A collaboration of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RI DEM) and the University of Rhode Island Department of Natural Resources Science began in the summer of 1999 to identify and prioritize wetland sites for future restoration. This project is funded by the EPA and has two phases.

Phase I:

Phase II:

• Identification of sites in the entire watershed
• Prioritization of identified sites
• Feasibility studies at selected high-priority sites
• Feasibility study (ecological, economic, administrative)
  • e.g. cost estimates, logistical concerns
• Development of a Freshwater Wetland Restoration Plan for the entire watershed
  • Including site recommendations, potential funding sources, etc.
• Creation of a web site that focuses of freshwater wetland restoration in Rhode Island
• Collaboration with watershed residents, wetland restoration stakeholders, and other restoration programs throughout the project

Remedial actions to address Superfund contamination of dioxin in the Centredale Manor area continue under the guidance of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and others.

For more background information, try the EPA Woonasquatucket River website.

Pending further notice, the EPA will go ahead with its perferred plan for restoring dioxin-contaminated soils and sediments along the Woonasquatucket River in North Providence.

This is referred to as a Non-Time Critical Removal Action and the cleanup proposal involves three phases:

• Excavation of contaminated residential soils and floodplain sediments at specific locations around Allendale and Lymansville Ponds
• Restoration of the decaying Allendale Dam
• Transportation of soils and sediments to off-site treatment and disposal facility

Economic breakdown of the cleanup:

The public comment period ended December 3, 2000 and the EPA is in the process of evaluating comments and preparing an Action Memorandum.

The latest phase of the Remedial Investigation is the "Source Area Investigation" during which the EPA will focus on deeper soils and groundwater flow to determine if contaminants are travelling to the river from adjacent sediments. The drilling of wells along both sides of the Woonasquatucket will occur in the next few months.
	(Photo courtesy Centredale Manor Restoration Project Update Volume II, No.3-- December 2000)

Enforcement action against potentially responsible parties (PRPs) continues with the release of five General Notice of Potential Liability letters. PRPs include chemical manufacturing and drum recycling companies that were located on the site over 30 years ago and may have released dioxins into the atmosphere and water supply.