U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (CT) said the only way to significantly speed travel along the existing rail line is to build new track “in places where there isn’t track today. And building new track involves some dislocation.” The proposed Old Saybrook to Kenyon, RI rail bypass that runs through Charlestown will remain part of the forthcoming New Haven to Providence Capacity Planning Study that Amtrak applied for funding for on March 27.
How municipalities respond to the demand for housing has significant consequences not only on community character but also residents’ quality of life and the resources they depend upon for their drinking water, livelihood, and recreational pursuits.
Despite the obvious need for a robust natural world to help mitigate the climate crisis, protect public health, and provide for future generations, many local and state elected officials continue to work on the behalf of developers to push projects to the threshold of what is allowable, and if that fails to satisfy chambers of commerce, industry trade groups, and other business interests, laws are passed and regulations rewritten.
Anyone can participate in the Great Nip Pickup Challenge, McCusker said. Save The Bay has a recycling bin at the public pier at Fields Point in Providence where collected nips can be dropped off. And the Friends of the Saugatucket offers pickups that can be arranged through its Facebook page or by emailing friendsofthesaugatucket@gmail.com.
Reporter John Kostrzewa describes a refreshing winter hike by a peaceful stream at Tucker Woods Preserve in Charlestown. This 66.5-acre preserve was farmed by generations of the Tucker family. Now it’s part of an 11-mile corridor of protected open space. A winter walk on a short, forested trail with a long, rich history can brighten a dreary morning during the depths of the season. Link to read the whole story at the Providence Journal.
Hopkinton – Byrnes was requesting that the town change its land-use table to allow a “commercial water distribution center,” which would help clear the way for a commercial well on his property. The issue highlighted the clash between individual property owners’ rights and the fact that water in Rhode Island is becoming a scarce resource.
Endangered species laws vary from state to state, and Rhode Island laws lack some protections that have been codified by its New England neighbors. “The regulatory frameworks that currently exist for protecting wildlife in Rhode Island are inadequate,” according to the state’s Community Wildlife Conservation Guide. Before rare species can be protected, the state must decide which species are of greatest concern and find where they are living.
“Only In Your State” reviews the Vin Gormley Trail that “offers endless opportunities for photos and quiet moments of reflection. With an abundance of lush green, a cascading waterfall and a picturesque boardwalk, the trail gives off a magical, fairy tale vibe that you really have to experience to appreciate. Perhaps even better, it’s picture-perfect in all seasons.”
Cynthia Drummond reports on the pace of growth in Charlestown and the impacts on everything from the Zoning Department, to the Planning Commission, to our Coastal Ponds and even drinking water.
A study of the impact of utility scale solar power installations on nearby housing prices by University of Rhode Island economists found that house prices within a mile of a Rhode Island or Massachusetts solar array declined by an average of 1.7%. Homes within a tenth of a mile of the installations declined by 7%.
As neighboring towns continue to approve the clearing of forest for utility scale solar, a new report shows RI has room to generate lots of solar energy without sacrificing the state’s dwindling green spaces.
CT Examiner is the publication launched by Greg Stroud who was the founder of SECoast that helped us defeat the “Old Saybrook to Kenyon Bypass” that threatened to bisect northern Charlestown. Here he and Cate Hewitt write about Charlestown. It’s worth a read!
Virginia Lee, president of the Charlestown Town Council, has a unique understanding of the salt ponds. She appreciates their economic value to the town, and as a scientist, she has also studied salt pond ecosystems that are affected by development, climate change and other factors.
“The amount of nutrients coming in, in groundwater inputs, was always assumed to be small enough that you could ignore it, and that’s what the models did. They just basically ignored it,” he said. “To many of us, that really didn’t make a whole lot of sense, because the materials that the ponds and bay are in are surrounded by pretty porous glacial materials.”
The objective of the project was to dredge the breachway, improving the flow of water and water quality in the pond. The dredged sediment was used on-site to build up the salt marsh, which has been subsiding — effectively drowning in place.
Advanced wastewater treatment systems, also referred to as denitrification systems because they reduce nutrients such as nitrogen, are required by the state for new buildings on the coast. Despite the more stringent regulations, however, groundwater nitrate levels remain elevated in several Charlestown neighborhoods and in the three salt ponds.
