Client: Real Estate Developer
Project: Guaranteed Fixed-Price Cleanup at Industrial Property
Location: New York
Description: A prominent real estate developer from New York planned to redevelop an industrial property in a New York suburban county that they had recently purchased. The developer retained EWMA to conduct a guaranteed fixed-price remediation, to secure refinancing for the redevelopment of the property, and to obtain protection from the New York State Hazardous Waste Site law.
Upon completion of the file review and site inspection, EWMA discovered that the property had been contaminated with chlorinated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in both the unsaturated soils and the overburden within the bedrock ground water aquifer. The former industrial property was classified by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) as a Class Two Inactive Hazardous Waste Site. The NYSDEC had previously spent a considerable amount of money cleaning up soil contamination at the property, by utilizing public funds set aside for remediation of abandoned hazardous waste sites. The required soil remediation was completed by the NYSDEC; however, additional ground water investigation and remedial cleanup was necessary before the NYSDEC would declare the property to require no further remedial action.
EWMA met with the NYSDEC to negotiate cleanup cost reimbursement for the client, and received a determination that the client was eligible for reimbursement via the NYSDEC Voluntary Cleanup Program. EWMA also obtained approval from the NYSDEC that the remaining required remedial cleanup action at the property would only entail on-site ground water remediation, followed by natural attenuation. As a result of EWMA's negotiations, NYSDEC agreed that the client would not be responsible for off-site ground water contamination because the client was deemed an innocent landowner, and the NYSDEC assumed responsibility for any off-site ground water contamination. EWMA then proceeded to enter the property into the Voluntary Cleanup Program, and submitted a Remedial Action Workplan (RAW) for the property to the NYSDEC, which documented the additional remedial investigation and cleanup activities that would be required to meet NYSDEC ground water cleanup standards.
To properly delineate and remediate the on-site ground water contamination, additional bedrock ground water monitoring wells were installed and In-Situ Oxidative Technologies, Inc. (ISOTEC) in-situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) compounds were injected into the ground water contaminant plume. The injection of ISCO compounds accelerated the natural ground water contaminant degradation process already occurring at the property. In accordance with the prior NYSDEC approved agreement, natural attenuation monitoring of the on-site ground water contamination followed the ISCO compounds injections, which meant that the levels of contaminants were monitored on a regular basis as the contaminant levels continued to decline as anticipated. Portions of a building on the property have been redeveloped for warehousing purposes. Full redevelopment of the property is still pending, as natural attenuation monitoring of ground water continues.