On December 20, 2016, the City of Hoboken and BASF Corporation closed a deal that will transform a greater than 6-acre former industrial property to a public park in 2017. AMO Environmental Decisions, serving as BASF’s environmental consultant, performed all final site assessment and remedial actions to clear the property for this beneficial reuse.
AMO’s environmental closure work involved the synthesis of nearly 40,000 analytical records associated with more than 1,100 soil samples collected from more than 400 locations beneath and proximal to the site into a site-specific GIS database, and evaluation of the data relative to applicable USEPA and NJDEP cleanup standards. Between late 2015 and early 2016, we designed and directed remedial actions to remove soil contaminated by PCBs at levels above 10 mg/kg. The work was completed following our Remedial Action Work Plan (Self Implementing Plan), which was approved by NJDEP and USEPA’s Region 2 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) division. A total of 4,733 yards3 of soil were removed from the site and disposed at appropriately-licensed facilities during this remedial action. The entire property was then capped with a 6-inch thick asphalt cap.
In addition to hands-on investigative and remedial actions, AMO spearheaded all final closure activities through preparation of BASF’s Remedial Investigation and Remedial Action Report for Soil, Deed Notice and Notice in Lieu of Deed Notice documents, Remedial Action Permit application, and drafting of the Licensed Site Remediation Professional’s (LSRP’s) Response Action Outcome (RAO) statement. Results of our work enables High Occupancy property use, as defined under USEPA-TSCA (40 CFR §761), and recreational use under NJDEP’s Site Remediation Reform Act (SRRA).
BASF’s Project Director praised the team’s work by saying, “I just wanted to thank everyone that worked on this project to bring it to a successful completion in such a short period of time. The drive, innovation and commitment to solving all the challenges we faced in the remediation of this site was second to none. I appreciate the time and hard work that went in to making this happen.”
One of the many public announcements pertaining to this historic event can be perused at: http://hobokennj.gov/2016/12/hoboken-completes-acquisition-of-6-acre-basf-property-for-northwest-resiliency-park-plans-to-open-4-acre-pop-up-park-this-summer/