Urban Pond Procession and Restoring Urban Ponds ~ June 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

CONTACT:

 

Holly Ewald, (401) 862-4229, [email protected]

 

Amelia Rose, (401) 383-7441, [email protected]

 

Artists, Educators and environmentalists activate

COMMUNITY to restore our urban ponds

 

The third annual Urban Pond Procession (UPP) brought out over 130 Providence-area residents this past Saturday to celebrate the protection of the Pawtuxet watershed and raise awareness about the impact of toxins and storm drain runoff on the health of our urban ponds.  Starting at the Mashapaug Pond Boat House behind Ocean State Job Lot on Reservoir Avenue in Providence, participants wearing fish costumes and waving flags weaved through the Reservoir Triangle neighborhood, attracting the attention of children and adults on their porches who were surprised and delighted by the colorful and jubilant crowd parading down their street. 

 

"The procession is all about using the arts to celebrate the beauty and history of Providence's ponds", says Holly Ewald, the procession's creator and main organizer.  "Most people in Providence have lost their connection to beautiful, natural spaces in the city, and doubt that it's possible to clean up our ponds so we can enjoy them without toxins or bacteria threatening their health.  That's why we're bringing our message—that we can restore our ponds—right to the people, where they live, to get them excited about the possibilities of creating safe places to play and enjoy for all our city's residents."  

 

The Rhode Island Department of Health warns fishermen not to eat the fish from these waters yet some Rhode Island families rely on fishing to feed their families.  This was why, three years ago, Ms. Ewald, an artist, was hired on behalf of the Department of Health to work with the community surrounding Mashapaug Pond to create new warning signs for the pond that were in languages other than just English and clearly communicated the dangers of the pond to residents through compelling images.  Ms. Ewald started the Mashapaug Pond Procession as a culminating public event in June 2008 after working with other artists at Alvarez High School and Charles Fortes Elementary School helping young people design the new signs.  Eight signs with stunning visuals are now prominently posted around the pond with warnings in English, Spanish, and Cambodian.  

 

Not satisfied with simply creating the signs, holding the first procession, and then leaving the issue behind, Ms. Ewald decided to organize processions each year, gathering greater community support and partnerships with other environmental organizations along the way.  She adds, "Rather than create a procession that was a protest I wanted to create a positive celebratory procession that inspired active engagement by all of us to address these issues.  Music, movement, colorful props and reflective words can bring vibrancy to the community and inspire collective action.”

 

This year the Mashapaug Pond Procession was renamed the Urban Pond Procession in order to reflect the reality of shared water and pollution sources among all the ponds in the Pawtuxet Watershed, which includes Tongue, Spectacle, Mashapaug, and the Roger Williams Park ponds.  The Pawtuxet River Authority and the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, both of which support efforts aimed at restoring waterways across the state, were pleased at the procession's expanded focus this year, recognizing the great energy and hopefulness the procession creates among residents for the protection of our water bodies. 

 

Environmental concerns for Mashapaug Pond include high levels of phosphorous that reduce dissolved oxygen levels in the pond and allow for the proliferation of toxic algae blooms that make it unsafe to come into contact with the water and can be lethal to pets.  Divers in Mashapaug Pond are known to have contracted skin rashes on areas of their body not covered by a wet suit. Additionally, highly-toxic chemicals including dioxins and PCBs have been found in the tissue of fish living in the pond as well as the sediments at the bottom of the pond.  Pond contamination is due to multiple sources, particularly storm drain runoff from streets, lawns, parking lots and other impervious surfaces covering our urban landscape; as well as decades of industry located on the ponds, including the Gorham Manufacturing Company which operated for almost 100 years on the shores of Mashapaug Pond. 

 

The Environmental Justice League of Rhode Island (EJ League) joined the UPP this year to highlight the connection of Mashapaug and Gorham.  The EJ League has been working with residents in the Reservoir Triangle neighborhood to oversee and improve the cleanup process at the Gorham site, where groundwater contaminated with carcinogenic chlorinated solvents continues to pollute the cove of Mashapaug Pond.  Recently, residents met with Tom Deller, Director of the Providence Redevelopment Agency, which owns the site, to demand the city comply with a court order to maintain fences in good condition around the site and replace warning signs so that people do not trespass onto unremediated parts of the site as cleanup actions continue.  Textron, Inc. is the responsible party required to conduct groundwater investigation and implement a remediation plan for the Mashapaug cove. 

To address the stormwater issue, the RI Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM), mandated by the federal Clean Water Act, conducted a “Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)” study in 2007 for Mashapaug and other ponds in the state to identify sources of pollution for the ponds and indicate the amount of pollutants a water body can receive and still meet water quality standards.  The TMDL report included a set of recommended actions for the City of Providence to implement in order to fulfill its legal obligation to meet TMDL levels, improve the health of the pond, and make it safer for public use.  These include creating and improving stormwater controls, restoring vegetated buffers along the shoreline of the pond, controlling geese and other waterfowl, and reducing the use of fertilizers and pesticides on lawns.  The City of Providence so far has not prioritized implementing these recommendations, citing budget constraints.  Speaking at Roger Williams Park on Saturday, Bob McMahon, Superintendent of the Providence Parks Department, said the City has just applied for a grant through RIDEM in order to conduct a feasibility study to determine the best approach to improve water quality in the pond, a first step to implementing the TMDL recommendations.  He said this would not have happened without such a strong display of public support for the restoration of our ponds as shown by the UPP. 

This year, the procession was accompanied first by the sounds of Extraordinary Rendition Band then joined by Big Nazo Puppets and the What Cheer? Brigade at Liberty Elm Diner on Elmwood Avenue.  The procession then continued down Elmwood Avenue and onto a footpath leading into Roger Williams Park.  The crowd paused at a pipe that brings Mashapaug waters into the Roger Williams Park ponds, taking a moment to bless the waters and recognize the interconnections of all our waterways in the Pawtuxet Watershed, eventually leading out into Narragansett Bay. Continuing on, the procession marched through the park to the Temple of Music, its terminal stop, where Community MusicWorks, the New England Drummers, and the Hispanic United Development Organization (HUDO) Dance Academy welcomed the cascade of fish, flags and musicians.  

 

In preparation for the procession this year, participating artists and community members led educational presentations along with flag and fish costume making workshops in schools, parks and social service agencies across the city over the course of two months, reaching approximately 200 youth and adults with information about the environmental conditions of the ponds. 

 

"Through our efforts more citizens will be alerted to the dangers of contamination in the ponds," says Ms. Ewald.  "Our hope is that they, in turn, will promote stewardship through their own individual actions to reduce the amount of pollution going into our ponds, as well as encourage their elected representatives to develop programs and practices that will restore our urban waterways so they can benefit our families and community."

 

The Urban Pond Procession was made possible this year with the support of the Rhode Island Foundation and New England Grassroots Environment Fund.  For more information, visit ejlri.wordpress.com