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Save the Bay: “Grave Concerns” Over Polluting Waterfront Junkyard


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EcoRI reported while we were gone that Save The Bay has delivered a letter to the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) about “persistent violations of the federal Clean Water Act by Rhode Island Recycled Metals.”

“The scrap metals recycling industry is growing rapidly along the Providence waterfront — and with it a serious and ongoing threat to the Providence River,” [Save The Bay director Jonathon] Stone wrote in the letter. A lack of enforcement and regulation “sets bad precedent and sends a message to other businesses on the water that’s [sic] it’s OK to illegally discharge in Rhode Island.”

Some of you will remember the earlier promises of a green industrial future for Providence’s hospital adjacent waterfront… wind turbines, short-sea shipping, frolicking puppies (OK, not the puppies). Those promises were used by lobbyists to torpedo zoning changes that would have allowed for non-industrial uses to be mixed in with the few existing businesses. With higher density uses no longer in consideration, what we’ve seen instead is the proliferation of waterfront junkyards, to date the only new businesses to relocate to that section of the waterfront and a far cry from the green-washed promises of the polluting special interests.

Of particular concern for residents is the continued lack of action from the city and state.

“In the 18 months since the first violation was reported nothing has been done to fix the problems, [Stone] said. “I think one of the interesting questions is why DEM and CRMC haven’t enforced their own permits? I don’t have an answer to that”…

Save The Bay is calling for construction of a drainage system, a concrete pad for heavy equipment, and a fully enclosed plastic cover to control dust and keep rain off the scrap piles. The environmental group also expressed concern about the lack of public information about a temporary dredging permit for dismantling the aforementioned submarine that has “mushroomed” into other uses. [my emphasis]

Recall that the Mayor Taveras championed his role in bringing in these industrial uses, calling one earlier this year “a very welcome addition to Providence’s working waterfront” (note – working waterfront is the lobbyist preferred term for the polluting special interests). But with this news and with the exposed “Mt. Taveras” scrap pile at Sims Metal Management growing every day, one has to wonder why these environmental questions and the health of local residents weren’t first and foremost among the city’s concerns.

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Public Risk for Private Profit

PBN reports this week on the high cost to the city of the recent sale of Promet Marine Services to the newest member of Providence’s polluting waterfront, Sims Metal Management. Six years before it was part of a $16.8 million sale to an international metal recycler, the Promet Marine Services pier on Allens Avenue was nearly sold to the city of Providence for a more modest price of just over $1 million.

But that deal was struck down by the R.I. Supreme Court in a decision that supporters of waterfront development point to with dismay as a key reversal that helped stymie proposals to rezone the area and open it up for nonindustrial uses.

“The city got screwed,” said Providence Ward 10 City Councilor Luis Aponte, the most vocal advocate for waterfront rezoning on the council… “I think now it is clear why the Cohens fought any changes down on Allens Avenue,” Aponte said about the amount Sims paid for the property. At issue for the court was this section of the purchase agreement with Promet: Not withstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, this Contract is conditional upon the City of Providence waiving its right to purchase this property under the same terms and conditions contained herein in accordance with R.I. General Laws Section 37-7-3. Said required notice to City was made by certified mail on May 18, 2005. If the City of Providence chooses to exercise its rights as provided in R.I. General Laws Section 37-7-3, then this contract will terminate and be deemed null and void.Sounds reasonable enough. After all, state taxpayers had maintained the property since the site was condemned in 1911 and quite obviously had an interest in ensuring the next use of that property be in the best interests of the people of the City of Providence. Again from the PBN:In Superior Court, the sale to the city was upheld, but after the Cohens appealed, the state Supreme Court in 2008 struck down the sale on the grounds that the Providence Redevelopment Authority was only authorized to buy “blighted” land, which the pier was not.I guess blight is in the eye of the beholder. Promet was never exactly an environmental poster child, but that’s not the standard applied. What the ruling says to me is that with enough money and the right attorneys, corporations can void whatever sections they no longer like of contracts signed with the people of the state. The result? You guessed it, a nice payout for the corporate interests and their attorneys and even more environmental harm for residents.

There is some good news. The next time the city has a chance to buy the property, the case for declaring the property blighted will be a lot easier.

