Wildlife photographer Alex Hornstein reached out to Uprise RI while we were researching yesterday’s story about an oil spill on the Seekonk River in Pawtucket. He told Uprise RI about an earlier, similar spill on November 4. Today Hornstein sent Uprise RI a link to a video he shot yesterday. He also sent some photos, below. [All photos in this story are (c)2021 Alex Hornstein; used here with permission.]

The oil leak on the water and the dead fish are the result of National Grid‘s remediation work at the Tidewater Landing site. The remediation is necessary before the construction a new soccer stadium, the most expensive development in Pawtucket’s history, can begin.

See:

• Toxic oil leak in Pawtucket traced to National Grid’s Tidewater Landing remediation efforts
• Senator Meghan Kallman: National Grid has failed in regards to Tidewater remediation

“It’s a shame because there’s a lot of animals, right here,” said Alex Hornstein in his video. “I’ll come out and I’ll see live river otter. Coyote and deer come exactly to this spot to drink. There’s a pair of bald eagles that fish here, and osprey. All that stuffs getting displaced from this. You can see that there are seagulls that are enjoying themselves on the ton of dead fish…”

Hornstein took issue with statements from Michael Healey at the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, who said that an earlier spill in November was the result of heavy rains preceding a complaint from November 12.

“The storm on the 12th didn’t knock the boom loose,” Hornstein told UpriseRI. “I first reported the leak on the 12th, but the first slick was on November 4.” National Grid did not report any spillage until the 12th, the same day Hornstein called in his complaint.

In a press release on the recurring oil leaks State Representative Rebecca Kislak (Democrat, District 4, Providence) expressed thanks to Alex Hornstein.

“We need to ensure that our systems designed to support environmental integrity and resilience in Rhode Island are secure,” wrote Representative Kislak. “We are learning from the news of recent oil spills in the Seekonk River in Pawtucket that our monitoring, reporting and enforcement systems need to be strengthened to adequately protect our environment.

“I am grateful to the keen eye and insistence of my constituent Alex Hornstein, who is why we have documentation video from November 10. And this may not have been the first, as Alex saw oil slicks on the river as early as November 4, and I share his concerns about why National Grid or their contractors didn’t report the earlier spill, why there was a second spill, and what needs to be done to ensure the safety of the site for our environment and all of us.

“A major, recurring spill like this one has a significant impact on the environment. We need to understand what went wrong here; why weren’t protective measures sufficient, and how can we ensure better protection for our water and shoreline in the future. We need that impact to be studied and documented so we can be sure that the site has been sufficiently remediated after the spill and we are better prepared for our future.

“I am grateful to my observant constituent who documented and reported the earlier spill. The environment belongs to all of us and the plans for the site should be readily available and easily understood, and the process for reporting a concern should be clear. Let’s come together now to improve our systems of accountability, both at this one construction site and for our local systems of reporting and enforcement.”