Massachusetts construction firm, former employee charged with illegally dumping thousands of tons of contaminated fill

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced Wednesday that the Office has charged a Massachusetts-based construction firm and a former employee with illegally dumping thousands of tons of contaminated fill at project sites in Providence during the construction of the Route 6/10 Interchange construction project.

The charges, filed by way of criminal information in Providence County Superior Court, stem from an investigation led by the Office of the Attorney General, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island, the United States Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General, the United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.

The Attorney General has charged Barletta Heavy Division, Inc., with two counts of illegal disposal of solid waste, one count of operating a solid waste management facility without a license, and one count of providing a false document to a public official. Barletta is a Canton, Mass.-based construction firm, overseeing the ongoing $247 million Route 6/10 Interchange highway construction project that began in 2018.

The Attorney General has also charged 62-year-old Dennis Ferreira of Holliston, Mass., a former senior employee of Barletta, with two counts of illegal disposal of solid waste, one count of operating a solid waste management facility without a license, and one count of providing a false document to a public official.

The defendants are scheduled to be arraigned on February 1, 2023, in Providence County Superior Court. Dennis Ferreira and a representative in a position of authority from Barletta will be in court for arraignment.

“As alleged in the Information, Mr. Ferreira and Barletta used the 6/10 site as an environmental dumping ground, and not only for Rhode Island waste. Worse yet, they made Rhode Island a dumping ground for Massachusetts waste,” said Attorney General Neronha. “Their actions come at the expense of Rhode Islander’s public health and their environment. Rhode Island’s environmental and public health laws exist for a reason. To keep Rhode Islanders safe, and to preserve our environment. We will continue to aggressively enforce those laws. Because Rhode Islanders deserve nothing less.”

As alleged in the criminal information, in July 2020, the defendants authorized the disposal of more than 4,500 tons of stone and soil contaminated with hazardous materials at the Route 6/10 Interchange construction project.

In 2020, Dennis Ferreira was the Superintendent of the Route 6/10 Interchange construction project and as alleged in the information, possessed broad authority over the project, including the acquisition of material to be used on site.

As alleged in the information, Barletta is required to analyze any fill brought to the 6/10 project site for contaminants and must certify any fill be suitable for use at the site.

It is alleged that the defendants sourced known contaminated fill from the site of the Pawtucket/Central Falls Commuter Rail Station on the border of Pawtucket and Central Falls, and from a Barletta materials stockpile in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Mass. The site of the Pawtucket/Central Falls Commuter Rail Station has been used as a rail yard for nearly 150 years and the presence of soil contaminants, including arsenic and PAH’s, have been previously confirmed. At the Jamaica Plain site, Barletta stockpiled contaminated stone generated from railbed replacement work they conducted on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) B and C Green lines.

As alleged in the information, the defendants authorized the transport of approximately 1,114 tons of contaminated soil from the Pawtucket/Central Falls site and approximately 3,460 tons of contaminated stone from the Jamaica Plain site to the 6/10 project site.

It is also alleged that in late July 2020, state officials with DEM and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (DOT) asked Dennis Ferreira for an environmental certification for the transported stone, and he provided an environmental testing report with analysis from another site, to hide the fact that the 6/10 site stone was contaminated.

Separately, on December 14, 2022, Dennis Ferreira pleaded guilty in federal court to three counts of making a false statement in connection with a federally funded highway project. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 16, 2023. As announced by U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha, Barletta agreed to pay a total of $1.5 million to the federal government.

The prosecution of the state case is being led by Assistant Attorneys General John Moreira and Peter Roklan of the Office of the Attorney General, and Sheila Paquette of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. The Attorney General is grateful to U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha; the United States Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General; and the United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General for their partnership in the overall investigation of this matter.