TIVERTON -- A lack of progress and cleanup since soil contamination was first found in North Tiverton two years ago has caused residents, town and state officials to change their approach for demanding relief.
The town plans to get the Fall River City Council involved, because contamination may also be in that city, an approach suggested by state Rep. Joe Amaral at last night's Town Council meeting.
North Tiverton, which is riddled with toxins and cancer-causing chemicals in its dirt, borders Fall River.
"Two states working together will get us more attention," Amaral said to the council. "We all know the [contamination] goes beyond the Rhode Island boundary."
A united front could possibly force Southern Union, the owners of the former Fall River Gas, to work more quickly, he said. Fall River Gas is suspected of dumping manufactured gas plant waste decades ago throughout the neighborhood. The state Department of Environmental Management wrote a letter of responsibility to Southern Union in March last year.
Since then, the neighborhood group ENACT has said the gas company has done insufficient soil testing on only half of the properties in the area.
The gas company has offered to conduct additional testing, however it doesn't plan to begin the work until mid-August.
"More is unknown than known on our properties," ENACT president Gail Corvello said during her presentation on what's been done so far. "Imminent health hazards could be anywhere and may have been missed. I'll go so far to say they probably have been missed. ...
"We lost most of last year's good weather because we can't go outside and at this rate, we'll miss out on most of this year's good weather also."
Yesterday morning, Corvello said a father came to her house with a bag of blue dirt that he dug from his Canonicus Street yard. He has three children, one who is 3 months old, who have been playing there. His property hasn't been tested at all, she said.
"He looked like he had seen a ghost," Corvello said. "He got this dirt right below the surface. I get goose bumps every time I think of his face."
ENACT is also concerned with workers, sewer and others, who have come to the area and excavated streets and soil and plan to continue. The group says it does not want anything else released into the air. A moratorium on digging has been in place since late last year, but workers still have come around, the group said.
Amaral said he believes the gas company is "purposely stalling."
An ENACT member responded, "They're trying to wear us down. It's not going to happen."
The council unanimously approved Amaral's suggestion. The town administrator and solicitors will send a letter to the Fall River City Council explaining the town's situation to begin communication between the two boards.
"Nothing's getting done," Corvello said. "Absolutely nothing. It's frustrating because we truly are prisoners in our own homes."
Alisha A. Pina can be reached by phone at (401) 277-7465 or by e-mail at apina(at)projo.com.
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