Down the drain

The DOT plans to spend money earmarked for the
Pawtuxet on projects of dubious ecological value

by Michael Iacobbo

Back in the days before World War l, many families spent Sunday afternoons relaxing under the veranda at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet, or wearing wide-brimmed hats and paddling canoes down the river.

But today, most fish don't dare tread in the Pawtuxet, while the few boaters who do paddle the river go to great lengths to avoid getting splashed. In these waters, they're more likely to run into an oil slick than a school of trout.

Due to improvements in sewer treatment plants and discharge regulations, the river has been running cleaner since the '70s, when pollution in the Pawtuxet was at its peak. What's more, the state has the means now to take the next big step and tackle the river's greatest source of pollution -- water gushing from old storm drains into the Pawtuxet.

But the state Department of Environmental Transportation has other plans for the federal funds earmarked for these drains. Officials from the DOT want to use the money to upgrade sewer lines and to sweep roads, projects of dubious ecological value.

In another case, the DOT hopes to use the money to complete one of its own, long-standing projects, according to Alison Walsh, the federal Environmental Protection Agency's watershed coordinator for the Pawtuxet. She calls this "double dipping" and says the funds should come out of the DOT's own budget.

"It's really really tragic," says Walsh. "They are essentially spending the money for paving projects."

In 1991, the Rhode Island DOT received $15.3 million under a federal act that US Senator John Chafee helped draft. Called the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA), it awarded funds to various states for specific projects. Rhode Island's $15.3 million was for the "design and construction of a storm drain retrofit on [Interstate] 95 and other highway runoff programs to protect Narragansett Bay."

Two years later, the DOT even committed $400,000 of the ISTEA funds for a three-year study on the storm drains' impact on the Pawtuxet, Moshassuck, and Woonasquatucket rivers, all of which empty out into upper Narragansett Bay. The study's results, released last September by the University of Rhode Island, identified 196 highway-related storm water discharges that dump pollution into the rivers. Out of these, the study ranked the 20 worst ones. If the DOT has its way, none of these will be upgraded.

What's worse, Chafee, known as "Mr ISTEA" for his efforts, doesn't seem too concerned about this, and no one will comment on a meeting with the DOT over the storm drains a few weeks ago.

"The role of the federal government, or Senator Chafee's role, is to obtain funding for the state," says John Goodman, a Chafee spokesman. "It's not always appropriate for us or the senator to try to dictate to the state or community or what the state or community has to carry out."

Tale of two rivers

The 26-mile Pawtuxet, which means "river of little falls" in American Indian, has the dubious honor of being the state's most polluted river. One out of five Rhode Islanders live within a mile of its banks, while the river originates at two points.

The northern branch flows from the Scituate Reservoir and into Coventry and West Warwick. Here it joins the southern branch originating from Johnson's Pond and Lake Tiogue. It eventually becomes part of the border between Cranston and Warwick and empties out into the Pawtuxet Cove.

Given its route, "the Pawtuxet could be one of the best canoeing rivers in New England," says Curt Spalding, director of Save the Bay.

But despite the Pawtuxet's merits, the Blackstone River has enjoyed the limelight in Rhode Island, reaping the most from urban river cleanup efforts over the last two decades. In 1986, the Blackstone was officially designated a so-called heritage corridor, making it eligible for millions in federal cleanup funds as well.

Rick Harrison, executive director of the Pawtuxet River Authority, says the Pawtuxet's pollution problem has improved somewhat over the years. Wastewater treatment plants along the river are more careful now, while the 10 factories discharging into the river (among them Dart manufacturing and the Original Bradford Soapworks, maker of Dove, Lever, and other brands) have done everything but shut down to help solve the problem, says Harrison.

"Now we're at the crossroads," he says. "We can make some real improvements now, and it's a travesty we're not."

But as Congress continues to rewrite ISTEA, which expires September 30, DOT officials say there's not enough time to design upgrades and secure permits to storm drains along Interstate 95.

According to the DOT, the $15.3 million must be committed to projects that can start right away, or Rhode Island might lose its ISTEA funds. Testifying at the meeting a few weeks ago, DOT engineer Mike Bennett said the drains would involve "intensive survey labor, design, and a lengthy process for permits" -- an endeavor that could take two years.

Why hasn't the DOT already started the storm drains project? Officials from the department say URI released its study only last fall. Others say that state environmentalists and DOT employees debated how the federal money should be spent for too long before moving on the URI study.

