Talk:Alton, Rhode Island

Untitled

Way too much about the local politics, not enough about the actual place. —Mhari^* 07:17, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

Seconded. --Starstriker7(^{Say hi}_{or see my works}) 04:26, 20 September 2008 (UTC)

There needs to be citation for these facts about the town. Also, the image of the St. Thomas Episcopal Church is neither referenced in the text, nor is it relevant to the article. (LancerFate (talk) 19:48, 2 February 2017 (UTC))

Local pollution

Movd from article space: too much detail about just one part, need more about the town RJFJR (talk) 21:45, 29 November 2009 (UTC)

All of the source links from altoncommunityaction.com are broken because the site no longer exists. Citations are needed for the majority of these statements. (LancerFate (talk) 19:46, 2 February 2017 (UTC))

What's in the water?

GZA GeoEnvironmental, an environmental science company hired by Charbert, conducted most of the research on possibly contaminated sites.

GZA has detected high levels of MtBE in the drinking water of several properties. MtBE, a gasoline additive no longer used in Rhode Island, has been tied to health problems and may worsen contamination by other compounds. Although MtBE may not have been introduced by the Charbert factory, residents report that it was present in local drinking water before being added to gasoline Rhode Island. For more information on the health effects of MtBE, visit the Environmental Protection Agency website at [1].

GZA has neglected to test a number of areas with suspected chlorine-containing compounds because they are afraid of disturbing them. Chlorine is a toxic gas. They have tested only shallow soil on the Charbert property in order to uncover potential sources of contamination; but without testing deeper levels, they cannot assess the extent to which the contamination may have spread. For more information on the health effects of chlorine, visit [2].

A waste oil tank covered with concrete tank graves was removed in the 1980's. Although GZA and the DEM agreed that they did not want to disturb the concrete, there have been no tests to determine whether or not those tanks may have contaminated the soil around them. Limited contamination has been found so far, but that is due in part to a limited investigation.

Major players

Charbert: factory located in Alton since 1962; has history of air and water pollution. Subsidiary of Narrow Fabrics of America that is headquartered in Alton.

Alton Community Action: organization of local residents committed to fighting to get Charbert to take measures to reduce or eliminate pollution in the local area.

Toxics Action Center: collaborates closely with Alton Community Action.

GZA GeoEnvironmental: hired by Charbert to do research and testing in the ground for groundwater contamination and land.

Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management: the government agency in charge of keeping the local environment clean and mediating between Charbert and local residents. Its director, Michael Sullivan, is a former Alton councilman, but has decided to recuse himself from the case.

Clark Memorial Library: This library has an archive of all of the documents related to the dispute between Alton and Charbert since its inception. The documents are available for public view. The library is located at 7 Pinehurst Drive in Carolina, RI. Access the library's website at: [3]. (Most of the information in this entry was found in these documents.)

Timeline of recent events

These proceedings are well-documented, but also somewhat out of date being over a decade old. Have there been any more recent updates on court proceedings or other actions by the community? (LancerFate (talk) 19:50, 2 February 2017 (UTC))

11/30/1978: First air and water quality complaint at Alton (Providence Journal (Projo), 6/21/04)

March 2004: Alton Community Action (ACA) forms (Projo, 8/4/04). Visit their website at: [4].

6/9/2004: Richmond Financial Town Meeting agrees to spend $45,000 to study feasibility of public water system to serve Alton.

6/21/2004: RI Department Of Health (DOH) finds that air quality in Alton bad enough to be considered a nuisance- a legal level where the state can require Charbert to reduce the smell (Projo, 6/21/04)

7/15/2004: Charbert agrees to aerate one of lagoons in the hope of mitigating the hydrogen sulfide smell. (Fortunately, the smell of rotten eggs has mostly been eliminated.)

7/17/2004: ACA sends email to Attorney General's office (Projo, 7/20/04)

7/21/2004: ACA sends emails to Governor and head of RI Department of Environmental Management (DEM) (Projo, 7/21/04)

7/28/2004: Charbert announces it is considering building a water treatment plant to replace the its waste lagoons

7/30/2004: Residents of Alton release result that indicate air pollution levels higher then found by DEM (Projo, 7/30/04)

8/13/2004: DEM issues notice of violation to Charbert, fines them $9,500 (Projo, 8/18/04)

9/13/2004: Charbert appeals DEM notice of violation (Projo, 9/13/04)

3/18/2005: The DEM and Charbert have been meeting privately to craft an agreement. DEM allows the Town of Richmond to join its talks with Charbert by granting it intervenor status. (Projo, 3/18/05)

7/22/2005: DEM and Charbert agree to find and implement a solution to odor. The town of Richmond, though granted intervenor status, says it was not included in the talks. (Projo, 7/22/05)

7/26/2005: Town of Richmond sues DEM for agreement it made with Charbert because the town was not included in the talks and does find solutions to all problems outlined. (Projo, 7/26/05)

8/2/2005: Town of Richmond files a lawsuit against Charbert seeking closure of waste lagoons and damages from odor. (Projo, 8/2/05)

9/15/2005: Town argues before RI superior court Judge (Projo, 9/15/05)

11/30/2005: Toxics Action center puts Charbert on its "Dirty Dozen" (ACA, http://www.altoncommunityaction.com/dirtydozen.html), marking the Charbert site as one of the top 12 polluters in New England that "pose a significant threat to public health and the environment and need immediate action by industry and/or government officials."

References