ProvPort Expanson
Save The Bay alarm changes ProvPort expanson plans: no filling of the Bay
Early in July, Save The Bay sounded the alarm about an eleventh-hour change to the state budget asking Rhode Island voters to approve a $20M taxpayer-funded port expansion project on the Providence waterfront. The proposed expansion and bond appeared to be the first phase of a three-phase expansion of ProvPort outlined in a report by port planning firm Vickerman & Associates.
The first phase included only the acquisition of land along Allens Avenue and some infrastructure improvements, but the second and third phases envisioned filling 31 acres of Narragansett Bay. ???We have no objection to land-side expansion of ProvPort operations, but we are dead-set against filling the Bay,??? said Executive Director Jonathan Stone. What???s more, the proposed land acquisition may have included purchase (at taxpayer expense) of a contaminated property from a company that???s been blatantly polluted the Providence River for more than a decade.
The good news is that our press initiative to raise the alarm was effective in getting the attention of the key players on the field. As a result, and after conversations with Save The Bay, ProvPort amended its expansion plans to address our concerns.
In a press release, ProvPort said it has abandoned future phases of its expansion plans, that ???the information and plan we present to voters will no longer involve future filling or wharfing out over the bay?????? and that ???no state money will be used in a way that provides an economic windfall for those who have violated environmental laws.??? Save The Bay are satisfied with the changes made by ProvPort in response to our concerns.??