State regulators solicit public input on Rhode Island Recycled Metals environmental remediation plan at community meeting.
The plumes of smoke soaring from a south Providence scrapyard five months ago have cleared.
But frustration over the environmental and health consequences for those who live near Rhode Island Recycled Metals still burned brightly Tuesday during a two-hour meeting at the West End Community Center.
The gathering was intended to comply with state environmental requirements for public education and involvement in the scrapyard’s future, along with mandated cleanup of hazardous levels of metals — including lead and arsenic — detected in the soil. But residents remained unconvinced that the company had overcome a 15-year history of pollution and safety problems — including two fires on the site this year.
“I go to sleep thinking about what would happen if a giant fire in that scrapyard sets one of those jet fuel tanks on fire,” said resident Ellen Tuzzolo. The Allens Avenue scrapyard sits a quarter-mile north of petroleum storage and distribution company Motiva Enterprises.
Monica Huertas, meanwhile, remembered the asthma attacks that gripped her children one night in April.
The next day, Huertas, an activist who heads grassroots group The People’s Port Authority, awoke to learn of a fire that broke out overnight at the scrapyard.
The second fire in July reignited scrutiny of the business, with a series of court filings ending with a month long business shutdown and subsequent, court-mandated set of safety protocols, including infrared cameras and a fire suppression system.