A community discussion about the future of ProvPort and environmental justice

"As the footprint grows, no matter how green the industry is, there are still diesel trucks and pollution," said Washington Park Association President Linda Perri. "Allens Avenue is a nightmare..."

The scenic Port of Providence

The Washington Park Neighborhood Association held a meeting at the Washington Park Library on April 11 about environmental justice and the Port of Providence featuring Chris Waterson, CEO of Waterson Terminal Services, which operates ProvPort, and Tim Shea, who works for the City of Providence's Planning and Development Department, currently working on the City's once in a decade comprehensive plan.

A week before this meeting, the Providence Sustainability Commission held a hearing critical of the Land Use Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan, and the night before the meeting there was a fire at Rhode Island Recycled Metals that poured toxic fumes into the atmosphere of Washington Park and South Providence, areas that suffer from some of the most acute environmental injustice impacts in the country.

Last year, ProvPort signed a 30-year extension on its lease, and as part of that agreement, the community will be involved in developing a new ProvPort Master Plan, which will use the still-in-process Comprehensive Plan as its starting point.

These are just a few of the intersecting interests that informed the public meeting. Industrial abuses at the Port go back decades, if not a century, and the health and economic impacts on the communities that live there have oftentimes been ignored for racial and economic reasons.

“Ports all across the country in these kinds of neighborhoods have a history of going south and we would like a commitment from everybody - including ProvPort and the City - that this is the beginning of a new phase, not just environmentally, but in terms of social justice…”

-Linda Perri

Here’s the meeting, edited for content and clarity:

Chris Waterston [CEO of Waterson Terminal Services]: We are the manager of ProvPort. ProvPort is the facility off of Terminal Road. You can see the sign at the intersection of Allens Avenue and Terminal Road. It's everything that the City of Providence used to operate as the Municipal Port up until 1994 when it was privatized. I was here last year when we were going through a process with the City of Providence with the city council on an extension of that agreement and that was finalized last year. Part of that agreement is entering into a Master Planning Process for ProvPort in conjunction with the city's Department of Planning. I'm here tonight to give an update on that and to announce that you're going to be seeing a lot more of me, and Kurt Spalding, soon.

ProvPort worked in conjunction with the city to go through an RFP [request for proposals] process to identify a third-party consultant to help us with this planning process. The whole point of the plan will be to look at the existing infrastructure of the Port, look at some of the areas - particularly along Allens Avenue where it's underutilized and there are not the greatest uses in the world, like scrap piles that catch on fire - and get a lot of community input and engagement - similar to the visioning that took place ahead of the Comprehensive Plan, and try to coordinate with some of the Groundwork and NOAA efforts as well.

Going back to the RFP process, we received five bids to review. The review was done by ProvPort, the City of Providence, and the Univerisity of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Department under Dr. Austin Becker and his team.

There were five bids from big nationwide consulting firms - engineering firms that do this kind of master planning work across the country. From the technical side of things, we found it hard to differentiate between the firms because they all had great expertise and have worked on projects across the country. We went with GZA unanimously because we felt that they were strongest in their community approach. The team of consultants that they brought together knows the community and we put a lot of weight into that aspect of it - more than the technical engineering side of things.

We selected GZA GeoEnvironmental as the lead consultant for that process. One of the reasons we did that is because GZA brought together a team featuring not just their own expertise, planning, and technical engineering, but also outside sub-consultants including Civic and Design Under Sky and other companies that have previously worked within the community and understand the dynamics down here. Kurt Spalding is here from GZA.

I'm here to announce that we're kicking off this process. The contract was signed last week and we're going through a scoping process with them - coming up with schedules. It's going to be a long-term process. It's going to be over a year and we're going to be touching base with the community and several stakeholders all around the Port throughout the process. That's the goal here.

Curt Spalding: GZA is an environmental consulting firm, geotechnical, environmental, and planning. We've essentially built a team with a planner from a firm out in California that does port planning all over the country and some other help from a firm that is part of GZA, from New Jersey. We've bought our best talent from across the country to help figure out how ProvPort will respond to the new markets that ports have. Chris is much more knowledgeable than I am, but there's a big change coming with how the ocean is being used and how ports are going to support renewable energy on the ocean. This is a big opportunity to see a transition to cleaner, more community-friendly uses as we go forward.

