RIDOT Piled Contaminated Soil Next to Their Home, Tried to Get Family to Sign Release for $12,600
Saturday, September 26, 2020
The Carmona family has lived on a one-block street for 20 years in Providence. They immigrated from Venezuela, raised two children, and their oldest of the four grandchildren just graduated from the University of Rhode Island. Their daughter was pregnant. Life was good -- it was the American dream.
Then, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation and the contractor Barletta Engineering/Heavy Machine for the $410 million 6/10 project selected a piece of state land next to their home as a staging area for hundreds of tons of soil — soil that RIDOT admits now is contaminated.
Of the total project cost, Barletta and its partners in the 6-10 Constructors Joint Venture's portion of the project is $247 million, which the company claims was the low bid by “more than 80 million dollars.”
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RIDOT presented the Carmonas with a legal document, a sweeping release from liability for the state and its consultants and agents -- forever. The Carmonas say a top RIDOT official repeatedly pressured them to sign it.
For more than a year, the family's backyard, car, and grill all have been blanketed with the soil. Soil from the contaminated pile is coming through the fence into their backyard. Everything is covered.
RIDOT Now Admits Soil is Contaminated
RIDOT officials finally admitted the massive pile of soil is contaminated with potentially cancer-causing materials — months after James White President of Local 57 of the International Union of Operating Engineers began raising concerns and a GoLocal investigation.
The Carmonas, Virginia and Teofilo (or “Ramon” to his friends), say they have suffered from the project that was loud, dirty and they worried about the impact of the soil constantly blowing onto their property. The family says the construction site has been far more than a nuisance. They say it has done damage to their home, their lives, and they worry now about the impact on their health.
The Carmonas say the cracks in the home's foundation, concrete steps, and its interior falls are a result of the activities at the RIDOT project.
But the real worry is the soil piled up nearly to the second story that is "everywhere."
Pregnant Daughter and Release from Liability for RIDOT
Last fall, the biggest concern for the family was that Carmona’s daughter was pregnant. The family repeatedly contacted the RIDOT and the contractor asking to stop the pounding of machinery and control the materials from spreading on to their home and into their yard. The family asked RIDOT for relief to get their daughter an apartment during her pregnancy.
RIDOT made an offer to make the Carmonas a payment, a proposed payment that came with a far-reaching release from liability. According to the RIDOT document provided to GoLocal by the family, "The Carmonas alleged that they have been injured and/or damaged as a result of the interim construction activities related to the claim."
The total amount offered by the state was $12,600.
There was just one issue for the Carmonas. The release went far beyond payments to relocate their daughter for the period of the pregnancy -- it was an absolute release that indemnified RIDOT as well as contractors like Barletta.
"The Carmonas, for themselves, and their agents, representatives, heirs, executors, administrators, successors, and assigns...release forever the State of Rhode Island and its Department of Transportation, together with their respective officers, directors, employees, representative, consultants, and agents...from any and all matters, actions, cause of action, suits, debts, dues, sums of money, accounts, reckonings, bonds, bills, specialties, covenants, contracts, controversies, agreements, promises, variances, liabilities...arising out of the claim and/or the Project," stated the release -- in part.
RIDOT was asking the Carmonas to give up any legal claim for any damages in perpetuity both for the state and its contractors.
“In October of 2019, David Walsh tried to get us to sign a release for any damages, we showed it to a family friend who said ‘do not sign’ the release. [Walsh] asked us repeatedly [to sign the agreement] and told us to hurry,” said Mr. Carmona during an interview in his back yard.
Walsh, who serves as Assistant Director of Administrative Services, told GoLocal on Friday, “Sometime this summer, someone from Barletta went over and talked to the Carmonas about the problems."
“You probably should speak to someone at RDOT's communication office. I do know this, the supervisor for Barletta went to Mr. Carmona and talked to him,” Walsh added before ending the call.
GoLocal reached out to Barletta’s supervisor on the site, Dennis Ferreira, who is the contact for the Carmonas — he did not respond to phone calls or texts. The company did not respond to requests and the company’s attorney did not respond to requests to connect GoLocal with Ferreira.
RIDOT’s spokesperson, Lisbeth Pettengill wrote in an email to GoLocal, “Please contact the AG’s office.”
Earlier this week, Kristy dosReis, spokesperson for RI Attorney General Peter Nehronha said in an email to GoLocal, “I’m unable to provide further information at this time, as this investigation is ongoing.”
Everything Covered
A GoLocal visit and meeting with the Carmonas found their backyard, furniture, grill, and auto to be covered with a coating of material. The material from the pile that is considered to contain contaminated materials is on nearly everything.
“We cannot use our backyard. This is directly all over and often when the wind blows you cannot see because the soil goes everywhere,” said Mr. Carmona.
“We cannot have our grandchildren play in our yard. They killed our grape plants, everything is always covered with this material. We then learn that it is contaminated,” he added. GoLocal informed the family last week that RIDOT had finally admitted that soil on site is contaminated.
“When they are using certain equipment our house shakes, you cannot hear even when the windows are closed. We have cracks on the inside and the outside," Mr. Carmona.
The material is supposed to be covered with plastic sheeting. But the much of the pile closest to the Carmona's home is uncovered.
"This was a very quiet street - now it is terrible," said Mr. Carmona.
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