Lonsdale Drive-In Superfund Cleanup
Lincoln, Rhode Island

One of the State's most ambitious natural habitat restoration projects is happening on the banks of the Blackstone River in Lincoln. Using funds collected as part of a $6 million Superfund settlement from North Smithfield's Landfill & Resource Recovery, the State partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to purchase the 20-acre. The project returned the abandoned drive-in site to its original wetland/riverbank habitat and is being brought to fruition through a partnership that includes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of Environmental Management, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Commission.

Approximately eight months of restoration work will remove all remnants of the
drive-in facility and its tons of asphalt, and replant the area with wet meadow and grassland. Hiking trails, a segment of the Blackstone Valley Bikeway, and an observation/educational viewing stand are all part of the area plan. The project is estimated to cost $2 million.

Contact:

Al Ranaldi, Planning Director
Town of Lincoln
401.333.8433

Molly Sperduto, Wildlife Biologist
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
70 Commercial St., Suite 300
Concord, NH 03301

"Work to Begin Soon on Restoration Site," Pawtucket Times, 5/2/02