The environmental organization Save The Bay on Monday sharply criticized the proposal for a $20 million taxpayer-financed port development project on the Providence waterfront.
“Rhode Islanders should be aware of what happened in the waning hours of the General Assembly session,’’ said Jonathan Stone, executive director of Save The Bay. “With little debate and minimal disclosure, taxpayers are being asked to make a significant investment in the Port of Providence that may lead to filling 31 acres of Narragansett Bay and provide financial reward to a flagrant polluter of the bay.’’
ProvPort spokesman Bill Fischer disputed Save The Bay, saying the proposed bond issue covers only the land-based aspect of the port and does not include filling in Narragansett Bay. “Any discussion related to filling in the bay is somewhat premature.”
Fischer said the environmental group has “jumped the gun” and assumed that bay filling will happen soon. He said any plan for filling the bay would require years of environmental and regulatory studies. “It would be decades before we even start discussing that. We’re disappointed in Save The Bay.”
Stone said in a news release that the proposed expansion of the port appears to be based on a March 2016 report commissioned by the port, the Providence Redevelopment Agency and Waterson Terminal Services.
The report describes a three-phase expansion of ProvPort, which operates port facilities at Fields Point. The first phase, Stone said, includes only the acquisition of land along Allens Avenue and infrastructure improvements. But the second and third phases envision filling in 31 acres of Narragansett Bay along the capital city’s waterfront.
“Save The Bay has no objection to the land-based expansion of ProvPort operations, but we are dead-set against filling the bay,’’ said Stone. “The report clearly calls for filling of the bay to develop a new deep water general cargo multipurpose port marine terminal with ‘on dock’ intermodal rail logistics capability.’’
Stone also said that the report discloses that land being recommended for purchase includes a 5.27 acre parcel owned by AARE, LLC, which houses the operations of Rhode Island Recycled Metals, a scrap metal processing plant that has been repeatedly cited by the R.I. Department of Environmental Management and the U.S. Coast Guard for environmental violations. The attorney general and DEM are currently in Superior Court seeking a receiver to ensure that the site is cleaned up and vessel littering the Providence River are cleaned up.
“It appears that Rhode Islanders are being asked to buy a contaminated property from a blatant polluter who may benefit at taxpayer expense,’’ said Stone.
Governor Gina Raimondo and Stefan Pryor, the state commerce secretary, support the bond issue, which must be approved by voters at a November general election to take effect.