Upstream of the BDA factory, a child’s rope swing hangs on the Pawcatuck River, but locals describe the river downstream of the plant as an unusable “dead zone.” Photo: staff

Westerly, RI—On August 24, 2005, NELC attorneys filed suit in federal district court in Providence against Bradford DyeingAssociation, Inc. (BDA), which operates a large textile finishing plant in Westerly, R.I.

The suit was filed on behalf of the Rhode Island Public Interest Research Group, Toxics Action Center and Sierra Club.

The lawsuit alleges that, over the past five years alone, BDA has committed thousands of violations of its wastewater discharge and air pollution control permits. The case is believed to be the first citizen enforcement suit in Rhode Island history brought to enforce both the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.

Since filing the case, NELC has discovered additional evidence of substandard environmental practices at the decades-old mill, where more than 200 employees dye, print, coat and finish military fabrics for the Department of Defense.

For years, nearby residents have complained of being forced indoors by the powerful odors emitted from BDA’s factory. Some recount incidents during which the stench was so bad it forced people working at area homes to leave.

Meanwhile, canoers and kayakers regularly report that the normally pristine Pawcatuck River is a “dead zone” immediately downstream of the BDA plant, nearly devoid of visible aquatic life.

The suit charges that, according to the company’s own monitoring reports, BDA has been discharging illegal levels of toxic metals into the Pawcatuck River for more than five years. In addition, BDA has consistently failed to meet standards governing the overall toxicity of its effluent, and has discharged wastewater containing fecal coliform bacteria at levels more than 5,000 times that allowed by its permit.

In April, 2006, NELC arranged for a wastewater engineering expert and an air pollution control expert to inspect BDA’s factory. Their findings confirmed NELC’s suspicions: BDA has run its wastewater treatment system without the most basic information needed to establish an accurate assessment of its operations, and its outdated air pollution controls are in desperate need of an upgrade.

Publicly available records show that BDA discharges approximately three-quarters of a million gallons of industrial wastewater into the Pawcatuck River each day, and emits approximately one million pounds of pollutants into the air each year, including hazardous air pollutants and volatile organic compounds.

The Pawcatuck River downstream of the BDA factory is on the Rhode Island list of impaired waterways because of biodiversity problems.

“It has become very clear that environmental conditions at BDA are as bad as they are because the company has been operating with no meaningful oversight from state or federal regulators,” explained Senior Attorney Josh Kratka. “BDA has taken advantage of this regulatory vacuum.”

NELC’s lawsuit has drawn the attention of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) and the U.S. EPA. Shortly after the suit was filed in federal court, RIDEM issued its first ever notice of violation to the company for discharges of fecal coliform bacteria. Several weeks later, EPA sent two biologists to the Pawcatuck River to inspect the company’s outfall. In a Nov. 2005 follow-up letter to RIDEM, EPA described observing a “boil created [in the river] by Bradford Dyeing’s submerged discharge...The water clarity appeared to be negatively impacted for some distance downstream...”

NELC has asked U.S. District Court Chief Judge Ernest C. Torres for a court order requiring BDA to achieve strict compliance with Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act permits and regulations, and to pay a monetary penalty for past violations.

The company has recently indicated a willingness to address its environmental problems and settlement negotiations to this end are ongoing.