Save the Bay Questions ProvPort Expansion

PROVIDENCE, RI (WLNE)—A last minute addition to the state budget has a local nonprofit sounding the alarm. A proposed $20 million tax-payer-funded expansion for ProvPort is set to hit the ballot this November, but executives at Save the Bay, say the project will cost much more than that.

"ProvPort justified this twenty million dollar acquisition by waving this report from a consultant that describes a three phase, multimillion dollar project,” said Jonathan Stone, Executive Director of Save the Bay.

Save the Bay raising concerns over the possibility that the $20 million phase one expansion is not a stand alone project. The potential second and third phases could lead to filling in over 30 acres of Narragansett Bay.

“If the state goes ahead and approves buying all the land along Allens Avenue, will ProvPort come back and say now we really need to fill in the bay," asks Stone.

Filling in the bay could lead to a huge ecological impact for the state. ProvPort representatives say that possibility is a far way down the line.

"For Save the Bay to have a conversation about filling the bay when the bond has not even passed and we have expressed no interest in doing that was really disappointing,” said ProvPort spokesman Bill Fischer. “I think they really put misinformation out to the public."

Save the Bay organizers standing firm though. Saying the expansion of the port shouldn’t come at the price of the bay.

"We realize these projects take a lot to get rolling but once they’re rolling its hard to stop,” said Stone.“If people aren’t aware of what the intentions are, it will be bad for the voters of Rhode Island.”