Friday, January 13, 2006

 

Navy agrees to pay state $1.4 million for environmental damage

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- The U.S. Navy will pay Rhode Island more than one million dollars to settle two lawsuits over environmental damage at former Navy property in North Kingstown.

The attorney general’s office announced the settlement today.

The Navy will pay $1.4m dollars for damage to the Allen Harbor Landfill and Calf Pasture Point, which it owned from 1939 to 2001. The Navy dumped trash, paint thinners, asbestos and other hazardous waste at the landfill for several decades.

The material leaked into the harbor, forcing the state to close it to shellfishing in 1984. The harbor remains closed, and groundwater in the area is contaminated.

North Kingstown now owns the properties.