THE PUBLIC’S RADIO: Coal

Coal Tar Oil Leaks into Seekonk River from Tidewater Site

Coal byproducts leaked into the Seekonk River at the Tidewater Landing construction site. That’s the spot where a new professional soccer stadium is planned in Pawtucket.

In partnership with The Public’s Radio • ThePublicsRadio.org • By Sofie Rudin

Two boats motored back in forth on the Seekonk River Thursday morning [December 2], towing white, absorbent booms in their wake. The smell of gas hung in the air.

“We also see crews walking along the shoreline to the south of the site, with different absorbent materials,” pointed out Mike Jarbeau, Baykeeper for the environmental nonprofit Save The Bay, from a picnic table across the river.

The crews were working to contain and clean up coal byproducts leaching from the soil of the nearby Tidewater site. For the second time in four weeks, oil got past the system of floating booms meant to keep it from contaminating the river.

This is the spot where Fortuitous Partners plans to build a professional soccer stadium, accompanied by apartment buildings and retail space.

But before the stands can be built and turf laid down, the site’s industrial history needs to be dealt with.

The Pawtucket Gas Company built a gas manufacturing plant here in 1881 that converted coal, oil and tar into gas for lighting and electricity, according to National Grid. Over the next 90 years, byproducts of the manufacturing process, in coal tar and other toxins, soaked into the soil.

National Grid now owns the property. The company began remediation work earlier this year, which will involve removing contaminated soil and capping the site.

In the process, they removed a temporary cap, allowing gas byproducts to leach into the river. According to National Grid, booms had been set up in the water to capture contaminants during the cleanup work, but a portion of the oil breached the booms yesterday.

“That breach has resulted in a sheen that can now be seen on the water,” National Grid spokesperson Ted Kresse said in a statement.

Kresse said a current likely pushed the oil beneath the surface, below the reach of the absorbent boom at the surface. The curtain hanging below the boom, he said, is designed to catch silt, not oil.

“This is not how regulatory bodies or communities should ever, ever have to find out about oil spills–particularly when those spills are hazardous to human, animal, and ecological health.

An absorbent boom downstream of the Tidewater site.

Entities involved in remediation have the obligation to communicate clearly and promptly about this and any related issue,” she wrote.

Kresse said National Grid immediately notified the state Department of Environmental Management and the National Response Center.

“And we are taking additional actions to limit any further impacts, including deploying more soft and hard booms and additional matting for absorption,” he said.

This is the second time that DEM received reports of contaminants leaching from the site. An earlier report on November 12th followed a period of rough weather that “compromised the boom,” said DEM spokesperson Mike Healey.

Healey described the gas products as “non-recoverable,” meaning that once the material escapes the boom, it’s nearly impossible to remove from the river.

On Friday, a DEM marine biologist visited the site to inspect fish that had washed up on the banks of the river.

“She found only one species of dead fish: menhaden, a baitfish that is among the most abundant fish species on the East Coast,” Healey said in an email.

If multiple fish and bird species had been found dead, he said it would “likely indicate a wider-scale contamination or poisoning due to the release of liquid coal byproducts on Wednesday. The menhaden most likely died, however, due to cold shock, which they’re susceptible to.”

The Seekonk River is a relatively undeveloped stretch of water that connects the heavily industrialized Blackstone River to the Providence River, which then flows into Narragansett Bay.

“You can get striped bass, bluefish at the right time of year. Lots of birds, lots of other small baitfish. So it’s a recovering ecosystem,” said Mike Jarbeau of Save The Bay. “I would say the Seekonk historically has had quite a few issues. A very industrial past. But it’s an up-and-coming area that people are really rediscovering along the river.”

Of the slick, he added, “I just hope it’s being dealt with appropriately and it’s not gonna harm the ecosystem in the long run.”

Note: This story was updated Friday afternoon [Dec. 3, 2021], after a DEM biologist visited the site to assess the cause of fish deaths on the river. Reporter Sofie Rudin can be reached a SRudin@ThePublicsRadio.org