Opinion ID: 2404170
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Harbor Line Filled Properties

Text: The other two properties at issue are located on the Providence River where land was reclaimed by filling below mean high tide out to a harbor line. The plaintiff electric company owns approximately 8.31 acres of land in Providence bounded on the east by Eddy Street, on the west by the Providence River, and on the south by South Street. This parcel presently contains land created by filling below the high-water mark as it existed in 1857. This filling occurred between 1857 and 1886 and did not extend beyond the harbor line established in the Providence River in April 1879 or beyond any prior harbor line. The eastern boundary of this parcel is located along that harbor line. The filling of this property below mean high tide occurred prior to the electric company's ownership. There is nothing in the record to indicate that this filled parcel of land was filled with the express approval of the state. However, it is safe to assume that such filling would not have been allowed to occur in a busy waterway without at least the state's tacit approval, if not its express approval. This parcel is known as the South Street Station and has served as an electrical energy generating and transmission facility since the early 1920s. The plaintiff gas company is the owner of approximately 16.5 acres of land in Providence situated to the east of Allens Avenue, north of Terminal Road, and west of (and bounded by) the Providence River, on which the gas company constructed a coal-gas plant between 1909 and 1910. This parcel includes land created by filling below the highwater mark as it existed in 1911. This filling below the high-water mark did not extend beyond the harbor line in the Providence River established in April 1880, and the eastern boundary of that parcel is located along that harbor line. Permits were issued by the Rhode Island Board of Harbor Commissioners for such filling in 1907, 1909, and 1914. Currently this property is used as a facility for the conversion of liquified natural gas as well as for the distribution of natural gas. The question to be resolved regarding these two Harbor Line parcels involves an analysis of state law regarding whether the creation of land by filling below mean high tide extinguishes the public-trust rights in the land so reclaimed. We conclude that plaintiffs electric company and gas company hold title to the real estate in question in feesimple absolute. We reject the state's contentions that the Harbor Line properties were required to have been the subject of express legislative grants or legislative conveyances to convey an interest in those parcels free of the public trust. We are informed that as a result of our opinion in Hall v. Nascimento, 594 A.2d 874 (R.I. 1991), it has been argued that all land created by the placing of fill below the mean high tide remains subject to the public-trust doctrine. This interpretation has caused concern in that these plaintiffs' titles in their properties described above may be adversely affected. It is hoped that our opinion in this action for declaratory judgment will clarify the situation.