The DOT needs to get projects off the ground by summer at the latest, says Bennett, or Congress might rescind the money. If that happens, the Rhode Island General Assembly would be in a "weak position" to ask for money again when ISTEA is renewed in September.

But not everyone is in a hurry to begin projects. While acknowledging that the threat of recision is real, Charlie Hawkins, an aide to Chafee, says DOT officials can solve the problem merely by committing money to projects benefitting the Pawtuxet and Narragansett Bay. "It's important to get money in the pipeline," he says. "Once the money is obligated, the threat of recision is gone."

A draining experience

According to environmentalists, there are several ways to treat storm runoff, including the construction of wetlands and the retrofitting of storm drains.

Artificial wetlands are used to capture the water and settle out most of its polluted solids before they have a chance to drain into a river. The wetlands essentially "mimic what nature would naturally do," says Nicole Cromwell, Save the Bay spokeswoman.

Storm drain retrofits or septors, on the other hand, are designed to capture the first gushes of draining water, which carries the most pollutants, and route it into a sump or basin. This would allow cleaner water from the tail end of the storm to flow through the drain.

The retrofits are inexpensive, running about $5000 for medium-sized units, and would have to be cleaned out at least once a year, says Bennett. Since most of the drains identified in the URI study are in tight spaces, they would be retrofitted with these units.

Overall, about 15 drains dump runoff into the Pawtuxet, along with 3.5 million pounds of lead, hydrocarbons, zinc, chromium, cadmium, and other toxins a year -- the equivalent of 1000 ground-up cars, says Walsh.

One drain in particular, located on Interstate 95 near the Route 10 exit, accounts for almost a third of this amount, as it drains some 55 acres, compared to an average of 10. To ignore this drain, then, is to ignore the single leading source of pollution to the Pawtuxet.

But DOT officials say their proposed projects would also help the environment. One would clean up a cove vital to the shellfishing industry, for instance, and would be of "immense benefit to Narragansett Bay's water quality," says DOT spokesman Robert Shawver.

Under the $3.5 million project, the drainage system to Route 1 from Apponaug to East Greenwich would be upgraded, retrofitted, and cleaned at least once a year, and sewers would be added along the entire route. Today, the runoff and sewage overflows drain directly into Greenwich Cove, which has been plagued by shellfishing bans because of pollution problems.

While acknowledging the need for the upgrade, Walsh maintains that the project was already on a list of DOT priorities, so the money for it should come from the regular budget, not ISTEA money.

Other items on the DOT wish list include a $2 million sweeping contract for Interstate 95, a project the state says would reduce the flow of pollutants into the Pawtuxet, and also the construction of sewer lines along Cowesett Road in Warwick, which would coincide with the installation of new water mains there.

But since these projects do little to check storm runoff, Walsh says they shouldn't be paid for with ISTEA funds.The sewer lines, she says, would correct a septic problem, not a storm drain problem, while sweeping would be "ineffective when it comes to pollution prevention." Unless it is done everyday, "forget it," she says.

Taking legal action

On March 27, the Transportation Advisory Committee heard arguments similar to Walsh's but took no action on the DOT's ISTEA list. Made up of environmentalists, city and state officials, and citizens, the group's mission is to advise the state Planning Council, which ultimately must approve how the federal funds are spent.

While the council was scheduled to vote on the matter early this month, it delayed action until May 8, giving its members and environmentalists more time to negotiate.

"Good news for us," said Spalding after the March 27 meeting, but he would not comment further on the drains or any of the other proposals.

If the DOT gets its way, citizens groups would have the right to file legal action under the Clean Water Act, says Walsh. And legal proceedings have worked in the past.

In 1990, Save the Bay filed a notice of intent against the Blackstone Valley Authority over excessive sewage discharge at Bucklin Point. The Authority ignored the notice, and Save the Bay sued and scored a partial victory.

The organization didn't win the authority to solve the problem, which also involved storm drain discharge, but it did force the state Department of Environmental Management to require a permit for the discharge.

Robert Mendoza, director of the EPA's Rhode Island state office, says he doesn't think his agency will go to court over the Pawtuxet issue, but the agency's legal staff is looking into the possibility of permits for storm drains that allow pollution to flow into the Pawtuxet. This would force the DOT to upgrade the drains identified in the URI report last fall, says Mendoza.

Under the proposed requirements, municipalities such as Providence also would be responsible for upgrading drains within their jurisdiction. "They (DOT) may be reacting to a possible loss of money, but it doesn't excuse them from the responsibility of permits," says Mendoza.

Still, even with permit requirements, it could take several years before the drains are upgraded, he says.