Last updated: 05.07.04 Nadav_Carmel@Brown.edu

RESULTS

The project produced as its result a series of maps: a map each for the years 1889, 1900, 1921, 1951 and 1956 showing the potential for long-term contamination as it was in each year, irrespective of the past, and a cumulative hazard ranking map of the potential for contamination based on the aggregation of all five maps. The maps for each year follow. For geographical reference, the easternmost yellow star is the former Brown and Sharpe Manufacturing Company, now called the Foundry and the current home of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (Point One); the yellow star closest to the first is Eagle Square, the intersection of Eagle Street and Harris, Atwells and Sims Avenues (Point Two); and the westernmost yellow star is Merino Park, in the neighborhood of Hartford (Point Three).

The Potential For Contamination in 1889

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The dark parcels to the northeast are the site of the Rhode Island (RI) Locomotive Works, and the few sites located in the study area's elbow are textiles manufacturing industries. Either the Sanborn maps for this year are lacking in detail, or industry along the Woonasquatucket River had yet to take off.

The Potential For Contamination in 1900

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Within ten years, the textiles industry was gathering steam. The sites in the northeastern third of the map are a mix, including cold storage (Merchants' Cold Storage, the parcels directly under Point One), the RI Locomotive Works, rubber production (the J. Banigan Rubber Company, the darkest parcel just northwest of Point Two), metalworking (the Rogers Screw Company, the darkest parcel just west of Point Two; the Brown and Sharpe Manufacturing Company, at Point One), and textiles manufacturing (the other parcels just west-northwest of Point Two). All of the sites in the western two-thirds of the map are textiles manufacturers, including the future brownfields Riverside Mills (the long parcel directly across the River from Point Three) and Lincoln Lace and Braid (at this point in time called Merino Mills, the rounded parcel directly west of Point Three).

The Potential For Contamination in 1921

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From 1900 to 1921 the textiles industries along the River do not appear to have changed much, but the metalworking and rubber production industries appear to have grown. The large parcel just northwest of Point One is a chemical production facility and the rest of the parcels around Point One comprise the Brown and Sharpe Manufacturing Company (manufacturers of machine parts). The large dark complex just north of the River above Point Two is the United States (US) Rubber Company; the dark parcel just southwest of Point Two is the Providence Base Works of the General Electric (GE) Company. Most of the parcels below the River between Points One and Two are various (non-jewelry) metalworking facilities. The industries along the eastern two-thirds of the River are still exclusively textiles manufacturers.

The Potential For Contamination in 1951

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Little change is evident between 1921 and 1951. The entire complex north-northeast of Point One is now part of the Brown and Sharpe Manufacturing Company. Most of the parcels between Points One and Two are still (non-jewelry) manufacturing metalworking industries, and the parcels west of Point Two are still primarily textiles manufacturers. The Merino Mills site is now called Lincoln Lace and Braid.

The Potential For Contamination in 1956

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In the short span of five years, the collapse of the textiles industry is strikingly evident. Most of the industries contained in the parcels around and between Points One and Two are still metalworking industries. The Brown and Sharpe Manufacturing Company and the US Rubber Company have not changed or changed ownership.

Cumulative Hazard Rankings

The following cumulative hazard ranking map shows the relative likelihood of a parcel presently containing contaminated soil based on the methodology.

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It can be seen that almost all of the parcels with the highest hazard rankings are grouped in the northeast third of the study area in every map, including the cumulative hazard ranking map. Most of the industries along the western stretch of the Woonasquatucket River were various kinds of textiles manufacturers, which received the lowest hazard rankings according to the methodology. Those that represent the highest hazard rankings are mostly metalworking (including jewelry making and machinery for the manufacturing of textiles), but also include rubber production, cold storage, chemical storage and an engineering research facility.