2007 John H. Chafee Conservation Leadership Award Winner
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The Nature Conservancy & The Town of West Greenwich
The Nature Conservancy and the town of West Greenwich are co-recipients for the acquisition of the “Heart of the Pawcatuck Borderlans”: Three contiguous properties totalling 1,650 acres and part of a large privately held forest adjacent to a number of large and small conservation properties in both Rhode Island and Connecticut.
In 2004, two of the three properties appeared to be slated for development: More than 300 house lots were proposed. The Nature Conservancy reacted to the possible loss of key parcels by opening negotiations with the three owners, agreeing on a price and enlisting financial support from the state and numerous sources to raise a total of 66% of the $25 million purshase price. West Greenwich and RI citizens passed an $8 million bond issue to complete the deal.
West Greenwich and RI citizens will gain access to a large network of conservation land providing new hiking, horseback riding, and hunting, skiing, snowshoeing and fishing opportunities. The purchase also protects 7 miles of rivers and streams and helps preserve the Wood River watershed.
This purchase has great significance on a state and regional level. The 1,650 acres from a strategic parcel in The Nature conservancy's long-term effort to create a 200 square mile Pawcatuck Borderland forest. They potentially created the largest unbroken forest between New York and Boston by purchasing private parcels adjacent to large conservatin areas in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
2007 Outstanding Conservation Projects And Programs
Portsmouth Abbey School's Wind Turbine Project
Portsmouth Abbey is a private school of 350 students. The school promotes responsibility for community service and leadership in the larger world.
The installation of the first utility scale wind turbine in Rhode Island was undertaken to set a positive example to students and the larger community as well as to reduce the Abbey electric expense. The project was partially funded by a gran from the RI Renewable Energy Fund.
Since completion, the Abbey has shared its experience and turbine performance details with many interested groups and individuals. Tours are an ongoing activity. Turbine revenues are being used to fund reduction in energy and resource use: conversion to conpact florescent lamps, electric vehicles, high efficiency boilers, solar heat and hotwater and water-saving devices.
Westerly Land Trust
Acquisition of the Grills property, 485 acres inculding 2.5 miles of fromtage on the Pawcatuck River provided a major increase in owned riverfront. Gills is now the largest component fo the Westerly Land Trust Pawcatuck River Corridor Initiative, action to preserve sites of scenic beauty and wil life havitat along Pawcatuck as well as to maintain water quality and the aquifer that flows beneath it.
Nine properties have been acquired totaling 740 acres. The River Corridor is an essential feature of the town comprehensive plan and the state Greenway Plan.
Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Rhode Island
Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Rhode Island (WRARI) is Rhode Island's sole non-profit organization providing medical treatment and rehabilitation to injured or orphaned wild birds and mammals. It operates the Wildlife Clinic of RI, the only facility that can legally handle all wildlife species.
The Clinic is staffed by a full time volunteer Executive Director, a paid Clinical Director and a part time staff person and has a membership of 13 licensed volunteer rehabilitators. The clinic treated about 1,700 wild birds and mammals in 2006.
The trend is for an increasing number of injuries as more rural land is developed. WRARI also provides ongoing training for licensed wildlife rehabilitators, volunteers and individuals who answer the Wildlife Hotline and field thousands of calls annually.
2006 John H. Chafee Conservation Leadership Award Winner
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Bill's Auto Parts' Auto Recycling
Bill's Auto Parts in Cumberland has been diligently working over the past 15 years to transform their “junkyard” into a modern auto recycling business equipped with state-of-the-art software, techniques and best management practices. Bill's Auto Parts processes approzimately 2,000 autos annually and recycles 75% of the auto.
Auto parts, including metal, batteries, catalytic converters, aluminum, tires, gas and oils are reused and recycled either on or off-site. Hazardous materials are removed from the waste stream and disposed of in full compliance with the EPA, RI DEM and Narragansett Bay Commission regulations.
Bill's Auto Parts has been an active participant at the state, regional and national levels for auto recycling reform including RI's most recent mercury removal legislation. Bill's is also a leader in the auto industry by offering educational outreach to students, senior groups and media coverage. The URI Center for Pollution Prevention has provided technical advice on polllution prevention.
2006 Outstanding Conservation Projects And Programs
Coventry Land Trust's Breene Conservation Easement
In 2005, the Coventry Land Trust purchased a conservation easement on a 165 acre parcel of forested land to prevent future development of teh property. The property, owned by RI Senator Kevin Breene, borders the eastern edge of the 45,000 acre Wood River Barrens, which includes Nicholas Farm and Arcadia Management Area. More importantly, the property is part of the ecologically diverse “Pawcatuck Borderlands”, which encompass 136,000 acres of conservation land in 10 towns along the Rhode Island-Connecticut border.
Senator Breene will retain ownership of the property. He is willing to allow passive recreation. The $500,000 purchase was a cooperative effort with The Nature Conservancy, the US Forest Service Legacy Program, RI DEM and the Coventry Land Trust.
