S&ME was the prime consultant for assessing and remediating site contamination. In planning site development, the owner, the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources (NCDCR), retained the architectural services of BJAC. In turn, BJAC and NCDCR relied on S&ME to guide the project through a maze of state and national environmental regulations, thus paving the way for development of a property fraught with hazardous constituents, including metals, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and asbestos.

Role of Other Consultants

No other consulting firms were involved in assessment and remediation.

Original or Innovative Application of New or Existing Techniques

The former Barbour Boat Works (BBW) occupies a 5.8-acre site along the banks of the Trent River in New Bern, North Carolina. The property once consisted of wetlands and shallow waters of the Trent River, which over years was filled in to create a land mass by using fill soils and residue, saw dust, and wastes from past industrial activities. The BBW site was used primarily as an industrial and commercial sawmill and later, for boat production, sales, and a commercial marine maintenance yard.

The land was donated to NCDCR by the heirs of the land owner. NCDCR was unaware of the magnitude of soil and groundwater contamination as well as the complexity of environmental regulatory requirements bestowed upon them.

Challenges faced by S&ME, the architect, and the owner included 1) a complexity of regulatory oversight from both state and federal agencies regarding site contamination and, 2) obtaining the necessary approvals to proceed with construction, including a Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA) Major Permit for remediation next to the river.

The sources and types of environmental contamination, and the limited funds available to ‘fix’ the site before developing a Silver LEED (a green public facility) presented S&ME with many challenges, for example the removal of subsurface and underwater structures embedded in contaminated soil and sediments. We also needed to remove contaminated soil and landfill debris so that artificially-made wetlands could be constructed along the riverfront, and for protection for short-term exposure of construction workers, the public and the ecosystem of the Trent River.

The regulatory agencies included the NC Coastal Zone Management, the NC Division of Water Quality (DWQ), The NC Division of Waste Management (DWM), and the NC Fish and Wildlife Commission. S&ME also had to address concerns from federal agencies such as the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and USEPA Region 4. In all some eight agencies were involved. Integrating the cooperation of each of these regulatory agencies to achieve consensus on a wide array of remedial actions, demolition, and construction was paramount to the project’s success.

Three primary stages of the project were:

1. Preparing the site for demolition

2. Identifying contamination in the soil groundwater and sediments

3. Devising a remediation plan to protect human health and the environment while keeping costs down

In stage one, S&ME assessed and designed removal of asbestos containing materials in 15 dilapidated structures and specified the removal of PCB transformers scattered throughout the property. We completed each task under budget. Once these materials were removed, demolition of aboveground structures took place, clearing the first hurdle for development.

In the second stage S&ME identified areas of concern for contamination. We made a detailed assessment of soil, groundwater and Trent River sediments. S&ME was confronted with a massive array of soil contamination volatile organic compounds (VOCs), PAHs, pesticides, PCBs, metals and hexivalent chrome throughout much of the property. Shallow groundwater was contaminated with PAHs and hazardous metals exceeding state remediation standards. River sediments were also polluted with PAHs, arsenic and copper.

In stage three, S&ME evaluated several alternatives before devising a program that remediated hot spots of soil contamination by removing smaller areas or capping larger areas with a geosynthetic clay layer. However, contaminated groundwater and sediments posed a much larger cost problem – on the order of to $8 to $12 million. The project may have been derailed for years if such monies were needed to satisfy the State’s Inactive Hazardous Sites Branch (IHSB) requirements.

S&ME had to find alternatives. To gain better assurances for alternative remedial solutions for sediments, S&ME recommended an additional assessment of the river and an assessment of the risk to the benthic (lowest level ecological region of a body of water) ecosystem not only at the BBW site, but the adjacent upstream, downstream and across stream. Our findings concluded

PAHs and metals were present in sediments throughout the area and were not concentrated at just the BBW site. Moreover, the benthic organism community was more diverse (i.e., healthier) adjacent to the site than in the other areas. S&ME concluded, with consensus from the regulatory community to leave the river sediments alone, because the metals were bound to sediment (i.e., unavailable for biotic uptake), and the benthic community would suffer adverse effects from active remediation (i.e., dredging). S&ME’s innovative approach, using an ecological assessment and risk evaluation, saved the project $3.25 million.

Groundwater remediation also threatened the project’s budget due to costs. Stage three, included an additional six month hydrogeological study gathering data at unprecedented detail on groundwater potentiometry and identifying hydraulic influences of the river’s tide changes and rainfall. S&ME’s goal was to determine if groundwater will transport contaminants to the river, potentially exposing the public and the Trent River ecosystem to hazardous metals and PAHs.

