Last updated: 05.07.04 Nadav_Carmel@Brown.edu

RECOMMENDATIONS

The opportunities for future research based on this project are ample.

First and foremost, contemporary data (or any data since 1956) would greatly enhance the quality and robustness of the analysis. This could be in the form of spatial data, or simply records of chemical releases, which would also show the type and location of industries in a given year, depending on the source of the records. With the creation of a Providence data set that utilizes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s newer North American Industry Classification System code rather than the older Standard Industrial Classification code used for this project, more exact classification of industries will be possible, and hence less generalization would be involved in identifying potential contaminants at each site. More current data will provide a more complete picture of the industrial processes that have taken place at the sites within the study area, thus minimizing uncertainty as to whether or not the contamination that has occurred is actually related to those industrial processes.

If the study area is then expanded, census tract level demographic, economic, health or other data could be overlain with the cumulative hazard ranking data layer in order to present a picture of areas that might be more at risk due to environmental conditions. A study area that encompassed many more industrial sites would also lend itself better to an assessment of the methodology's effectiveness. Conversely, if the study area is decreased in size, more time could be spent on building in-depth archaeologies of each industrial structure in order to gain a more complete picture of the pollutants potentially still present in the soil.

Another somewhat related project would be to create a geographic information systems data layer from the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps. Such was attempted at the beginning of this project, but turned out to be well beyond its scope in difficulty, time and effort. However, such data layers would be immensely useful for future historical research, since the information contained in the Sanborn maps would be much more readily available for analysis or manipulation. Further, geo-referencing the Sanborn maps in this way would provide a quantification of how closely the maps fit to the contemporary parcel map.

In terms of what the results imply for cleanup and redevelopment efforts along the Woonasquatucket River, it is difficult to come to any conclusions, even with being able to check the results against what is actually present in the soil. The reason that records exist for certain sites is because those sites have been, currently are, or in the future will be the targets of remediation and redevelopment. Part of the Brown and Sharpe Manufacturing Company complex, for instance, now houses the offices of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management; the Nicholson File Company complex is now the Jefferson at Providence Place upscale apartment complex. Some sites are being cleaned up for the Woonasquatucket River Greenway Project, while the Providence Base Works of the General Electric Company is being considered for retail space. Those sites not targeted for redevelopment may languish, uninvestigated and unremediated, though it is the hope of this project that it may call attention to those potentially unknown sites in need of it, and to the struggling but vibrant area in general.