Mayor To File Landfill Lawsuit Tomorrow

Mayor Joseph Polisena announced at the Dec. 12 town council meeting that he plans to file suit against and Broadrock Renewables in Providence Superior Court tomorrow morning.

"We will do whatever is necessary to protect the residents of this town and the reputation of this town," Polisena said at the council session, held at the .

RIRRC manages the Central Landfill, while Broadrock runs a gas-capturing and burning facility at the Landfill. Since mid-September, the Landfill has been releasing a stench like that of rotten eggs, caused by uncaptured hydrogen sulfide escaping from the the piles of accumulated trash.

The companies have blamed excessive rains for clogging gas-capturing pipes; the state that Broadrock has apparently been burning less captured gas since May.

Polisena also announced that would begin additional patrols this morning starting at 7 a.m. outside the Central Landfill.

"We want to make sure that all ordinances are enforced — we're going to pay particular attention to the people traveling in that area," Polisena said.

The lawsuit and patrols are the latest in a number of steps the town has taken to try and get RIRRC and Broadrock to address the odor problems.

Polisena told the council on Monday night that he'd attended a meeting at the Landfill with Cranston Mayor Allen Fung and other local officials earlier in the day and found new trenches dug for gas-capturing pipes — but the pipes were left uncovered, allowing gases to escape.

"They dug four wells yesterday, but then they also dug these trenches where they try to get the pipes all together to collect the gas — and they left the trenches open," the mayor said.

During an earlier interview, Police Chief Richard S. Tamburini said local and state officers would be checking trucks to make sure they meet commercial regulations.

"We look at it in a roadworthy sense — if the truck has any defective equipment, it's stopped, cited, and towed off the road," Tamburini explained, adding that such monitoring is done by the department on a daily basis.

Deputy Chief David DeCesare confirmed via text message this afternoon that Johnston officers working in the area in the morning had three trucks towed from the area for violating commercial regulations. State police stopped and inspected a number of other trucks, DeCesare added.

Altogether, local and state police issued 12 court summonses to truck drivers and noted 22 violations of commercial vehicle laws, DeCesare reported.

Polisena also explained that he feels frustrated by the responses he'd been getting from the two companies.

"Once again, we just couldn't get answers — I said to them, 'Don't you guys get it?' but we really didn't get any answers," Polisena said. "It just seems like Broadrock points the finger at Resource, and Resource points the finger at Broadrock."