S&ME installed 15 monitor wells and a stream gauge fitted with pressure transducers. Over six months, groundwater elevation data was gathered once every 15 minutes in each well and at the stream gauge generating approximately 17,900± data points per well for a total of over 286,400

data points. These were evaluated statistically to evaluate the cause effect relationship of tide changes in the river to groundwater flow potential with exceptional detail. S&ME also gathered hourly rainfall data from a weather station to statistically evaluate the influence of rainwater infiltration on groundwater flow potential.

With this high-resolution dataset, S&ME identified that the river’s water level is the predominant influence on the on-site groundwater levels with minor influences from precipitation. The relationship between the Trent River water level and on-site groundwater gradients showed little overall movement of groundwater with accompanying migration of contaminants of concern (COCs) across the site. Site groundwater gradients are consistently low but are apparently variable as to direction. The gradients rapidly diminish and even reverse as a reflection of changes in the river water level. Although there may be a minor groundwater discharge into the river, most of the movement appears to be confined to short distances in circuitous patterns.

S&ME concluded that COCs are relatively immobile, and the COCs dissolved in the groundwater are not likely to significantly seep to the river. Rather, the transport of dissolved COCs is likely to cycle in concert with a slight back-and-forth movement of site groundwater. Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA) is a viable alternative to active remediation. The MNA alternative saved the project an estimated $1 million to $5 million compared to more typical active groundwater remediation. IHSB accepted our approach, allowing the project to proceed in a timely, cost-effective manner.

Future Value to the Engineering Profession

S&ME incorporated risk assessment and an unprecedented detailed groundwater / surface water hydraulic assessment to devise cost effective remediation enabling a development project to proceed while keeping costs down. S&ME also coupled our engineering evaluation for remediation with insightful use of a benthic study and ecological assessment for a property situated in an environmentally exposed area, the New Bern waterfront.

Future assessment and remediation projects may benefit from high-resolution assessment techniques and risk assessment methods to devise perceptive remediation alternatives.

Social, Economic and Sustainable Design Considerations

The NC History Center is a $60.5 million project. This state development is a Silver Award LEED site that was once an industrial wasteland burdened with hazardous materials, plus soil, groundwater and sediment contamination.

Innovative use of existing technologies and methods enabled the project to proceed without budgetary hindrances. The Grand Opening of the new Tryon Palace facility is planned for October 22 and 23, 2010, opening a wonderful piece of New Bern’s waterfront for the public to safely enjoy for generations to come.

Complexity

The technical complexities of assessing and evaluating contamination in multiple environmental media had complicated, difficult regulatory hurdles to clear. S&ME coordinated the gaining concurrence from state and federal regulatory agencies in a Coastal Zone Management county.

This required an extensive, collaborative effort from all parties involved. Without this cooperation, the project would have suffered longtime delays.

Exceeding Client/Owner Needs

S&ME worked closely with the prime architect BJAC and the owner, Tryon Palace / NCDCR to find intricate remedial solutions that would not financially hinder the project’s timeline. To meet client/owner needs, S&ME complied with rigorous project deadlines, imposed by grant restrictions for creation of the manmade wetlands, and with contractor-imposed construction schedules. An NCDCR Capital Projects Office engineer said, “S&ME, Inc performed exceptionally well in their long-term involvement…at the former Barbour Boatworks site, from early clean-up efforts to the expertise required to make the fine museum opening in October 2010 a reality.” The end result…Tryon Palace’s new waterfront super fun place for all to enjoy.

So every 12 years the state agency has to build it up again to keep the tide at bay.

The latest round of work will start in October on 54 acres of the 135-acre peninsular Charleston terminal. It should be completed in April at a cost of $20.57 million. About $16 million is for asphalt alone.

Nearly $21 million of work will begin in October to raise the State Port Authority’s Columbus Street Terminal, which sinks close to an inch each year.

“If you are driving over the bridge and look down, you can see water puddling in low places at high tide,” said Joe Bryant, vice president of terminal development for the SPA.

By reinforcing the subsurface and repaving the terminal, it will keep the Charleston Harbor shipping terminal about a foot above the highest water mark, he said.

Banks Construction of North Charleston won the low bid, and engineering firm S&ME of Mount Pleasant will provide quality assurance services at a cost of $216,000.

The work is not expected to interfere with port operations, said Byron Miller, the SPA’s director of marketing, public relations and planning.

The SPA board also voted to spend about <read more>

S&ME Inc. performed various services including asbestos surveys, lead based paint testing, QC/monitoring, fuel management services and identification of existing coating conditions, recommendations for future treatment and development of a bid document to conduct removal of the existing coatings and re-coat areas of the exterior. Asbestos testing/surveys was conducted on various marine vessels to determine potential occupational and guest risk. Limited removal was also determined and monitored to eliminate high risk scenarios. The asbestos services were provided by in-house personnel with SCDHEC licenses.

