TIVERTON -- Sen. Jack Reed and three other state officials sent a letter to the federal Environmental Protection Agency Monday that urged the agency to get involved with the soil contamination matter in North Tiverton, a neighborhood of more than 130 homes that shares a border with Fall River.
The officials are concerned the contaminated area may cross state lines. They also want the former Fall River manufactured coal gasification plant, which is suspected as the source of the contamination, fully investigated.
"We urge you to provide financial and technical assistance to RIDEM and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to ensure that the site investigation fully characterizes the site and determines its boundaries," read the letter from Reed, Sen. Lincoln Chafee and Congressmen Patrick Kennedy and James McGovern.
Southern Union Co., the parent company of New England Gas Co., bought Fall River Gas in 1999. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management issued a letter of responsibility to Southern Union last March, after it discovered Fall River Gas allegedly used the neighborhood as a dumping grounds for its plant waste decades ago.
Southern Union had tested some properties in the area last year and discovered cyanide, arsenic, lead, mercury, napthalene and other cancer-causing substances in amounts that exceed state standards. The DEM found that testing "incomplete" and ordered the company to perform more tests, which Southern Union says will begin in mid-August.
Those living in North Tiverton say they have not been able to fully use their properties since the contamination was first discovered in August 2002.
Some residents have also had medical problems they suspect may be because of contact with the toxins. The neighborhood group ENACT has summarized their lives as "prisoners in their own homes."
ENACT president Gail Corvello said Monday that "the health, safety and well-being of the families and children has got to be the main concern and driving force behind getting this situation resolved, quickly and thoroughly."
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