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.
]]>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.