Episode 73 Transcript: UPDATES
CLARICE: Hello, everybody. And welcome to this week’s episode of Environmentally Speaking. My name is Clarice and we’re doing things a little differently. This week is going to be a solo episode. Unfortunately my lovely cohost Marisa is not joining me this week. Her beloved dog Leonard is no longer with us, so she’s taking some time away to just sort of to grieve and to remember Leonard. So I thought I would take this opportunity to bring you guys a special update episode.
In the 72 episodes — thank you guys all for listening — 72 episodes of our podcast there have been several times in which we’ve said, we’ll keep you posted, we’ve give you updates. And we haven’t. We say it. It’s a great thought. We just haven’t done it, so I thought I would take this opportunity to go back, go through our catalog of past episodes and give you those updates. So this week is going to be a little different. It’s just me sort of going back, checking in, and seeing if there are updates, so it’s going to be a quickie.
In Episode 20 — let’s dive right in. In Episode 20 we talked about the Seekonk River oil spill. This was way back in December of 2021. Specifically it was an oil spill related to contaminated soil from the Pawtucket brownfield project. Unfortunately we don’t have any new updates. The Pawtucket brownfield project is still happening. Clean up is still occurring. I did read that, like I said, the cleanup is still active. It’s still in process.
As, you know, folks probably aren’t going to be surprised, cleanup projects are expensive and it is chugging along very slowly. But I wasn’t able to find any new information specifically about how the oil spill and Seekonk River specifically how that cleanup effort is going. So we know the Pawtucket brownfield project cleanup is still happening. The effects of the Seekonk River unknown so nothing new. We’re off to a good start there.
[0:02:24] In Episode 26 we talked about the Providence River crane. For folks who are Rhode Island based or closely based specifically to the Providence area, we talked a bit about how there was a crane that fell into the Providence River and due to a long series of unfortunate events this crane has since been unable to have been, you know, dug up, pulled up from the river. From what I remember, the previous owner has since died. There weren’t enough funds to fund the, you know, excavation of the crane.
But I did learn — small update — that they’re not currently seeking to pull up the crane because birds have continued to nest. And I think we talked about how that was sort of a factor in why folks aren’t rushing to pull the crane up right now. But endangered or sort of at-risk bird species in Rhode Island have decided to make this crane their home and because of that folks are not looking right now to — they’re not looking to pull up the crane, so that’s staying in place. I guess they’re turning this sort of bit of trash into a new home. It’s been rehomed and repurposed.
In Episode 55 we talked again about offshore wind. I think we talk about offshore wind a ton. This episode was in October of ’22. Specifically we had talked about projects close to Aquidneck Island. There has been a bit of development. And of course I’ll link all of our sources that I used in our show notes. An additional environmental group has sort of joined the debate, joined the — I don’t want to say argument but has certainly posted quite a bit of argument and made their opinions known that they’re opposing the offshore wind project near Aquidneck Island, the group called Green Oceans. I’ve never heard of this group before, but they’ve stepped in and filed some objections to the project and are — are sort of petitioning to be involved in the process as an interested party. I wish Marisa was here to chime in and talk about if she’s ever heard of this project before or, you know, the effects of an interested party in this space, but that’s something to look out for.
[0:05:12] In the specific article that I’m looking at from ecori.org, it sounds like folks are unhappy about Green Oceans joining in, or at least some folks are because they’re, I guess, sort of a bit of a louder group, not always the most — from what I see in this article, again, not knowing anything about Green Oceans, they may or may not be rocking the boat a little bit about this. But another group has stepped in to oppose Revolution Wind’s projects and we’ll see how that goes. So, again, in the theme of this episode, maybe there will be another update coming.
In Episode 60 we talked about the Navajo water rights. This was back in November of 2022. We ended that episode by saying that we wonder if the Supreme Court would accept this case. As you folks may or may not remember, the Supreme Court decides to hear about one percent of the cases that go in front of it asking to be heard and they did decide to hear the case. So the Supreme Court as of today — I’m recording this on the March 21st.
So the Supreme Court has heard this case or has begun hearing this case as of yesterday March 20th. So they’re going to hear sort of the beginning phases of the argument. As we remember, the Navajo Nations are filing a motion regarding their claims to adequate water rights and access. This is a group of people who have for a very long time not been able to have access to clean water and just sufficient drinking water, cleaning water, the basic right to water, so hopefully we’ll get some updates on that soon as it’s been heard yesterday. So that’s an exciting, very, very recent update.
In Episode 67 we talked about Route 79, very recent. We just talked about this case on January of 2023. Since that time Route 79 is closed, totally closed. Davol Street has started to expand a little bit to allow for it. We talked about this case — or we talked about this route closure specifically because while the primary focus of closure wasn’t to allow for more green space or to be more eco-friendly I wanted to talk about it because the developers had specifically put in — I think they had used eco — not agriculture but eco sort of design in their reconstruction of the area. They talked about designating specific green spaces and trying to preserve some of that space, so I thought that was an interesting discussion. But, yeah, Route 79 is totally closed. I tried to use that space late last week and it’s closed, so if you’re traveling through Fall River and that was your intended route it is no more. The detour routes are actually pretty easy to use, so you shouldn’t have any troubles.
[0:08:43] Even more recent on February 2nd, 2023, we talked about conflicts with aquaculture. We talked about how a South Kingstown aquaculture farm was seeking to expand. I did check to see if anything’s changed within the last month and so far no new news.
Lastly, the update I didn’t expect to give. The update I almost don’t want to give, but the update I’m kind of happy I’m giving alone and not with Marisa, I’m a little surprised. In Episode 18, December 9th, 2021 — I’m almost covering my face so you folks can’t see me. I made a joke about how scientists were doing research on bringing back the woolly mammoth. And, guys, they still are. Apparently scientists are still working on this. Oh, goodness. I read a couple of articles. I have never claimed to be a scientist. I will never make that claim unless that’s my Halloween costume.
Scientists are saying, at least in one article, that the woolly mammoth is scheduled to make a return by 2027 says Colossal the biotech company based out of Dallas. The company has secured an additional $60 million in funding. They’re using CRISPR DNA technology to make this happen. I am floored. I am shocked. I am concerned. I am full of doubts and all I would like to end that on is that quote from Jurassic Park. Scientists spent so long thinking of whether or not they could. They never stopped to think of whether or not they should. I don’t know if I want to see that in my lifetime. Hilarious and concerning all at once.
So, guys, that’s your little mini episode, your kind of catch up and your update. I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any questions, comments, updates that I missed, things that you want to talk about, let me know. If there’s any micro episode that you want me to cover while Marisa is taking some time away, let me know. Reach out to us at Help@DesautelESQ.com. Also, hit us up on the socials. We are at Desautel Law on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. These videos will be on YouTube. Today it is just my face. I won’t be joined by my lovely cohost. But I hope you enjoyed it.
[0:11:32] Thank you guys again for listening, for all of your support. Going back through the episodes I realized I was referencing some dates that were three years ago 2021 — or two years ago. I’m sorry. That’s wild to think about, so I really appreciate it. I love hearing from you all and telling us when you listen, where you listen, how you folks are enjoying it. Shout out to my dear friend T. She was saying that she was listening. She likes to listen while she cleans the house on the weekends and the boomers and sparkers episode was a real bummer so sorry and thank you for your continued support to T and to everybody. Have a good one, guys.