This excellent Rhode Island Monthly article by Todd McLeish explains that the harbor seals are only here in the winter months when water is cold. They head north to cooler waters in the summer. Story begins with a Blue Shutters seal release.
The Charlestown Planning Commission voted Wednesday against a controversial plan that would bring a Dollar General retail store to the village district off Old Post Road.
ecoRI: The ability of our woodlands to sustain our landscape and provide all those benefits is threatened by their continued loss and by fragmentation of the canopy. The rate at which the construction of roads, subdivisions and other human development continue to break up large, contiguous blocks of forest into an increasing number of smaller pieces is alarming. Fragmentation divides up the resource, and these islands of woodland provide limited benefits.
ecoRI: As the state progresses toward its renewable-energy goals, pressures are increasing to develop land with solar or wind resources, causing concern in some communities, especially rural ones. With smart local siting policies, both of the two “green” goals of renewable energy and land conservation can be achieved. Rhode Island communities can enjoy both the benefits of renewables and be good stewards of our landscapes and habitats.
The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management has awarded a $429,267 grant to clean up contaminated land around Clark’s Mill in Shannock Village. Built in 1848, the mill, on the Pawcatuck River, is currently owned by FXF Hydro, which submitted the grant application in December.
In late September, the tribe contracted with Invenergy to supply water from tribal wells that are sourced from the southern portion of the Lower Wood Aquifer, located in the Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed. The watershed comprises all or parts of Charlestown, Richmond, Hopkinton,Westerly, Exeter, West Greenwich, and South Kingstown in Rhode Island, and North Stonington, Stonington, Voluntown, and Sterling in Connecticut.
Westerly Sun: “The heavily redacted documents make it impossible to identify where the water will be withdrawn from the Narragansett parcels and what routes will be affected by tanker truck traffic, Platner said in her testimony. The maximum withdrawal quantity is also missing from the documents, making it impossible to gauge the impact on the town and the aquifer, she said.”
Invenergy recently announced the tribe as the back-up water supplier to cool its proposed plant. However, tribal members claim the water deal was made illegally without a vote from the tribal body, which violates the their constitution. Darlene Monroe, tribal elder and march organizer, said the next step is to file a court order that would put a stop to the water agreement.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Invenergy has reached agreements with the Narragansett Indian Tribe and Benn Water & Heavy Transport to serve as backup water suppliers to the fossil fuel-burning power plant […]
Communities across southeastern Connecticut and southern Rhode Island breathed a sigh of relief last month when the Federal Railroad Administration withdrew plans to build the controversial Old Saybrook to Kenyon Bypass, but a new study for alternatives is underway that could allow the bypass to return.
ecoRI News – Rhode Island just doesn’t get it, even when it tries to be 21st century. Cutting down 30,000 trees to make room for a solar farm is only slightly less 1980’s than destroying 200 acres of forest to build a fossil-fuel power plant.
The smallest state has plenty of wasted space, in the form of brownfields, old landfills, rooftops, parking lots and empty big-box retailers, but the Ocean State seems driven to Paul Bunyan its way to the future.
The cast of thousands who successfully convinced the Federal Railroad Administration there must be better ways to fix the Northeast Corridor than running track through some of this region’s most historic and beautiful areas should give themselves a round of applause. Then it is time to get right back to work and Act II. This is just intermission.
“I don’t think it’s over by any means because the Record of Decision sets a benchmark that requires a transit time between New York City and Boston of 2 hours and 45 minutes, roughly an hour quicker than what it is right now,” he said. “The plan no longer proposes any solutions, instead it sets up the New Haven to Providence Capacity Planning Study, which requires the state-level departments of transportation in Connecticut and Rhode Island to take on a larger role, and to find a way to meet this mandated time savings.
Scott Millar of Grow Smart Rhode Island, “Grow Smart certainly doesn’t support, taking agricultural land that can yield good, fresh food for Rhode Islanders out of production to generate power, and we certainly don’t support the clearing and further fragmentation of forest land that can negatively impact resources such as our drinking water, habitat, to supply power. I think Rhode Island needs power, and the increase in renewable energy is an important objective, but we believe there are many existing sites in Rhode Island that have already been developed or that are zoned for industrial or commercial use that can be used to support renewable energy.”