Blackstone Academy got top certification for the RI Dept of Ed

Cpme and see as well as joining us on June 16th at 7pm

334 Pleasant Ave Pawt

It's been awhile since the last community meeting related to the Tidewater site off of Pleasant St in Pawtucket.  That meeting was held on March 6th at Varieur Elementary.  Thanks to all of you who were able to attend - it's so important to show that the community is interested and paying attention to the cleanup process!

Holly Dygert and I wanted to send this update to everyone on our email list - parents, community members, and other interested people - about what's happening related to the soil gas testing that will take place at Varieur this summer.  Samples of soil gas (literally, gas that's in the soil/ground under Varieur's lawn/fields) will be taken in order to find out if there are any impacts from the contaminants National Grid found along the Tidewater property line on the school itself.  The soil gas could be harmless or it could show us that some of the solvents that were found along the property line have migrated to the school property, which could pose a risk to the school community.  

See below for the update from Joe Martella, the site manager at the RI Department of Environmental Management (DEM).  He can answer any further questions you might have - feel free to contact him directly.  Further action will be taken if any problems are found after the sampling is done.  

Also, for those of you who are residents who live along Thornton St -- DEM has also been doing some indoor air testing to see if the same contaminants are impacting indoor air in any of the homes along that street.  If you live along Thornton St, or know someone who does, please contact Barbara Morin at RI DEM at (401) 222-4700 x7012 or barbara.morin@dem.ri.gov to set up an appointment to have your indoor air tested.  It can't hurt!  The solutions to indoor air problems related to the Tidewater site contaminants are relatively easy to fix (similar to how radon is addressed) and will give you peace of mind.

Hello all,

As requested, this is a brief update regarding the proposed investigation work near Varieur School. We have completed the bidding process and have selected EA Engineering (EA) as the Technical Assistance Contractor (TAC) to perform the investigation work. We are currently in the process of submitting all the required internal paperwork for generating the Purchase Orders, etc. to authorize EA to perform the Phase I and Phase II work.  Phase I should be completed before the end of June, and if everything goes as hoped, Phase II (the actual field work, soil gas sampling, etc.) will be performed in July/August while the students are out of the school. Thanks,

Joe

Joseph T. Martella II

Joseph T. Martella II

Senior Engineer

Office of Waste Management

Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management

235 Promenade Street

Providence, RI 02908

Tonite at 7pm at 334 Pleasant St- Blackstone Academy