Client: Real Estate Developer
Project: Industrial Plant Closure into Mixed-Use Development
Location: New Jersey
Description: EWMA’s client, the new owner of a one-million square foot manufacturing facility built in the 1960s, had to comply with the New Jersey’s Industrial Site Recovery Act (ISRA). The client planned to redevelop the 121-acre industrial site into a mixed-use residential and commercial property. EWMA was asked to provide a guaranteed “not to exceed” bid for this project. The property developer obtained Cost Cap and Pollution Legal Liability insurance through AIG, limiting their exposure, based upon EWMA’s Not to Exceed cleanup numbers. The project was completed in under five years and a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) No Further Action Letter (NFA Letter) was issued, which certified the cleanup had been done to NJDEP cleanup standards.
This site was one of the first to be eligible for closure via the New Jersey’s Brownfield and Contaminated Site Remediation Act, which allows developers to recoup up to 75% of the environmental cleanup costs. EWMA was retained to complete the ISRA process, investigate and remediate the areas of environmental concern, and obtain the required NFA Letter from the NJDEP.
After a long history of agricultural use as an orchard and vineyard, the property was developed in 1961 for use as a waxed paper product manufacturing facility. More recently, the property had been used for the disassembly and reclamation of electronic computer components. During the ISRA process, a total of 70 areas of environmental concern (AOCs) were identified, including a waste water treatment area consisting of two lined settling lagoons, one clarifier/activated sludge/chlorination basin, one treatment shed, and three sludge drying beds. Additional areas of environmental concern consisted of underground storage tanks (USTs) and above ground storage tanks (ASTs), hazardous material storage areas, railroad spurs, floor drains, trenches, sumps, incinerators, incinerator ash disposal area, and a one-mile long tunnel system that piped electricity, compressed air, non-contact cooling water and process waste water. Numerous impacts to both soil and ground water were identified at the Property by EWMA.
A major portion of EWMA’s investigation and remediation included the closure of the waste water treatment area. Items of concern within this area included ground water impacts associated with settling lagoons, discharge points associated with treated waste water, the process waste water settling lagoons and associated sludge drying beds, and a sanitary waste clarifier/activated sludge/chlorination basin. Large piles of sludge generated during the operation of the waste water treatment area were also identified within the waste water treatment area.
EWMA was able to provide the client significant disposal cost savings by pre-treating the remaining process waste water within the waste water treatment area. The use of a portable treatment system to pre-treat the remaining 30,000 gallons of waste water reduced contaminant concentrations to levels that could be safely discharged to the municipal sanitary sewer system, at a greatly reduced cost in comparison to other disposal methods. Additionally, EWMA coordinated the removal and disposal of over 1,000 tons of residual sludge material within the waste water treatment area. Following waste water treatment area closure and demolition, EWMA performed the required sediment and surface water sampling to demonstrate that the treated waste water had not adversely impacted the stream that received the waste.
EWMA also investigated and remediated floating product and soil impacts associated with the fuel oil underground and above ground storage tanks, soil and ground water impacts associated with chlorinated solvents used during the manufacturing activities, and impacts associated with over 2,000 tons of residual incinerator ash contaminated with metals.
As a result of EWMA's remedial investigation and cleanup activities at the property, the entire one-million square foot manufacturing building has been demolished, work on the areas of environmental concern identified at the site has been completed, a NFA Letter has been obtained from the NJDEP, and the property has been redeveloped for commercial uses. By developing and implementing creative solutions to contamination identified at the property, EWMA was able to cost-effectively investigate and remediate the areas of environmental concern in a timely manner, allowing the client to proceed with the redevelopment and reclamation of the site. In fact, the project progressed so well that it has been included in the New Jersey State Brownfields Redevelopment Task Force Resource Guide, as well as other documents featuring brownfield redevelopment success stories in the State of New Jersey.