Holistic Approaches To Remediation & Site Investigation
If sustainability is the city’s goal, all parties involved with brownfields redevelopment along the waterfront must be willing to reevaluate how research and cleanup are conducted, what assumptions might be faulty or valid, and how wide the boundaries should be drawn to define what is at stake.
Example: The June 2000 HHC / Narragansett Electric Remedial Action Work Plan (RAWP) for Dynamo House uses a series of reports from between 1989 and 1997. However, a disclaimer on another file says that the environmental consultant Vanasse, Hangen & Brustlin does not claim to verify the accuracy or completeness of these reports. Key assumptions like the types of contaminants for which to test and at what depth were based on these documents. While developers may have no reason to doubt educated assumptions, especially when pressed for time and working within a budget, the scrutiny of even expert assumptions early on will reduce the number of potentially unpleasant surprises.
Most importantly, broadening the lens through which brownfields redevelopment is viewed along the waterfront is crucial to the sustainability of the waterfront economy, social vitality and the natural resources within a larger aquatic system. Issues such as sea level rise, water flow from the Providence River to Narragansett Bay ecosystem loci and the potential biomagnification of contaminants cannot be compartmentalized as separate issues from the immediate regulatory scheme of brownfields cleanup. A synthesis of issues is of the utmost importance.
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