Neronha says $10M from environmental settlement to go to kids’ dental care

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — On Wednesday Attorney General Peter Neronha announced a settlement with a company that violated environmental regulations that he called “unprecedented” in size.

Barletta Heavy Division, which worked on the Route 6/10 connector, settled the suit for $11 million dollars.

The company brought contaminated materials from a site in Boston and dumped them in Rhode Island, and also brought contaminated fill from the Pawtucket/Central Falls train station site, where the presence of arsenic in the soil had previously been confirmed.

“To resolve this, they have admitted that they brought contaminated spill from Massachusetts to Rhode Island, and lied about it,” Neronha said.

Barletta settled a federal case on the matter for $1 million dollars in 2024.

After deliberating with his team, Neronha said that he believed the company needed to pay more in order to understand the severity of the action.

“The extent to which they understand what they did and why it matters is not clear to me even today,” he said.

Ten million dollars from the settlement will go to the Rhode Island Foundation to help set up programs for kids’ dental health.

The goal will be to use the money to help children in the Silver Lake, West End, and Olneyville neighborhoods of Providence, near where the contaminated materials were placed.

“I don’t know exactly how we’re going to spend this ten million, but I know it’s going to be spent on dental care for children who can’t get access to it,” Neronha said.