On Jan. 18, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha P'19 P’22 charged Barletta Heavy Division, a Massachusetts-based construction firm responsible for the Route 6/10 Interchange project, and Dennis Ferreira, a former Barletta senior employee, with four counts each surrounding the alleged illegal disposal of solid waste at multiple sites in Providence.
“I believe in those charges, but we need to prove them in (state) court,” Neronha told The Herald.
Barletta and Ferreira both pleaded not guilty in Providence Superior Court Feb. 7, WJAR reported.
Separately, Barletta agreed to pay the federal government “more than twice the amount paid by the government as a result of the conduct” last October. And last December, Ferreira pleaded guilty in federal court to three counts of making a false statement in connection with a federally funded highway project regarding the origin and environmental compliance of materials for the interchange. The United States has also entered into multiple non-prosecution agreements surrounding Barletta’s actions during the construction of the 6/10 project.
“Personally, I’m glad that both the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the (Rhode Island) Attorney General’s Office went after this case and made a big deal out of it,” said Margaret Curran, senior attorney at Conservation Law Foundation Rhode Island, who is not affiliated with the case. “People are harmed, and cleanup can take forever and there’s no one around to pay for it.”
According to local community organizations and court documents, Barletta’s alleged illegal dumping of thousands of tons of contaminated waste poses an environmental risk to surrounding communities in Providence.
Barletta was contracted for the completion of the Route 6/10 Interchange project in 2017, which involves constructing the “entire interchange” and “replacing or removing” structurally deficient bridges, according to the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.
Barletta and Ferreira were charged at the state level for illegally disposing of solid waste from their projects from other sites — an MBTA excavation in Boston and Pawtucket/Central Falls Bus Hub and Commuter Rail Station at the 6/10 site in the Olneyville neighborhood.
“We don’t know the full health implications yet, but our community is very worried about it,” wrote Miguel Sanchez, vice chair of the Olneyville Neighborhood Association Board and city councilor for Ward 6, in an email to The Herald.
“The action by this company is intolerable and we commend the AG office for taking action on this matter,” Sanchez wrote. “Anyone who is committing environmental injustices must be held accountable.”
The third count against Barletta states that Ferreira and the company operated a solid waste management facility without the approval of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. By allegedly bringing outside material to the 6/10 site, Barletta was “effectively operating a solid waste management facility without being licensed,” Neronha said.
Ferreira and Barletta were also accused of providing false statements on “testing performed on materials that were imported from Massachusetts” to officials from the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, according to court documents from the Attorney General reviewed by The Herald.
“We hope that this action by the (Attorney General’s) office sends a strong message that these types of injustices will not be tolerated anymore,” Sanchez wrote.
Because Ferreira was the superintendent of the 6/10 project, he was “responsible on-site for everything that happened there,” Neronha added. “The company is responsible for his conduct.”
Ferreira and his attorney did not respond to multiple requests for comment by publication time.
Following the release of state-level charges, Barletta released a three-page statement “respectfully” rejecting Neronha’s charges.
“None of the soil and stone transported to the 6/10 job was solid waste,” the statement reads. “The soil and stone transported to the 6-10 highway job was the same in composition and makeup as the urban soil already present in, around and under the 6-10 highway for generations.”
The statement added that the charges brought against Ferreira represent the "unauthorized actions of (a) former employee."
"Mr. Ferreira acted independently without the authorization, knowledge or consent of Barletta, and … that upon Barletta learning of that employee’s conduct, his employment was terminated," the statement reads.
Barletta did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Herald.
Toxic materials from Pawtucket and Boston allegedly brought to Providence
In 2019, BETA Group, Inc., the environmental consultant for the Pawtucket site, submitted a site investigation report to RIDEM detailing “contaminated soil” with contaminants including arsenic and hydrocarbons. “Unrestricted” future use of the soil could have posed risks, according to a police narrative included in the court documents.
Barletta also worked on MBTA railroad projects in the Boston area, which involved ballast stone replacement for the stone used under the tracks, according to the police narrative. Excavation plans required any stone used offsite to be tested beforehand.
Because the 6/10 project required “large amounts of gravel,” Barletta allegedly began making its own gravel partially from the Boston stone in July 2020, though the stone had not been tested, according to the narrative. Additionally, it claims that Barletta dumped 1,144 tons of the contaminated soil from Pawtucket between two sites in Providence.
Complaints about the ballast began to circulate in 2020 when a Local Union 57 operator allegedly complained “about the dry conditions at the work site, as well as the apparent composition of the materials” being dumped in the Olneyville stockpile, according to the police narrative — a complaint eventually reached RIDEM. Local Union 57 did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
“I think it’s pretty outrageous the way that it came to light through the union,” Curran said.
The police narrative also alleges that Ferreira used an environmental report from a different ballast site where the level of contamination met state requirements in place of testing the ballast from the MBTA project.
The soil transported from Pawtucket first came to light when a RIDOT inspector “confronted Ferreira” about removing soil from the site, according to the narrative. RIDOT declined to comment on the active case.
RIDEM eventually tested soil samples from the Route 6/10 connector construction site, finding “elevated levels of chemicals that occur naturally in coal, crude oil and gasoline,” Michael Healey, chief public affairs officer at RIDEM, wrote in an email to The Herald.
“These chemicals result from burning coal, oil, gas, wood, garbage and tobacco and are often found in the soil of cities with industrial histories, like Providence,” Healey wrote. “They have a low degree of acute toxicity to humans, but they’re still toxic.”
Barletta’s statement placed the blame for the transfer of the materials on Ferreira, who allegedly did not have the “knowledge or authorization of Barletta,” and additionally claimed that the materials were not intended to be discarded, while challenging that the soil counts as “solid waste.”
“The soil at issue is 'urban fill,' which is commonly found in city settings throughout the United States, particularly around highways located in urban areas like the 6-10 highway project,” the statement continues.
“It takes a while to investigate matters like this,” Curran said, noting that it took nearly three years to prosecute Barletta following initial complaints. “Environmental crimes can be harder to prove."
Neronha said he anticipates a trial, but that Barletta may file motions to dismiss.
“I hope that individuals alleged to have committed these irresponsible and negligent environmental crimes are met with justice,” Providence City Councilor Oscar Vargas said in a statement. “Olneyville has long suffered from poor community health outcomes and the reckless actions of wealthy corporations only exacerbates this issue.”
“Rhode Island,” Vargas told The Herald, “is not a dumping ground.”
