The tour, which will cover the Bay Street neighborhood in North Tiverton and the site of the former Fall River Gas Co., coincides with a walkathon in Washington, D.C., to call attention to the link between health and the environment.

01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, April 27, 2006

By GINA MACRIS
Journal Staff Writer

TIVERTON -- What's it like to live with contaminated soil in your backyard, year after year?

Residents of the Bay Street neighborhood of Tiverton, who have cyanide, arsenic, lead, and other hazardous chemicals in the ground around their houses, will conduct a narrated tour of the contaminated areas in Tiverton and Fall River on Saturday morning.

The event will coincide with a walkathon to be hosted by the Center for Health, the Environment and Justice in Washington, D.C., on Saturday to call attention to the link between health and the environment.

It is also intended to raise money for ENACT, the Environmental Neighborhood Awareness Committee of Tiverton, which has sued New England Gas in a bid to force the utility to clean up the toxic soil.

For the last 3-1/2 years, since blue-tinged earth was discovered by workers digging a sewer line, the lives of more than 100 families affected by the contamination has become very stressful, according to Gail Corvello, president of ENACT.

Residents cannot grow flowers or vegetables, let children play in their yards, or sell or refinance their houses, she has said.

The state Department of Environmental Management has determined that the contamination is waste from the former Fall River Gas Co., which burned coal to make gas in the early part of the last century.

The "toxic tour" will will pass directly in front of the site of the former gas plant, on Bay Street in Fall River, now owned by New England Gas, Corvello said.

She said the tour would begin at her home, at 190 Bay St. in Tiverton, promptly at 11 a.m.

gmacrisATprojo.com / (401--277-7455