The Block Island Utility District Board of Commissioners’ had what Chair Barbara MacMullan described as a “meaty” conversation at its meeting on Saturday, Jan. 23. There were several topics discussed, most of which involved planning for big projects.
Some of those projects had been put on hold during the current Covid-19 pandemic, such as the soil remediation and voltage conversion projects. Others, including plans for a new house for President Jeffery Wright, have been slowly moving along behind the scenes, and one project, which could be of high significance to the island, is in its infancy.
The soil remediation project was originally slated for this past fall and involves the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, which has a fund for the cleanup of contaminated soils. Wright reported that the area to be excavated relates to an old gas station and goes back to the 1930s and 40s.
While things were on pause due to Covid, Wright said the DEM representative he was working with retired, and he is now working with a new representative who found “a little more contamination” than previously thought. The project will involve moving 2200 cubic yards of soil – two barges worth