Ocean State Environmental Education Collaborative
In 2004, Save The Bay, the RI Zoological Society and the Norman Bird Sanctuary joined forces to provide elementary students with natural science enrichment programs. A 12 member AmeriCorps program was created to give 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students an opportunity to receive hands-on, interactive, ecologically focused education programs.
Through classroom and field trip participation, 630 students from Newport and Providence benefited from the key themes of the program: introduction to natural science, ownership of your neighborhoods and responsibility to the environment. The Ocean State Environmental Education Collaborative has recently offered the program to the Boys and Girls Club of Providence and hopes to extend the program to additional Newport schools. The program's budget, roughly $95,000, is funded by a Corporation of National and Community Services grant and the three member organizations.
West Warwick Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant's
Beneficial Compost Reuse Program
The West Warwick Treatment Plant provides sewage treatment for seven cities and towns. Over the past 20 years, the Plant has been working to develop a reusable biosolids material to lower disposal costs and benefit the environment.
A compost product, named “Wonder Works” was approved by RI DEM in 2002. “Wonder Works” combines sewer sludge with wood ash, a wastewater product from wood fired boilers. Annually, the Plant produces 12,000 cubic yards of “Wonder Works” used for landfill cover, agricultural and recreational soil conditioning and residential lawns. The RI Department of Transportation and the RI Division of Fish & Wildlife have used the compost for various projects, including roadside remediation. The Plant has reduced its sludge disposal costs by $300,000 annually.
2005 John H. Chafee Conservation Leadership Award Winner
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The URI Center for Pollution Prevention
In 1989, the URI Center for Pollution Prevention (the Center), comprised of scientists, engineers and students at the University of Rhode Island was founded with financial support from the US Environmental Protection Agency and the RI Dept of Environmental Management. The Center helps find cost-effective solutions to reduce and eliminate pollutants by investigating process changes, recycling opportunities, and highly efficient treatment technologies.
Research done by the Center helps educate and prepate students to soolve existing environmental problems for businesses. Recently, for example, the Center assisted Breystone, Inc., a metal-working business located in Lincoln, to reduce the amount of waste generated and disposed resulting in an 80% savings for the company. More than 400 companies in the state have eliminated millions of pounds of waste, reduced environmental liability and health risks, and increased business profitability due to the work of the Center.
2005 Outstanding Conservation Projects And Programs
Audubon Society of Rhode Island's
Environmental Education for Urban Schools Initiative
The Audubon Society of RI (ASRI) has been committed to teaching children to understand and appreciate the natural world and environment since the 1950's. ASRI began the Environmental Education for Urban Schools Initiative in 2003 to provide urban elementary schools with an environmental / scientific education experience.
The eventual goal of teh Initiative is to provide every urban school and eventually every school in Rhode Island environmenta education provided by Audubon-trained environmental educators. The program has a Classroom Phase and a Refuge Experience that introduced 9,000 urban students to a hands-on, experiential knowledge of real world ecosystems ranging from working with live animals to collecting field data at ASRI's Environmental Education or other Audubon wildlife refuges.
Herff Jones' Warwick Facility
In 2003, Herff Jones, Inc., an industrial corporation that produces class rings, remediated a 26 acre brownfield property in Warwick for the construction of a light-manufacturing facility. Herff Jones worked with EPA, RI DEM, USDA and other groups to have state-of-the-art conservation, recycling and resource recovery methods that minimize any impact on the environment.
The remediation involved the preservation of wetlands, a river floodplain, twenty acres of open space, and a ten foot ribbon of land along the Pawtuxet River. The new ISO 9001 certified facility recycles 99% of the wastewater from the plating process and recaptures 99.9% of heavy metals that would otherwise be released as waste.
Kickemuit River Council's “Blue Tab Project”
The Kickemuit River Council (KRC) is a volunteer, nonprofit organization made up of approximately 350 families from Warren and Bristol living along the shores of the Kickemuit River.
When the Kickemuit River was closed to shellfishing in 2000 due to high fecal counts, the KRC organized a full-scale plan involving sampling and data collection to clean up the river. After discovering that homes were not connected to new sewer lines, KRC with the help of other organizations, started the “The Blue Tab Project” on a budget of $17,000.
The Project involved tracing blue dye from a homeowner's toilet to see if it was connected to the sewer line. More than 200 homes were tested for sewer connections, which resulted in many required tie-ins and ultimately cleaner shellfish and water.
Recycling for Rhode Island Education
Recycling for Rhode Island Education (RRIE) is a nonprofit organization initially established a a work-skills development program to teach individuals with disabilities and behavioral challenges using recycled remainder materials from local manufacturers. The organization enlarged its mission, however, because the supply of goods was abundant and appropriate for teachers to use with their students throughout the K-12 school system.
In 2004, RRIE worked with teachers, child-care providers and other organizations to provide 56,000 childen in Rhode Island with 240,000 poounds of recycled material. Support from the RI Resource Recovery Corporation has been essential for the organization to maintain its existence and deliver these services.
