Our Restoration Advisory Board helps guide the cleanups of old World War II Navy sites near Newport RI. RAB meetings enable local leaders and interested citizens to learn from from Navy, RIDEM and EPA cleanup specialists. We try to mesh the cleanups with neighborhood considerations, and to spread the word about what is happening. We learn a lot that can be carried over to cleanups of non-Navy contaminated sites in our midst.
I have been on the RAB since its founding in 1995 … was its Community Co-chairman, 2016-21. The current Community Co-chairman is Henry Stueber, email hbstueber@comcast.net. The Navy Co-chairman is David Dorocz, Environmental Director for Naval Station Newport, email david.d.dorocz.civ@us.navy.mil.
It takes a long time to pinpoint contaminants, weigh cleanup options, and complete the work. Along the way, new concerns have shown up, like PFAS in soil and water near former fire-suppression systems. There is growing awareness of need to take into account the climate-related changes in our shore lines and storm-water runoffs. But the end seems in sight these next few years.     
This is my informal compilation of web links from the Navy, RIDEM, EPA and others about this. It seeks especially to help newcomers to get the picture..
David W Brown   Middletown RI   April 2024

 

Here is the Navy’s website about the Environmental Restoration Program at Naval Station Newport.

And Site Descriptions of the tank farms, land fills, pier areas, etc.

They include a useful map and summaries of the histories of the sites — previous uses by the Navy, contaminants found, cleanups thus far. Most of the sites are along “Burma Road” on the western side of Aquidneck Island. One is at the North end of Gould Island, near Jamestown.

Here is background about the roles and standards of EPA and RIDEM specialists in this work.

For the Navy Newport Superfund sites, here are the March 2024 RAB Update and overall Milestone Chart. They show overall progress toward cleanup completions.

This RAB Agenda and these RAB Minutes demonstrate the topics that we discuss and and the kinds of interactions that we have. Our meetings are serious-minded with important purposes, yet we have a relaxed, friendly manner … I guess that helps explain why I’ve stayed with the RAB all these years.

Articles in Newport this Week by Andy Long have been providing very helpful digests of these briefings. Andy has been covering RAB meetings for a long time and has good perspectives.

The Navy has been placing key materials related to the sites and cleanups in the public libraries of Jamestown, Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth.

Here’s a link on Navy Environmental’s webpage about outreach to the Newport community and the RAB.

           Note especially the RAB mission statement and operating procedures.

The RAB normally meets 6:30pm, the third Wednesday every two months. Since COVID, we have had “hybrid” live and webinar ways to take part. To be there in person is much better if you can make it. The usual place is at the Sonesta Select hotel, 9 Commerce Drive, westward from West Main Road, in Middletown.

Watch for the next meeting announcement and location in Newport This Week, Newport Daily News, and other outlets.

If you’d like to be on the official email list for RAB meeting notices and materials, let Navy’s David Dorocz know — david.d.dorocz.civ@us.navy.mil.

  • Our Restoration Advisory Board welcomes interested local citizens, leaders, officials, and those with relevant experience … and also students who would like to learn firsthand about skills needed for environmental cleanups, team building, and public meetings.
  • We seek constructive discourse and consensus-building, instead of win-lose confrontation. Politics and vested interests are left outside the door. The ground rules that we adopted when the RAB was formed in 1995 help us stay on track. Still, amid the Superfund cleanup protocols, at our meetings you’ll find genuine friendships, appreciation of skills and hard work, and healthy doses of humor.

Seeking information about human health hazards of site contaminants? Here are two reliable sources:

U.S. Dept of Health ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry) Specialists and MDs from ATSDR provided level-headed assessments and explanations.
Rhode Island Dept of Health, Environmental Health Risk Assessment Program Many links to others. Includes attention to PFAS.