Environment Council of Rhode Island

...building an ecologically healthy future in a sustainable economy

Brownfield Remediation

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.

Award Type: 
John H. Chafee Outstanding Conservation Project/Program
Award Year: 
2005