We need to figure that out though. It’s a very complex idea when you talk about markets, infrastructure, emissions, and scenarios that could be created. Everything Chris said about getting the community engaged in the process, not just showing up with plans but saying, “Okay, this is the kind of work we're doing based on the information we have.” We want it to be very engaging. We'll all be on the ground here talking about what can be done.

Chris Waterston: Part of the extension agreement with the City of Providence created two new funds that are a function of the revenue that ProvPort receives from its customers. There's a community benefit fund and a sustainability projects fund. Those have a minimum annual payment of $120,000 each. There's a revenue stream coming right out of the ProvPort that comes into the community. The sustainability fund is directed by the Sustainability Commission. The community benefit fund is directed by the Board of Parks Commissioners. As part of the Master Planning Process, we'll be engaging community feedback for those two funds as to what the community wants to see or where the community wants to see those funds get directed. It's a 30-year deal, so that's $120,000 minimum or 1% of revenue, whichever is greater for the next 30 years.

Linda Perri [President of the Washington Park Neighborhood Association]: That revenue is poised to grow.

In light of just what happened in the Port yesterday - the ports have a bad rap. That's no secret. Ports all across the country in these kinds of neighborhoods have a history of going south and we would like a commitment from everybody - including ProvPort, the City, and everybody - that this is the beginning of a new phase, not just environmentally, but in terms of social justice - like, it's going to change.

See: Recycled Metals blames arson for overnight fire at scrapyard

Chris Waterston: That's why we're here.

Linda Perri: It has to change - otherwise it won't be pretty because we're getting sick.

Steve Ahlquist: Mr. Spalding, what is your relation to GZA? What is your position there?

Curt Spalding: I've been kind of connected to this community for a pretty long time. I ran Save the Bay and built the Bay Center...

Steve Ahlquist: And you were an EPA [United States Environmental Protection Agency] regional administrator.

Curt Spalding: I was EPA regional administrator and I've been a senior consultant at GZA for about a year and a half. I have deep ties to this area. I go back to the Cianci administration and some of their ideas for what could happen around Public Street if all some of you are old enough - there were some exciting ideas put forth then but we were on the losing end of the big fight with the Providence Working Waterfront Alliance. I've been in the trenches ever since. Some of you may remember that the Narragansett Bay Commission wanted to build an 80-ton sludge incinerator and we rallied on that when I ran Save the Bay, working with DARE [Direct Action for Rights and Equality]. I have a long understanding of what's transpired, and as EPA’s regional administrator, launched some enforcement actions on Allens Avenue that didn't make me too popular down here with some pro-hazardous waste recycling groups. I have a strong understanding of the issues down here. As the world transitions to a green economy, the decarbonization of ports is critical, and Chris has put together a great team.

Chris Waterston: And it's already happening. About 30% of the port property is being utilized to support offshore wind construction. That's from zero three years ago and it's increased vessel traffic at the port as well. That's the future of the port profits.

Curt Spalding: There is a catalytic opportunity - where the port, inside the fence now, but further outside the fence later - catalyzes to new, cleaner vision; higher, better uses emerge; and investment comes forward to clean out what is not so good now.

Linda Perri: But it just seems like every time we get a step ahead, Sims Metal comes in and buys the strip. You've got to be aggressive - as aggressive as they are - otherwise we'll end up in a pile of scrap.

Curt Spalding: You need people who can make investments, take a community-minded approach, and are less exploitative in they're thinking.

Linda Perri: Case in point. The salt piles. Investment in Public Street is not going to happen if the salt piles are still there [and rotting away the roads.]

Chris Waterston: You and I have talked about this and I can say, for the benefit of the entire room, that Eastern Salt, which is the company that operates that salt pile, has made investments in their facility in Chelsea, Massachusetts where in the summertime when there isn't salt in storage, they open up their facility. It's sort of a dual use. For the benefit of everyone in the room, we don't have direct control over that, but we have a relationship with Eastern Salt and we’ve just started those conversations.