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Progressive Education in Providence?

Good news via the mayor’s Web site:

The Coalition of Essential Schools (CES), founded 25 years ago by renowned educator Theodore R. Sizer, is moving into its new offices on 325 Public Street, co-located with Big Picture Learning at the Met School’s Public Street campus in South Providence.

“The Coalition of Essential Schools is a great resource for educators who are committed to thoughtful teaching and learning practices—not just for Providence but throughout the country. We are thrilled to have the CES establish new headquarters in the Capital City, and we look forward to their partnership in improving the education of all of our students,” said Mayor Angel Taveras.

That’s a positive sign, but I’m left wondering how much of the progressive education model is actually being embraced.

Last weekend the Coalition hosted its annual Fall Forum. Speakers discussed the problems with current education policy, such as that being promoted by Education Commissioner Gist. What concerns Providence parents is that a focus on high-stakes test taking turns schools into what Fall Forum speaker, Alfie Kohn called “glorified test taking centers.” The question for parents is not so much reform as it is which reform and by which method. Here’s Kohn (“Speakers decry test-taking factories,” Projo 11/13/2011 – not available online):

“Education has become like the old Listerine commercial,” Kohn said. “If it tastes bad, you know it’s working. Traditional education is as unproductive as it [is] unappealing”…

“These types of schools,” Kohn said, “squeeze the intellectual life out of the classroom and victimize the very kids who most need an education that is engaging.”Kohn may be what Projo calls an “education contrarian,” but he’s in good company in the continuous improvement world. Process improvement guru, W. Edwards Deming was once interviewed by a group of educators who asked him, what to measure to improve student performance?. So what was his response?Dr. Deiming: Don’t measure. For heaven’s sake, I’ve been trying to say, “DON’T MEASURE.” Whatever you can measure is inconsequential.What’s important according to Deming is to “restore and nurture the yearning for learning that the child is born with” (for more I encourage you to read this section of “The New Economics For Industry, Government & Education”). That’s exactly the type of reform Kohn is talking about. Let’s just hope the mayor is listening.

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Polluting Waterfront Limits Future Knowledge District Expansion

By now many will have noticed the growing pile of scrap metal (and who knows what else) in the hospital adjacent waterfront on Allens Avenue. The sale of Promet to the burgeoning junkyard leaves the city and the city’s taxpayers with even fewer options for development.“I think the energy [for rezoning] has left the room – people are much more concerned about what may or not happen” with land freed up by the rerouting of Interstate 195 through the city, said Providence City Councilor Luis Aponte, who represents Ward 10 and has supported waterfront rezoning. “I still think it should be part of the plan, although I don’t know how attractive it will be with scrap there.”And the potential for growth is there. Excitement over the land freed by the relocation of 195 is growing, but the available space is limited.That environment attracted Anne De Groot and her medical-research company, EpiVax, to the neighborhood eight years ago. Now with a growing company, EpiVax needs more space.

“I’m all totally about being in the Jewelry District,” De Groot said. “Somebody build me a building, I’ll move in.”

Economic-development officials want more of her kind.

When was the last time you heard that from a Rhode Island business owner? But EDC director Stokes notes that when that space is gone, Providence is out of the picture, saying “the state will encourage businesses to set up in nearby places such as Pawtucket.” Lovely.

With Mayor Taveras claiming the need for cuts to workers’ pensions to deal with the city’s “category 5” fiscal crisis, one has to wonder why these industrial concerns should be allowed to continue to limit higher density uses and their potential for much needed property tax revenue. Let’s not forget the spurned proposal for a  $400 million dollar investment in the city and the 2,000 desperately needed, permanent jobs that development promised. The proposal included plans for a hotel “[serving] families of patients at the 250-bed acute-care facility as well as passengers preparing to board cruise ships” at a new terminal, along with“a small amount of retail, a floating restaurant and public walkways.”

Just this week, PBN noted the “near-record numbers” for the cruise ship industry in Southern New England, a development seized on by other cities in the region and still a possibility for the deepwater slips on Allens (something New Bedford lacks).

In New Bedford, which has been trying to add the cruise industry to its traditional maritime portfolio of seafood and freight, the number of cruise visits jumped from 17 last year to 27 this year, said Kristin Decas, executive director of the New Bedford Harbor Development Commission.

