Pare Corporation was retained by the Town of Westerly Public Works Department to perform the investigation, evaluation, and design of rehabilitations for three concrete storage tanks—Ledward Avenue, Hinkley Hill, and Hillview—and the Tower Street steel water storage standpipe.

The first task was to address lead contamination in the soil at the Tower Street site, originally constructed in 1898 in a residential neighborhood. Pare conducted a preliminary subsurface investigation and identified elevated concentrations of lead in soil at the site. Based on evidence of paint chips in site soil, it appeared as though the contamination was the result of painting the tank with lead-based paint.

Pare and the Town issued a Notification of Release to RIDEM and completed a Site Investigation Report (SIR) per RIDEM Remediation Regulations. The results of the SIR indicated that lead was present in shallow soil throughout the site. Pare expanded the investigation to include properties downwind and down-gradient of the tank and found that the tank had impacted soil on abutting properties. Pare’s investigation also yielded elevated concentrations of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOC), which may be attributable to historical tank maintenance and paint removal processes.

Pare completed a Remedial Action Work Plan (RAWP) and contract documents for the tank rehabilitation and remediation of the site, which was completed in 2015.