Community Member 1: So there's a potential that when the salt's not there, something worse could be stored there temporarily?

Chris Waterston: No. When the salt's not there, maybe expand parking for the Public Street area. In Chelsea, there's a basketball court in the summer when there's no salt there. They put up portable hoops and they have all the lines striped on the asphalt.

Doug Victor [community member]: Part of what happens with these plans is that we get a new administration, new city council people, and new state representatives and senators. There needs to be a plan that has enough fortitude and is strong enough to survive those kinds of shifts and changes.

Chris Waterston: ProvPort has existed for 30 years. ProcPort just signed an agreement to exist for another 30 years and it's agnostic of administrations and city council changes and all of that. Continuity exists within the management of ProvPort.

Doug Victor: Is there an inventory of ProvPort, Allens Avenue, and the greater port’s businesses and potential hazards?

Curt Spalding: With funding from Homeland Security, we have a team that is going to study future climate risks for the whole area - including all of Allen Avenue. They're going to inventory every business and get it onto a public-facing GIS [Geographic Information System] accessible map, and then they're going to interview larger businesses to extract vulnerability data from each business.

I don't know how transparent that's going to be - if businesses are reluctant to share information they consider proprietary - but there's going to be some aggregate information about what's going on with business risk, climate risk, business flooding, fire, that sort of thing. The URI team is going to be very transparent. They have RI-CHAMP [Rhode Island - Coastal Hazards, Analysis, Modeling & Prediction]. It's a hazard assessment tool.

Their team and our team are going to be coordinating on the hazards we're planning for, along with the economic opportunity we're planning for, and then [figure out] what is the community benefit. We're going to need a lot of input about this. Our commitment is to not have four meetings as prescribed in the plan. We're attempting to design something that will be more interactive, a much more interactive process. We want to organize an advisory committee to help us figure out how to build this process. We're not going to go to our offices on Valley Street and scheme this up in some room. We want to have a group of seven to 10 people to help us understand what kind of process works best for you in terms of timing, location, accessibility of information - all the things you might want to know or research as this thing is built. [We] are going to create a plan based on information. That information should be shared and we're committed to that.

Andrew Poyant: You have a lot of very hazardous industries in there, including Univar. I'd be interested in all the hazardous industries that are in there, what their lease terms are, and how you’re planning to not renew their leases and get cleaner industries in there that are beneficial to the community.

Chris Waterston: I can't publicly disclose lease terms, but I can tell you that those things are being evaluated as they come up. Some of them don't have that much time. That's about the most detail I can give you. As those leases come up, we are evaluating them because there are potentially greater opportunities for other industries that are supportive of offshore wind or other things like that.

Doug Victor: When there's no public disclosure, there's nervousness in the community.

Linda Perri: The leases and extensions would be determined by the board of ProvPort.

Chris Waterston: Yes. The board approves all leases.

Steve Ahlquist: Would lease approvals become public knowledge?

Chris Waterston: Not necessarily…

Steve Ahlquist: So leases could be reapproved now and we wouldn't know.

Chris Waterston: I would tell you if they were approved. I know that's my word, but lease renewals are not necessarily announced because while ProvPort is a partner of the city, it’s still a private company.

I just mentioned that we went from zero to 30% of the property being committed to offshore wind. We’re just getting started. We've only built one project and not even a quarter of another one, and there are hundreds and thousands of turbines, potentially, that could be constructed off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts over the next decades.

It's beyond the turbines themselves. It's the foundations, cable, and bringing personnel out to the wind farms. It’s not just construction but long-term operations and maintenance of the offshore assets. We're still understanding it. It's only just getting started, but we're very busy now already supporting that industry.

Community Member 2: What are you thinking about workforce development and continuing education?

