06/12/2026
This and other related news is cataloged on our website: https://www.northkingstownri.gov/1245/QBP-Projects-of-Concern
The General Assembly has put a hold on any proposal for high-heat sewage solids processing at Quonset Business Park while a commission studies potential answers to the question of how the state can safely dispose of such byproducts.
Lawmakers gave final approval today to bills sponsored by RI State Senator Bridget Valverde and Senator Alana DiMario, Rhode Island District 36 to enact the yearlong moratorium and create a special legislative commission to study the issue.
“While the question of the appropriateness of the proposal at Quonset/Davisville needs to be considered, Rhode Island needs to find solutions for burgeoning problem of biosolid disposal statewide. Much of our state and our region relies on an incinerator in Woonsocket that is going to shut down, and we need a plan for what we can safely do. Today we know more than ever before about contaminants like PFAS and microplastics that are in biosolids, and we have to explore the options to determine how we protect public health and the environment while also considering costs to ratepayers,” said Senator DiMario (D-Dist. 36, Narragansett, North Kingstown, New Shoreham). “We need to look at whether it’s best to handle this regionally or statewide, publicly or privately, and we need a process for fairly siting any sort of biosolids processing facility. It’s a complex issue with a lot of questions that need answers urgently, because we are on the precipice of a crisis.”
“This proposed facility would take in thousands of tons of dewatered sewage sludge every year, threatening the health and safety of neighbors, schools and other businesses nearby. It has no place in Davisville. Our community has a lot of concerns, and it’s not appropriate that the laws governing QDC do not call for any kind of public participation in the process, essentially enabling such a concerning project to be approved in secret,” said Senator Valverde (D-Dist. 35, North Kingstown, East Greenwich, South Kingstown). “This bill ensures that it cannot move forward at least until the study commission does its work to determine how we should be disposing of biosolids and a fair process for siting any such facility.”
Learn more: https://www.rilegislature.gov/pressrelease/_layouts/15/ril.pressrelease.inputform/DisplayForm.aspx?List=c8baae31-3c10-431c-8dcd-9dbbe21ce3e9&ID=376705
