Not only does the Woonasquatucket have powerful allies, supporters, and assets, but it also claims status as home to a Superfund site in a residential area along its banks.

The discovery of dioxin in soils and sediments along the banks of the Wooansquatucket in residential areas of North Providence and industrial sites in Johnston as well as fish tissue samples in 1996 meant that the river rocketed into State stardom and a relatively accelerated version of the Superfund cleanup process began.
	(Diagram courtesy of EPA National Center for Environmental Assessment)

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

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 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 spring and summer of 2001.
	(Photo courtesy Centredale Manor Restoration Project Update Volume II, No.3-- December 2000)