Fuel and spill management consulting was performed to minimize potential petroleum releases. S&ME developed bid documents for the removal of over 300,000 gallons of marine fuel. The removal was conducted during non-operational hours and the fuel product removed was used as an alternate fuel for a fossil fuel plant reducing/eliminating fuel disposal costs.

Testing was performed of the exterior coatings on the island, hull and deck to determine the metals content due to environmental and occupational concerns Onsite direct read testing was performed utilizing X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) technology.  A Niton XL 309 provided conclusive for the content of surface and buried lead reported in micrograms per squared centimeter (ug/cm2). S&ME personnel trained in accordance with OSHA, HUD/EPA s lead inspectors and risk assessors performed the onsite testing.

Recommendations were provided to repair the various areas and substrates (steel, copper, aluminum etc.), remove the existing coating, and re-coat the substrate under rigid quality controls both from an administrative stand-point and onsite observation.

S&ME then developed bid documents for the removal of existing coatings in a controlled process to control the spread of lead contaminants to the environment, and protect the public and tradesmen.  OSHA requirements are included to include but not limited to personal protective equipment and administrative controls in accordance with 29 CFR 1926.62.  Proper waste handling, storage, transport and disposal, and the overall minimization of waste was also addressed in the design. Monitoring for metals in the ambient air and adjacent water bodies project requirements which will be conducted by S&ME.  S&ME was awarded an Engineering Excellence Grand Award for this project by ACES-SC.

S&ME conducted a lead inspection, coatings inspection, design, and is performing onsite inspections with a NACE trained and a NACE certified inspector using in-house personnel.  These processes/services are consistent with those anticipated for bridge. Work complied with OSHA and SCDHEC/EPA requirements.

S&ME, Inc. designed a lead remediation plan for the former Pullman Yards train maintenance facility in Atlanta. The project, for the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA) and the Georgia Building Authority (GBA), met remediation requirements of the State’s Environmental Protection Division’s Hazardous Site Response Act (EPD/HSRA) program

The contamination came from sand-blasting done from the 1890s to the 1960s to remove lead-based paint from train engines and railcars. S&ME’s plan allowed treatment and removal of the lead-contaminated sand in a timely manner and saved $1.1 million. Quick action was required to protect a nearby school and residential properties, and to keep the property from being listed as a “hazardous site.” Also of concern was the future use of nearby historic buildings and the threat to potential community development. In fact, the state was negotiating a sale of the property at a price of more than $20 million. Conditions, however, put this sale in jeopardy.

Specific S&ME services included development of a site-specific in situ treatment process. Additionally, S&ME had to design a safe mixing and delivery system for a phosphoric acid solution used in treating some 4,000 tons of sand. The system not only needed to deliver a huge quantity of solution (totaling 140,000 gallons) in a relatively short time, but also deliver the solution safely (pH of the solution was a highly acidic 4.0) and evenly throughout the TSP/sand.

S&ME’s inventive design rendered the contaminated sand as “non-hazardous” for disposal purposes. As verified by extensive sampling, our methodology produced a satisfactory reduction in the leachability of the lead from the sand. The project was completed in a much more cost-effective and timely manner than if S&ME had used conventional treatment and disposal approaches. To our knowledge, our approach is an original application of existing technologies.

This project won the 2007 Palmetto Award (top award) in the Engineering Excellence Awards competition held by the American Council of Engineering Companies, South Carolina.

S&ME performed comprehensive geotechnical field exploration and evaluations for Vought Aircraft Industry’s new facility in South Carolina. Two main buildings totaling 580,000-square feet were constructed in 2005-2006 and a taxiway to connect the facility is scheduled for completion in early 2007. The new facility will produce the fuselage sections for Boeing Aircraft’s new 787 Dreamliner. S&ME has been involved throughout the design and construction process from site explorations, including geotechnical as well as Phase I and Phase II environmental assessments, through construction quality assurance testing. S&ME was part of a team that included BRPH of Melbourne, Florida, and HGB&D of Charleston.

For our design services we drilled 5 standard penetration (SPT) test borings, 35 cone penetration test (CPT) soundings, 3 seismic cone penetration (SCPT) and 2 dilatometer test (DMT) soundings in our exploration for the site. Laboratory testing and a Site Specific Seismic Response Analysis were also performed. The project was particularly challenging from a foundation design and site improvement standpoint because the entire site is located in an area of abandoned phosphate mines from the early 20^th century. Many of the machine foundations had practically zero settlement tolerances. To meet these challenges, a variety of foundation and site improvement methods were utilized. This included wick drains, surcharging, pile foundations, and conventional remove-and-replace techniques that allowed for some shallow foundations. Pile capacities were confirmed using Pile Driving Analyzer (PDA) testing.For our construction testing services we monitored controlled fill and concrete placement, inspected reinforcing steel in footings and slabs, performed floor flatness/levelness testing, inspected structural steel and coatings and tested asphalt and concrete for compliance with project specifications.