“We had a stellar year,” said Decas, who attributed some of the new popularity of the port to the Whaling City Expeditions harbor tours many cruise visitors enjoy. “They jump on our small excursion vessel and do a harbor tour. We entertain them with a narrative of the fishing industry and how it is No. 1 in the country in terms of value of catch”…
In the last two years, American Cruise Lines has used Providence Piers on Allens Avenue as either a starting or ending point for 26 of its New England cruises.

The line has a deal with Providence Piers running through 2017 that pier owner Patrick Conley said this year was evidence that Providence, with its deep water and cultural attractions, could attract thousands more cruise-ship visitors each year if it were positioned right.

“To use an inappropriate metaphor, this cruise line could be just the tip of the iceberg for the Port of Providence as a tourist destination,” Conley said.

Instead we get the glistening “Mt. Taveras” (pictured) as our welcoming waterfront gateway to the Capital City.

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“Centrist” Economic Pap

Friend of the blog, Tom Sgouros expresses the following concern about protestors and supporters of Occupy Providence:I’ve enjoyed walking through Burnside Park on my way to and from work lately, and I find the activity and energy invigorating. One point that worries me, though, is represented in some conversations I’ve joined or overheard as I passed through, and it has to do with our political parties and the differences between them… Not being represented by either party isn’t the same thing as saying there is no difference between them. It takes a fool to deny the differences between our two parties.Notably Sgouros doesn’t offer the details of those conversations or list those differences he finds so significant, so we’re left to wonder what exactly he means. But it appears to be a common strawman argument, usually intended to marginalize those critics as unreasonable, to be set up and knocked down as if it actually represents the views of these “foolish” unnamed Occupiers.

The actual position is much harder to dismiss. With neither party addressing the great moral issues of our time, who cares if one supports minor policy changes of some sort or another while the other doesn’t? That’s an example of the illusion of choice, not proof of it. Here’s Gore Vidal some forty years ago:

There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party…and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit stupider, more rigid, more doctrinaire in their laissez-faire capitalism than the Democrats, who are cuter, prettier, a bit more corrupt—until recently… and more willing than the Republicans to make small adjustments when the poor, the black, the anti-imperialists get out of hand. But, essentially, there is no difference between the two parties.
Which part of that is foolish, Tom? I’d say that’s even truer now, than when Vidal wrote it. In fairness Sgouros goes on to conclude:…it also takes a fool to claim that what the bulk of the current Democratic party offers is economic populism or anything other than centrist economic pap. Which is a problem because centrist economic pap — bromides about growth, fealty to the “job creators” who walk among us, and lack of respect for the great mass of workers who made our country great — has not served us well.Yeah, sure, I normally vote Democratic, but count me with Vidal among the “foolish” on this one.
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RI ACLU Supports Occupy Providence’s Right to Peaceably Assemble

RI ACLU executive director Steven Brown yesterday on the Occupy Providence protest:The ACLU fully supports the right of ‘Occupy Providence’ to engage in forms of peaceful protest at the park and elsewhere in the city in order to express their political views and promote their cause. We believe that some of the particular rules and ordinances that have been cited by the City in an October 27th letter to protesters – including an apparent ban on any protest activity in the park after 9 PM – may be constitutionally problematic if they were to be enforced against members of ‘Occupy Providence.’ Peaceful First Amendment activity should not be subject to a curfew.The Projo oddly(?) buried the lede with their headline, “ACLU: Federal ruling limits Occupy Providence’s right to remain”. Contrast that with GoLocal’s take, “ACLU Supports Occupy Providence.” The ACLU did note the federal ruling and also their opposition to it:Issues surrounding the group’s indefinite encampment are more complicated. Unfortunately, there is a U.S. Supreme Court decision, called Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence, which upheld, in the similar context of a political protest, the constitutionality of a federal rule against overnight camping in certain public parks. We disagree with that ruling, but under the circumstances, we believe it significantly limits the First Amendment arguments that are available in support of the group’s right to indefinitely encamp at Burnside Park without a permit.The ACLU statement also hints at the possibility of legal action “for challenging Providence’s camping ban,” as yet unexamined.

