NELC Senior Attorney Joshua Kratka (left) stands with RIPIRG's Matt Auten at a press event on Bradford Dyeing Association violations of the Clean Air and Clean Water acts. Photo: Theresa Labriola

Providence, RI—On Nov. 6, 2006 U.S. District Court Chief Judge Ernest C. Torres approved a ground-breaking consent decree that settles NELC’s lawsuit against Bradford Dyeing Association, Inc. (BDA).Read about the details on page 3. The suit was brought by NELC attorneys to enforce the Clean Air and Clean Water acts at the company’s southwestern Rhode Island textile mill.

Under the settlement, BDA must implement numerous upgrades to its decades-old textile finishing mill, hire outside consultants to study environmental compliance issues and recommend further upgrades, and either achieve swift compliance with pollution limits or pay stipulated penalties for violations.

BDA must also pay $75,000 to establish a fund for local environmental and public health projects, and spend at least an additional $75,000 to reduce its emissions of pollutants associated with global warming and acid rain to well below permitted levels.

NELC filed the lawsuit in August 2005, on behalf of the Rhode Island Public Interest Research Group (RIPIRG), Toxics Action Center, and Sierra Club, alleging thousands of violations of federal environmental laws that state regulators had ignored.

“This settlement represents a tremendous achievement for the residents of Bradford, Rhode Island, who have suffered from noxious air and polluted water for far too long,” said NELC Paralegal Sarah Bergman, who worked closely with those living near the factory.

BDA employs more than 200 workers who dye, print, coat, and finish fabrics for the Department of Defense and other clients. For years, residents in the area have complained that powerful chemical odors from the factory sometimes force them to stay indoors.

Canoers and kayakers have also reported that the normally pristine Pawcatuck River turns into a “dead zone” immediately downstream of the BDA plant.

The lawsuit charged BDA with discharging illegal levels of copper, lead, fecal coliform bacteria, suspended solids, and other pollutants into the Pawcatuck River for more than five years. The company’s own monitoring reports told the story of its flagrant disregard for pollution limits.

“State and federal environmental regulators have given BDA a free pass for years,” explained Senior Attorney Josh Kratka. “By requiring the company to significantly upgrade air pollution and water pollution controls, this settlement demonstrates the important role that citizens can and often must play in enforcing our environmental laws.”

As a result of the lawsuit, NELC researchers and experts were able to gain access to BDA’s factory to inspect pollution control systems. What they found was an outdated, poorly-run operation, where plant managers lacked the most basic information needed to control pollutant levels.

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management had issued orders as long ago as the early 1990s requiring BDA to find the source of excess copper (a highly toxic heavy metal) in its wastewater, but no such study was done.

Under the consent decree, BDA will now have six months to complete this and other needed studies of its wastewater treatment system.

NELC also obtained copies of daily printouts from BDA’s continuous opacity monitor, which measures the amount of fine particulate matter (soot) emitted from the company’s oil-burning boilers. Although these records revealed hundreds of violations of BDA’s Clean Air Act permit, state and federal regulators never took enforcement action. In fact, it appears they had never even seen these printouts.

The NELC consent decree sets a strong precedent. It will impose interim monitoring requirements on BDA’s smokestack emissions that are stricter than those in effect anywhere else in Rhode Island.

“This multi-faceted settlement agreement is designed to bring BDA into sustained compliance with the Clean Air and Clean Water acts through pollution control upgrades, enhanced monitoring, and automatic penalties for future violations,” Kratka added.

NELC’s lawsuit is believed to be the first citizen enforcement suit in Rhode Island to enforce both the Clean Air and Clean Water acts.