale Manor and Brook Village apartment complexes continue to occupy the site. EPA has worked to identify and conduct cleanup activities in ways that are compatible with the continued residential use of the site.
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Peterson/Puritan, Inc.
Peterson/Puritan, Inc.
The Peterson/Puritan, Inc. Superfund site spans over 500 acres in Providence County, Rhode Island. In 1959, the plant at the north end of the site began packaging aerosol consumer products. A rail car accident and tank spill on the facility’s property in 1974 released 6,000 gallons of solvent. In 1979, the State of Rhode Island Department of Health found contamination in groundwater affecting nearby public well fields. Immediate measures took place to provide an alternative water supply to the local communities. EPA determined the Peterson/Puritan, Inc. facility was a source of the groundwater contamination and placed the site on the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983. In 1990, EPA divided the site into two cleanup areas, known as Operable Unit (OU) 1 and OU2. Studies are underway to address additional sources at OU2. At OU1, systems are in place to clean up contaminated groundwater and soil. Cooperation between EPA, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and the local community enabled on-site businesses and facilities to remain in operation throughout the cleanup. Megawatt Energy Solutions installed over 2,000 solar panels on the roof of a warehouse building on site. The solar array produces about 650,000 kilowatts of electricity per year. The warehouse owner also installed a similar system on a second building at the site. The State of Rhode Island and the municipality also completed redevelopment projects within the site. These include a condominium complex, a town dog pound, a riverside park, and a bike path along the Blackstone River and Canal. The Blackstone River remains an important natural, recreational and cultural resource to both Rhode Island and Massachusetts. In 2014, the area became part of the national park system as the Blackstone River Valley National Historic Park.
For more information:
- Reuse and the Benefit to Community: Peterson/Puritan, Inc. Case Study (2014) (PDF) (19 pp, 1.3 MB)
- Superfund Site Profile Page
Rose Hill Regional Landfill
The Rose Hill Regional Landfill Superfund site is a former municipal landfill in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. From 1967 to 1983, South Kingstown leased the land as a domestic and industrial waste disposal facility. Improper disposal activities contaminated site groundwater, site soils and three nearby private wells. Site runoff contaminated nearby surface water bodies. EPA found contamination in 1981. In 1983, the facility became inactive and the operator graded and seeded the disposal areas. In 1989, EPA placed the site on the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL). Early investigations found landfill gases moving off site in the direction of nearby residential properties. Cleanup activities included extending the municipal water supply to residences with contaminated wells, installing gas alarms for nearby residences and relocating one residence. Landfill cleanup activities include consolidating landfill areas; capping the landfill; installing a landfill gas destruction system; monitoring; and restricting groundwater use. The need for additional cleanup activities will be determined based on monitoring. A transfer station for municipal waste, currently owned and operated by South Kingstown, is located on part of the site. Surrounding land uses support a hunting preserve, a skeet shooting range, bird dog kennel and field training facilities, and a pet cemetery. The Town and state partners continue to discuss future site reuse plans.
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Western Sand & Gravel
The Western Sand and Gravel Superfund site includes about 25 acres in a rural area on the boundary of Burrillville and North Smithfield, Rhode Island. From 1953 until 1975, the site operated as a sand and gravel quarry. From 1975 to 1979, site operators disposed of wastes into unlined lagoons and pits. Waste handling practices resulted in contamination of soil and groundwater. EPA placed the site on the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983. Cleanup activities included waste removal, a groundwater recirculation system and an alternate water supply. Cleanup also included capping a 2-acre area and fencing of the 6-acre contaminated soil area, restricting groundwater and land use, and monitoring of natural processes to clean up groundwater. In 2001, Supreme Mid-Atlantic, Inc. purchased the site. In 2004, the company completed construction of a 20,000 square-foot truck-body assembly building and open space for truck parking. This building and parking area occupy about 19 acres generally upgradient from the capped area and contaminated groundwater. Supreme Mid-Atlantic, Inc. conducts assembly, sales and service activities at the site.
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West Kingston Town Dump/URI Disposal Area
Two former dumping areas in South Kingston, Rhode Island, make up the 18-acre West Kingston Town Dump/University of Rhode Island (URI) Disposal Area Superfund site. The West Kingston Town Dump area of the site began operating as a gravel mine in the 1930s. From the late 1940s until 1975, the URI Disposal Area also operated as a gravel mine. Starting in 1951, area towns and URI began disposing unregulated waste on-site. The dump closed in 1978, but disposal continued until at least 1987. A 1989 site inspection discovered leaking drums adjacent to the West Kingston Town Dump and the URI Disposal Area. The contents of the drums contaminated subsurface soil and a large area of groundwater. Starting in 1988, the State connected affected residential wells nearby to city water. EPA placed the site on the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL) in October 1992. The potentially responsible parties combined waste from both site areas and placed impermeable caps over the waste. In 2009 and 2011, EPA injected chemicals to help break down contaminants in the groundwater. Currently, local residents and URI students use the site for passive recreation such as walking.
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