For their part, the Taveras administration issued a statement with plans to pursue eviction via the courts. The mayor selectively quotes the ACLU statement in support of this action. Hopefully the rest of the words of the ACLU will weigh heavily as well:

This historic protest has been extraordinarily peaceful, and the participants appear to have been cooperative with city officials and respectful of needs relating to public safety. We appreciate the comments that have been made by the Providence Commissioner of Public Safety that any eviction proceedings will be done through an orderly civil, not criminal, process, and that there will be no effort to use force to remove people from the park. It is essential that all appropriate due process is provided before any such proceedings take place.

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The State’s New Economy Wrong Way Run

 Disturbing hints this week from EDC director, Keith W. Stokes, that the state plans to continue it’s new economy wrong way run, even possibly eliminating financing of the Slater Technology Fund, this on the heels of the positive news of a $9 million federal grant.

“The hope would be that we can continue to maintain state support consistent with past practice or, better still, increased levels of investment,” [Slater managing director Richard] Horan said. “Given the cost-effectiveness of the program … there is certainly a case to be made.”

But Keith W. Stokes, executive director of the R.I. Economic Development Corporation, says the $9 million from the U.S. Department of Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative should be a major step toward Slater becoming self-sustaining. “That money [now provided annually by the state to Slater] has to go to more economic development.”

Slater currently receives $2 million dollars from the state, money well spent and an amount itself reflective of the steep funding cuts doled out by the state in 2009.

Yes, there certainly is a case to me made for the cost-effectiveness of the program. In recent years Rhode Island moved from a middling 29th to as high as 11th in 2008 in national rankings, a needed bright spot in the state’s business outlook. When we look back in a few years at where we are, will we wonder why we let Tea Party type, anti-tax gone haywire conservatism trump sound business sense?

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Whose City? Our City!

We learn this week that the ostensibly progressive Mayor Taveras is seeking legal action to forcibly evict Occupy Providence protestors from Burnside Park “in next few days.” One has to wonder which constituency he’s serving in taking action (hmm, are their initials BOA?). For their part, the protestors have expressed their intent to continue to peaceably assemble and petition for a governmental redress of grievances.  There is also a petition urging Taveras and Paré to let the protestors remain in the park. Continue reading “Whose City? Our City!”

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Polluting Waterfront Poster Child Cashes Out

The poster child for the industry led effort to kill the $400 million redevelopment of the hospital adjacent area of Allens Avenue just cashed out, selling the firm to Sims Metal Management.

Ship repair company Promet Marine Services Corporation Ltd., located at Allens Avenue in Providence, was acquired by a metal recycling company.

Promet’s deep sea facility, with nine acres of land, a rail serviced 600-foot pier and two deep water berths will be the main export terminal for the newly formed New England subsidiary of Sims Metal Management Ltd.

So long, Providence! But look at the bright side, now you have yet another, even larger polluter to take Promet’s place and a lovely waterfront junkyard!

Among the recipients [of a S.F. Green Business Program award] was the local subsidiary of Sims Metal Management, a global company that shreds automobiles and appliances for recycling. The corporation also happens to be a big generator and dumper of hazardous waste.

 

As reported in this space previously, earlier this year the automobile shredding industry successfully lobbied to block rules that would have halted the dumping of treated waste from automobile recycling plants into municipal landfills.

 

While recycling may seem like an environmentally friendly idea, grinding up cars and separating only recyclable metal actually leaves behind hundreds of tons of toxin-containing residue in the form of ground-up cushions, wiring, and other material. Scientists say the stuff is unsafe, even when treated with silica-based coating, unless buried in specially sealed hazardous waste landfills.

 

Regulators with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control hoped to require just that. But the industry backs a pending bill to stop a rule that would have officially designated its byproducts as hazardous waste. Sims Metal can now plausibly claim in its financial filings that the million metric tons of waste per year it dumps in North America is “nonhazardous.” The attempt at changing this designation was a big deal. In a worst-case scenario, the material could leach lead, PCBs, mercury, and other toxins into groundwater.

 

Notwithstanding, attending the Veterans Building party to pick up a plaque last month was a vice president for Sims Metal Management. State records show that last year, 41,300 tons of waste went to landfills from Sims’ auto shredder facility in Redwood City.

