Feds reach cleanup deal with URI of Superfund site

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I.—The University of Rhode Island and two towns have reached a $2.3 million agreement to clean up a Superfund site in South Kingstown.

The agreement was announced Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice.

The university, the towns of Narragansett and South Kingstown and the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education have agreed to pay for groundwater remediation and other cleanup work at the West Kingston Town Dump/URI Disposal Area Superfund Site.

The university and the towns used to operate several landfills at the site, and URI operated a drum storage area there.

The parties have agreed to clean up contaminated groundwater believed to have been caused by the abandonment of about a dozen drums. They've also promised to pay $650,000 to the federal government and the state.