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News Advisory
RI Department of Environmental Management
235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908
(401) 222-2771 TDD/(401) 222-4462
FOR AP AND METRO NEWS DAYBOOKS:
Date: Tuesday, September 23

Time:

 Noon
Location: Woonasquatucket River behind 610 Manton Avenue in Providence
Event: Removal of Abandoned Vehicles, Including One From Middle of River

For Release:

 September 22, 2003
Contact: Gail Mastrati 222-4700 ext. 2402
Stephanie Powell 222-4700 ext. 4418

COMPANIES DONATE TIME AND EQUIPMENT TO HAUL, DISPOSE OF ABANDONED VEHICLES IN WOONASQUATUCKET WATERSHED

PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environment Management announces that three abandoned automobiles, including one in the middle of the Woonasquatucket River, will be recovered tomorrow and disposed of properly with the help of two local companies.

South Shore Utilities Construction Co. of Providence, a construction and equipment leasing company, is donating equipment and operators to the cause of hauling and towing the vehicles. Metals Recycling, Inc. of Johnston will shred the three vehicles for proper disposal.

The first automobile, which has settled into the sediment in the middle of the Woonasquatucket River behind an industrial site on Manton Avenue, will be hauled out of the river at noon tomorrow after Christian Turner of DEM's Office of Water Resources wades into the river and hooks the automobile to South Shore's towing rig. Attention will then turn to hauling a second auto, burned and abandoned at the site of the proposed Woonasquatucket bike path in the same area. The third vehicle will be recovered from the bottom of an embankment in a small stream by the entrance to Buttonhole Golf Course on Mancini Drive around 2 p.m.

According to Turner, the three junked vehicles are symptomatic of long-term problems along the Woonasquatucket River that are being addressed by those who live and work in the Woonasquatucket watershed area. The project, which has the support of the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council, was originally planned to coincide with the Narragansett Bay Commission's Woonasquatucket River cleanup event, which has been postponed until Thursday due to forecasted rain on Tuesday.

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NOTE: Hauling of the vehicle from the river and the towing of the second vehicle, a burned hulk, can be viewed from behind the back parking lot of Cowan Plastics LLC of 610 Manton Avenue in Providence. Hauling of the third vehicle from the embankment near the entrance to Buttonhole Golf Course is estimated to be about 2 p.m. and can be seen from Mancini (now Buttonhole) Drive, which is off of Glenbridge Avenue in Providence.
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