This is a frequent topic of discussion at the Washington Park Association meetings (feel free to come - we often get people from outside the neighborhood who have concerns about the port!). What we have been told is that the chemical smell is coming from asphalt production from the Narragansett Improvement Company, located along the water at the apex of Upper South Providence, The Jewelry District, and Fox Point.

The smell used to be infrequent and less intense, but apparently a few years back they changed something about the method of production which has increased its frequency and intensity. They tell us that the smell is "not harmful", but Washington Park has one of the highest childhood asthma rates in the entire state. Also, when the smell is so overwhelming that you can't sit on your front porch, or hang out in your back yard, it is at the very least diminishing our quality of life.

The city decided long ago (even before I-95 was built) that this area of the city was a dumping ground and convincing them otherwise is nearly impossible because the neighborhoods most affected are high poverty and therefore the least important constituents to the powers that be.