Chris Waterston: That's top of mind with both us and the city. As part of our extension agreement with the city, some of the money was to fund a workforce training facility to develop offshore wind job skills. Again, we just closed this deal at the end of last year so all of this stuff is just getting started, but I think there's a lot more to come on that. It's one of the things that's on my mind as we go into the future. We have an aging workforce and we’re trying to hire from the community so that people who live in this community may potentially work either at the port or offshore in these different industries.

Linda Perri: As the footprint grows, no matter how green the industry is, there are still diesel trucks and pollution. Allens Avenue is a nightmare. How are you going to transition off diesel and can you lobby to have the state finally take up the train tracks to nowhere and fix Allen's Avenue? That's a futuristic vision, but it's been a mess forever and should change. Have you had any conversations with the state on that?

Chris Waterston: Frankly, no. That hasn't been. That's outside the gate for us…

Curt Spalding: I'm a little out of the loop at this point, but I know Rhode Island is adopting the California standards, tier three standard on trucks. It's quietly done because it attracts a lot of attention when a state aligns with the California position. Then there's this whole decarbonization and electric trucks that are coming online.

Chris Waterston: We've participated in the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, the DERA program, to upgrade all of our diesel equipment at the port to tier four engines, which scrubs the emissions as the engine is operating. That's the highest standard in diesel technology right now. We are also evaluating an EPA grant program called the Clean Ports Program, which is focused on the electrification of equipment. The technology for things like large forklifts is already pretty good, so we've scoped out some equipment.

Curt Spalding: For every path forward the port planning team is going to figure out what it means for the neighborhood and the environmental impact. As President Obama used to say, better is good. Hopefully much better is possible here. This is a 30-year plan, right?

Chris Waterston: It's a 30-year plan. It's going to take 14 to 15 months to complete.

Doug Victor: The south side has been subject to disinvestment for decades and has lost so much. People are not going to jump on the bandwagon and say, “Yeah!” because we’ve worked on plans that got put on the shelf, and nothing happened. We've done that over and over and over and over. In 30 years, I'm going to be over a hundred.

Curt Spalding: It's going to take a coordinated, multi-pronged effort to get the changes you’re looking for, whether it's land use or zoning. ProvPort doesn't own it all. I wish somebody at some point had bought the whole waterfront and got it under management.

Greg Gerritt: I've been thinking a lot about how we do economic development. I look at our economy and the only way we go forward in Rhode Island is to put climate justice at the heart of our economic development plan. What I have concluded is that when you don't start from a place of community involvement - economically it won't work. If we want a prosperous community, climate justice is going to be at the heart of our economic development.

Andrew Poyant: You mentioned wanting more public involvement and being engaged with the community. One way to build trust, even if you can't give us the whole lease, is to know when they expire for each facility and when those renewals are going to be. You have a lot of polluting industries that you lease to and since it is public land that you are leasing out, that should be public information. Also, you mentioned the board. Are there any community members from Washington Park or the south side on that board? And if not, what are you doing to get someone from the community on the board?

Chris Waterston: Linda and I have talked about that quite a bit. It's a seven-member board at the moment. There is no one from Washington Park Park or South Providence on the board. I don't control the ProvPort board - I work for the board - but I can advocate and I plan on advocating for that when there is a vacancy. That's the best I can give you right now. It's also something through this planning process, that we can talk about more.

Linda Perri: They ought to have an alarm system so if this happens again people are automatically aware that there's an emergency. A lot of people didn't know what was going on. You had to turn on the news. Channel 12 was showing pictures of these hundred-foot plumes of smoke. I live close to it and the smell just hits you. It was awful. Depending on which way the wind blows, you get it. It came west, directly into our neighborhood. And to that point, every time there's a little puff from the Shell Oil tanks or even things you don't smell, there's a cumulative effect. We live near a port. We are not unlike Louisiana, Florida, or California. We live near a port and we are getting it 24/7.

We might not smell it, but we're getting it. So we need to clean it up. I feel like it’s a Norma Ray moment here. We need to clean it up. If we don't want to be part of the solution, then shame on us because we're just going to get sick. We need to be part of the solution. I implore everybody to help. Give me your feedback and work with the EPA. They're there to help. I have to believe that, otherwise there's no sense in doing anything. We need to use them to help us. Otherwise shame on us. That means cleaning up the roads, that means sweeping the streets. That means everything from the bottom up. We'll harass everybody in the city.

