CUMBERLAND — After living under a rusty bridge for a half-year, the homeless at Hope City Wednesday moved to a new spot: a grassy swath near railroad tracks and a toxic waste dump.

“We have enough water for six days,” said Roland Colpitts, 37, head of the homeless group.

By then, the group hopes to find transitional or permanent housing, he said.

Colpitts, treasurer Barbara Ferrara and other Hope City residents began setting up camp around 2 p.m., erecting a screened sitting area and two-room tent next to a wall of cement railroad ties.

They spent about a half-hour unloading jugs of water, food, plastic chairs, a stove and tents from a trailer driven by Pat Anthony, a Warwick home improvement contractor who was moved by the group’s plight. “It sounded like they needed help,” he said.

The homeless had until noon to move from their old site — a strip of state land under a closed Route 195 bridge in Providence — or face arrest for trespassing. Some had been camping there since late January.

The group on Monday asked a Superior Court judge to give them an extra two weeks to leave their camp beneath the bridge. The group is working with the state Office of Housing and Community Development and Crossroads Rhode Island to find housing.

But Judge Jeffrey A. Lanphear said they had to leave by midweek.

It’s unclear how long the homeless can stay in Cumberland.

The problem? The group moved to the site at the invitation of Wilfred “Eagle Heart” Greene, chief of the Seaconke Wampanoags. Greene says the land is part of the tribe’s reservation.

But town officials contest that claim. They also say it is on a Superfund waste disposal site, and that camping is prohibited in the industrial zone.

Cumberland Mayor Daniel J. McKee said Wednesday that town officials will verify whether the Seaconke Wampanoags have written permission from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to camp on the site.

If the land is being used in a way not allowed under its current zoning, the owner will be notified he is in violation and have time to correct it. If not, daily fines could follow, McKee said.

All that could take time, he said. The group could be gone before the town takes action.

“We are not looking to embarrass anybody, but we are going to enforce the rules and regulations that apply to everybody,” McKee said.

On Wednesday, Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas J. Tobin sent the Hope City group bus passes so they can travel from Cumberland to Providence, where the state’s soup kitchens and social service agencies are concentrated.

“I will keep you in my prayers as you continue on your personal journey and hope that you and others will find a more permanent place to call home,” he wrote.

Ferrara Tuesday accused the Rhode Island Coalition of Homeless of keeping a $500 donation to the group. But coalition associate director Karen Jeffreys said the money was a private donation to a single member of the group, a Hope City founder and homeless advocate. The coalition was never given the money, she said.

pdavis@projo.com