Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center is a 1,500-acre former military installation along Narragansett Bay, about 18 miles south of Providence, Rhode Island. It operated from 1951 to 1994 and was added to the National Priorities List in November 1989. Operations and waste disposal left widespread contamination across 16 areas, now organized into ten operable units for cleanup purposes.
Contaminants include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in soil, sediment, and surface water, heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and mercury in soils and groundwater, and volatile organic compounds including trichloroethene, benzene, and vinyl chloride in groundwater and soil. Pesticides, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins, and chlorinated solvents are also present. Groundwater sits only 2 to 4 feet below the surface in some areas, and the permeable soil allows contaminants to move toward Narragansett Bay. Salt marshes near Allen Harbor, Calf Pasture Point, and Narragansett Bay could be affected.
The Navy is the responsible party, with EPA and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management overseeing cleanup. Completed work includes excavation of PCB-contaminated soils at multiple locations in 1997, capping of Allen Harbor Landfill starting in 1998, chemical injection to treat chlorinated solvents at the Creosote Dip Tank area in 2015, and removal of about 300 drums and 834 tons of contaminated soils from the QDC Outfall 001 area between 2017 and 2020. A cleanup decision issued in March 2021 added soil management controls and residential use restrictions at the Construction Equipment Department Area.
The EPA completed its fifth Five-Year Review on March 28, 2023, finding all evaluated remedies protective of human health and the environment. Human exposure is currently under control and groundwater migration is stabilized with no unacceptable discharge to surface water. Physical construction is not yet complete, with an estimated finish between September and November 2028. Long-term monitoring continues at Allen Harbor Landfill, Calf Pasture Point, and the Creosote Dip Tank area. Land-use controls prevent residential development and restrict groundwater use across the site.
Redevelopment is underway through the Quonset-Davisville Redevelopment Corporation (QDC) and the Town of North Kingstown, with industrial, commercial, and park uses established on transferred acreage. Community members can participate through the Restoration Advisory Board (RAB). For more site details, and to learn about upcoming meetings, visit https://www.bracpmo.navy.mil/BRAC-Bases/Northeast/Former-Naval-Construction-Battalion-Davisville.
Site documents are available at the North Kingstown Free Library and the EPA Region 1 Records and Information Center in Boston. Questions can be directed to EPA Community Involvement Coordinator Aaron Shaheen or Remedial Project Manager Kimberly White.
