At a community input session on Sep. 26, roughly 25 residents met in the cafeteria of the Juanita Sanchez school to discuss the 30-year ProvPort Master Plan. Residents of Washington Park and South Providence expressed clear concerns about the environmental, accessibility, and health conditions of the area — describing in strong terms how they felt their voices have been ignored and their communities harmed over the last 30 years of operation in the Port.
Community members commented on the free reign of polluting companies — such as Interplex Engineered Products, which settled with the EPA earlier this year for violating hazardous waste laws.
“Air quality surrounding the Port of Providence is impacted by air pollution from diesel trucks, marine vessels, oil and gas storage and distribution, asphalt and cement processing, metals recycling, natural gas and utility service, and large heating plants,” according to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.
However, other industrial companies which have contributed to deteriorated environmental conditions are further on Allens Avenue, out of ProvPort’s jurisdiction.
Several attendees also said they wanted to see further community representation on the Advisory Committee for the Master Plan.
While representatives from the City and ProvPort presented on the planning process, the anger and exasperation from South Providence and Washington Park residents was palpable.
Monica Huerta, executive director of Providence’s People’s Port Authority, stood up during the City’s remarks to address her fellow community members. “Let it rip,” she said, explaining that the public officials have thick skin and should hear their feedback. “We forced their hand and now we’re here” having public input meetings, she added.
Huertas also expressed disappointment that the Ward 10 and Ward 11 City Councilors, Pedro Espinal and Mary Kay Harris, were not in attendance.
“I know that there’s a lot of frustration, like Monica said, and we want to hear it,” said Manuel Cordero, chair of the Providence Redevelopment Agency. “We want to absorb it.”
At the PRA public meeting Oct. 2, Director of Planning Joe Mulligan explained that the PRA is serving as a “co-facilitator” for the public outreach process.
Many were unconvinced that their voices would influence the plan. Attendees expressed concern about how unfettered development would impact their lives, and asked that pollution monitoring and real-time alerts about dangerous air conditions be easily accessible in the community.
“How much community control of the Port is the public going to have in the new plan?” President of the Black Lives Matter RI Political Action Committee Harrison Tuttle said, according to ecoRI. “And how much community control of the profit being generated by the Port is in the new plan?”
The non-profit ProvPort, Inc. was created in the mid-1990s to manage the wharf and port area near Allens Avenue. It was granted a 30-year lease, which the City has opted to renew.
Chris Waterson, CEO of Waterson Terminal Services LLC which oversees ProvPort’s operations, said he was hoping for a “robust public process” as planning out the next 30 years of the port is underway.
Last week’s meeting was the first community input session — meetings in November, February, and April have yet to be scheduled but will be announced.
By Katy Pickens / Planning and Preservation Writer / kpickens@ppsri.org