This site was a former manufacturing facility that specialized in products used to conduct corrosive fluids. Products manufactured here included plastic-lined steel pipe and fittings, valves, and expansion joints. The site had been investigated since 1984 and was required under New Jersey’s Industrial Site Recovery Act (ISRA) to complete soil and groundwater remediation by May 2021. Site impacts primarily involved chlorinated VOCs (CVOCs), with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) present in discrete areas across the site.
EHS Support was brought in to replace the existing consultant on this project and was tasked with developing and implementing a program to achieve regulatory milestones and manage costs. The previous consultant had incurred significant costs and not sufficiently addressed multiple data gaps required to achieve closure. The timeframe to achieve site closure was short with a lot of work left to complete.
Soil CVOC and PCB impacts were present at multiple areas across the site, which was operating as an active re-development site. On- and off-site groundwater CVOC impacts extended over a mile off-site below residential and commercial/industrial properties, affecting a municipal water supply well field downgradient of the site.
EHS Support’s preliminary focus was on completing soil remediation activities and documenting the activities for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) as part of a soil Remedial Action Report (RAR). Following the submittal of the soil RAR, our focus turned to groundwater delineation and remediation, surface water assessments, and vapor intrusion (VI) investigations and remediation. Throughout this process, we initiated communication with township officials and residents through periodic updates and community meetings.
To keep costs at a minimum, EHS Support utilized a “multiple-contractor model,” which involved using task-specific contractors instead of relying on one consulting service to do everything. This resulted in cost savings of approximately 30 to 40 percent compared to the costs of the original contractor. We also redesigned the groundwater remediation system to address constraints limiting the complete degradation of CVOCs. Using the existing infrastructure, we addressed the constraints by shifting from a quick-release compound to a slow-release compound, saving over $100K per year in groundwater remediation costs.
EHS Support submitted the soil RAR and groundwater RAR to NJDEP ahead of schedule. Total cost savings for the client average between $150K and $200K per year based on the efficiencies described above.