Tim Shea [Department of Planning and Development]: I am here to give an update on where we're at with the city's comprehensive plan. It's our once-a-decade process where we think citywide about how we want Providence to change and grow over the next decade. We've been working on it for nearly two years now. We started with a community engagement process that identified issues of importance to community members and brainstormed solutions to key issues. After more than 70 different community events, meetings, online engagement, and public hearings we're now at the phase of shifting to public feedback.

The city is releasing some draft proposals for the comprehensive plan update. This is the community's chance to let us know if we heard you, if the process was as thorough as we thought it was, and if the issues that we've pulled out and the strategies we've identified reach the standard that you'd like to see.

Issue number one that we're trying to address in this update is the housing crisis. Housing ranks as the top issue in every neighborhood in the city. We're looking for ways to encourage new housing production. We're looking for ways to expand affordable housing. We're trying to identify areas in the city we think are suitable for more density to handle the new units that we need to keep up with demand and keep prices down.

Issues two and three, which I think are interlinked, are climate change and sustainability. People are concerned about the emissions that are contributing to climate change, but also how we're preparing for the impacts of extreme rain and heat. We've come out with draft strategies that focus on things like managing stormwater and getting rid of excess pavements that contribute both to heat and poor rainwater management. There's a lot in there on climate, housing, and land use so far. Transportation is another important issue - how do we make it easier and safer to get around and give people more convenient options? We're about to unveil our draft transportation chapter.

There were a lot of neighborhood-specific issues that we heard about. A big one was environmental justice. How we think about frontline neighborhoods near industry. Washington Park and South Providence are a perfect example. People want to see a different form of economic development. We want to see cleaner, more resilient, and more sustainable forms of economic development. This is early on in this process.

We're running a series of community feedback events at neighborhood libraries that's going to kick off on April 29th. The idea is that we're going to be there for the whole afternoon and evening and we're encouraging people to drop by and engage in-depth with our materials with some of the ideas that we're unveiling and have some time to think it through and share your thoughts.

Julien Drix [Chair of the Providence Sustainability Commission]: I'm a neighbor. I live a block and a half away here. We had a meeting last week, hosting Tim and others from planning, to review both the sustainability and land use chapters. There's a lot of great stuff in the sustainability chapter that is very aligned. The city has a climate justice plan that is nationally award-winning in terms of centering climate justice.

We discussed it as a commission. The commission has major concerns around the land use chapter, not so much the housing parts. A big part of the climate justice plan is building out housing and increasing density across all areas. But when it comes to the land use piece on industry, the draft land use policy slates, Allens Avenue for general industrial growth. It’s more of the same. There is some language in there about prioritizing businesses that are cleaner and more sustainable, but as we saw from the fire last night in the port, recycled metals can claim that they're a green business because they've got recycling in their name.

There are no teeth in this draft land use policy. We think there needs to be major changes made. This stretch along Allens Avenue is ranked in the 99th percentile compared to every other part of the country. So it is the top 1%. It is the worst of the worst compared to every other major environmental justice crisis around the country. We need to see major changes so that we don't get more Rhode Island Recycled Metals coming in. We don't see more toxic industry. We want to see things like offshore wind. The comprehensive plan is coming up right now and need to weigh in. So I'm sure we'll have more conversations about it in the future. So to keep an eye out for our letter - We will be asking the city to make major changes in that section. And unless those changes are made, we will be asking the city plan commission and city council to reject the current draft until those changes are made.

Tim Shea: We don't have time here tonight for me to defend our first draft, but I think it's gone from a vision of the port that is industrial and water-dependent to a vision of the port that [balances] economic opportunity and the community's interests toward cleaner, sustainable, more resilient industry.

Linda Perri: Cumulative impact and environmental justice need to be in writing in all plans. Without that, it's just words. There's no recourse.