 

City employees apparently were too occupied sniffing out nonbiodegradable window cleaners to conduct a Web search that might have revealed SF Weekly’s report noting Sims’ status as a major dumper of toxic garbage.

One has to wonder if this is what Mayor Taveras meant by bringing “green” jobs to Providence. Ever feel you’ve been cheated?

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A Primary Challenge for Obama?

One can only hope progressive momentum builds around this idea:

Worried the liberal voice is being drowned out in the presidential campaign, progressive leaders said Monday they want to field a slate of candidates against President Obama in the Democratic primaries to make him stake out liberal stances as he seeks re-election…

“What we are looking at now is the dullest presidential campaign since Walter Mondale — and that’s saying something, believe me,” [Ralph] Nader told The Washington Times. Continue reading “A Primary Challenge for Obama?”

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Pragmatic and Progressive, Driver’s Licenses for All Residents

This week the Governor made the progressive case for issuing driver’s licenses or driving permits to state residents, regardless of their immigration status:

Responding to questions about a vote by the Board of Governors for Higher Education to approve in-state rates for undocumented students, Chafee said being able to drive would help people who need transportation to go to school or work or to look for work.
He said has spoken with officials in Utah, which he said is the only state that has established a special class of driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants.

“I’m working on it,” he said. Continue reading “Pragmatic and Progressive, Driver’s Licenses for All Residents”

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T is for Theocrat

Progressives have long been skeptical of “grassroots” movement born with a rant on corporate media and promoted by folks like former House majority leader, Dick Army, and a bevy of right-wing billionaires. But that hasn’t stopped the right-wing from claiming the Tea Party is “surprising new political force” out to upset the status quo. So which is it? Surprise, surprise!

Beginning in 2006 we interviewed a representative sample of 3,000 Americans as part of our continuing research into national political attitudes, and we returned to interview many of the same people again this summer. As a result, we can look at what people told us, long before there was a Tea Party, to predict who would become a Tea Party supporter five years later. We can also account for multiple influences simultaneously — isolating the impact of one factor while holding others constant.

Our analysis casts doubt on the Tea Party’s “origin story.” Early on, Tea Partiers were often described as nonpartisan political neophytes. Actually, the Tea Party’s supporters today were highly partisan Republicans long before the Tea Party was born, and were more likely than others to have contacted government officials. In fact, past Republican affiliation is the single strongest predictor of Tea Party support today. Continue reading “T is for Theocrat”

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“Bomb Now, Pay Later”

Paul Craig Roberts lays bare what’s wrong with the deficit hype being used to foist the dismantling of the social safety net on the American people: Recently, the bond rating agencies that gave junk derivatives triple-A ratings threatened to downgrade US Treasury bonds if the White House and Congress did not reach a deficit reduction deal and debt ceiling increase.  The downgrade threat is not credible, and neither is the default threat.  Both are make-believe crises that are being hyped in order to force cutbacks in Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security…

There is no budget focus on the illegal wars and military occupations that the US government has underway in at least six countries or the 66-year old US occupations of Japan and Germany and the ring of military bases being constructed around Russia.

The total military/security budget is in the vicinity of $1.1-$1.2 trillion, or 70 per cent -75 per cent of the federal budget deficit.

In contrast, Social Security is solvent.  Medicare expenditures are coming close to exceeding the 2.3 per cent payroll tax that funds Medicare, but it is dishonest for politicians and pundits to blame the US budget deficit on “entitlement programs.”

Entitlements are funded with a payroll tax.  Wars are not funded. The criminal Bush regime lied to Americans and claimed that the Iraq war would only cost $70 billion at the most and would be paid for with Iraq oil revenues. When Bush’s chief economic advisor, Larry Lindsay, said the Iraq invasion would cost $200 billion, Bush fired him. In fact, Lindsay was off by a factor of 20. Economic and budget experts have calculated that the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have consumed $4,000 billion in out-of-pocket and already incurred future costs.  In other words, the ongoing wars and occupations have already eaten up the $4 trillion by which Obama hopes to cut federal spending over the next ten years. Bomb now, pay later.

imho, the so-called “compromise” can be viewed as nothing short of a stunning betrayal of the Democratic base. Is it to soon to say “Nader 2012?”


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