2004 John H. Chafee Conservation Leadership Award Winner
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Norman Bird Sanctuary's
Third Beach Land Acquisition Project
Norman Bird Sanctuary was established in 1949 and currently owns and manages over 350 acres of land on Aquidneck Island. The Sanctuary's mission is to protect the diversity of native plant and animal habitats; to advocate for the preservation of open space; and to provide environmental education programs for people of all ages, physical ability, and economic and social status.
In 2003, the Sanctuary triumphantly purchased 23 acres of land for approximately 3.5 million dollars. The land acquisition avoided a developer's attempt to disallow access to Third Beach and also avoided the destruction of a coastal ecosystem.
The Third Beach land is comprised of beach, dunes, marshland and grasslands and borders the Sakonnet River, Gardiner Pond, and the Maidford River. This vital habitat serves as a wildlife corridor, a link for protected open space, a winter waterfowl habitat, and is part of the Sakonnet Greenway.
In June 2003, Third Beach was home to federally threatened piping plovers. The land acquisition has ensured that the public will have access to Third Beach and its natural resources. The Sanctuary has developed management plan for the property and they are working with the Town of Middletown and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to restore habitats throughout this precious area.
2004 Outstanding Conservation Projects And Programs
The Town of East Greenwich's Wastewater Ultraviolet Disinfection System
In 2003, the Town of East Greenwich completed the construction of their Wastewater Treatment Facility's Ultraviolet Disinfection (UV) system. The Town is the first municipality in the State of Rhode Island to have a wastewater plant that utilizes this new treatment process. The safer UV system replaced the hazardous chlorine gas treatment system. The new system can treat approximately 1.7 million gallons of wastewater per day and reduces or eliminates other pathogens in addition to fecal coliform. UV disinfection is better for the Greenwich Bay ecosystem, the community, and the employees working at the facility. The Town is collaborating with RIDEM to monitor the progress and effectiveness of the treatment process, so that other municipalities might similarly upgrade their facilities.
Southside Community Land Trust's
Urban Edge Farm and Farm Business Incubator Program
The Southside Community Land Trust (SCLT) offers a Farm Business Incubator program to assist local urban communities improve their quality of life. The site for the incubator program is a fifty acre former dairy farm located in Cranston called the Urban Edge Farm. The Farm provides urban community gardeners with the tools to start their own agricultural business. The Farm also provides a variety of educational programs and the produce harvested at the Farm is sold at urban farmers' markets. SCLT is successfully offering a community agricultural program to inner city residents and at the same time preserving open space and demonstrating environmentally sound land stewardship.
REC Fuel's Biodiesel Fueling Station
REC Fuels is doing their part to promote cleaner air and sustainable energy. REC Fuels has effectively integrated a Biodiesel alternative at its fueling station in Providence. This progressive company has been offering Biodiesel as an alternative to standard diesel fuel since August 2003. Biodiesel fuel consists of vegetable or animal oils and has proven to be cleaner burning, biodegradable, and non-toxic. The Biodiesel blend is made up of 20% recent biological sources and 80% fossil fuel and can be used effectively in normal diesel engines. REC Fuels pumps over 3,000 gallons a month, serving over 100 companies operating over 600 vehicles. In the future, REC would like to include Biodiesel for use in home heating and additional pumping stations as well as produce Biodiesel from used grease at a local processing plant.
Town of Narragansett's Circuit Drive Water Basin Project
The Town has successfully installed a water quality basin to help protect, preserve and enhance the water quality of the Narrow River. The Town with support from RI DEM and other local agencies and organizations, designed a series of sediment basins, ponds and wetlands which treat runoff from two storm drainage systems that cover 130 acres. The water quality basin covers 2.5 acres and treats runoff pollutants to the Narrow River. This project demonstrates dedication to preserving and enhancing the water quality of a river system and shows what can be done to retrofit storm drains in developed areas when citizens work together.
The Warwick School Department implemented an Energy Management Program several years ago, which has reduced energy consumption by over 25%, prevented 734,301 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the environment, and saved over two million dollars.
The Town of Coventry has succeeded in acquiring 59+ acres of land along the South Branch of the Pawtuxet River for open space, recreation, wetland restoration and enhancement, and educational programs.
CleanScape, a subsidiary of the South Providence Development Corporation, was incorporated in 1999 with a goal of joining environmental and social agendas. CleanScape offers high quality, comprehensive recycling services to businesses and institutions, and vacant lot cleanup and maintenance services to the City of Providence and private land owners.
The four hundred member South Kingstown Land Trust is leading an inspiring effort to preserve land in the critical open spaces of South Kingstown. The nonprofit group has protected more than one thousand acres of land through the South Kingstown Community Partnership in the last two years alone, and 1,373 acres altogether since the group's founding in 1983.
©2008 Environment Council of Rhode Island • PO Box 9061 • Providence, RI 02940 • (401) 621-8048