Owner/Client
Confidential
Location
New Stanton, PA
CEC Services
- Air Compliance and Permitting
- Erosion & Sedimentation Control/NPDES Permitting
- Geotechnical Engineering
- Site Grading/Earthwork Analysis
- Site Infrastructure Maintenance/BMP Design
- Slope Stability/Retaining Structure Design
- Fish and Macroinvertebrate Surveys
- Soil Science and Phytoremediation
- Threatened & Endangered Species Surveys/Wildlife Surveys
- Water Quality & Sediment Surveys
- Wetlands & Waters Delineations
- Groundwater Monitoring and Assessment
- Hydrogeology and Groundwater Modeling
- NPDES Permitting Support
- RCRA/CERCLA
- Site Characterization
- Soil/Groundwater Remediation Systems
- Stormwater Sampling and Permitting
- Horizontal & Vertical Control Surveys
- LiDAR Surveys – Short and Long Range
- Topographic Surveys
- Construction Management
- Design/Build Services
- GPS/GIS Services
- Web & Mobile Application Development
Owner Objective
This international electrical component manufacturer is an industry leader in developing smart energy solutions. Its New Stanton facility, when operational, produced electrical appliance components, including thermostats for residential and commercial use.
During the manufacturing process, mercury vapors were released to the environment through exhaust fans. When the vapors came into contact with cooler outside temperatures, mercury precipitated out of the vapor phase. Degreasing solvents used as part of the manufacturing process were also inadvertently released to the environment. The manufacturer entered the Pennsylvania Land Recycling Program (Act 2) to address these historical environmental impacts. There are two independent Act 2 sites at the facility; one for the mercury impacts and one for the solvent-related impacts. The client’s goal is to secure Act 2 closure for both sites.
CEC Approach
CEC has been engaged on the project since 2018, but CEC personnel have been involved in the project since its inception in 1999. In the early 2000s, the mercury impacts were addressed under Act 2 statewide health standards. While approval of the Act 2 Final Report was issued by the PADEP Environmental Cleanup and Brownfields Development Group in 2011, the PADEP Clean Water Group did not release an administrative order they had in place due to the sporadic presence of low concentrations of mercury in a single stormwater culvert. After numerous meetings with PADEP, a cost/benefit analysis of numerous potential options to address the Clean Water Group’s concerns was presented to the client. The selected approach will result in a section of the property that can ultimately be used by the property owner as a greenspace for tenant employee breaks.
Prior to implementation of the selected remedy described herein, an interim measure was designed and implemented to maintain compliance with PADEP-stipulated mercury discharge standards. Specifically, BMPs were installed within the existing stormwater management system by retrofitting an existing concrete catch basin to incorporate a concrete sump below the discharge culvert’s invert. This provided a physical/mechanical treatment method by which mercury could be separated from stormwater. The accumulated mercury was periodically collected and properly disposed of as part of the ongoing site remediation activities. The interim remedy continued until the final remedial action was completed, which involves stormwater controls and eliminating the potential for stormwater to contact the mercury-impacted soil.
The final remedy, selected to address the concerns and the source of mercury-containing sediment, consisted of an HDPE liner system overlain by an Enviro-Grid surface. Stormwater controls were installed to control flow across the Enviro-Grid and liner system. Because the installation of the liner system was on a steep slope during the winter, a series of safety and seaming procedures were developed to properly seam the various panels of each layer of material. The current property owner and CEC’s client are both pleased with the outcome of the liner system installation to date. It is still under construction with only some final grading and revegetation along with stormwater conveyance piping upgrades needing to be completed.
The solvent-related impacts to groundwater have been horizontally and vertically delineated. Groundwater monitoring wells have been installed to monitor five different groundwater flow zones. Multiple remedial technologies are being employed to address these impacts, including enhanced in situ bioremediation, in situ chemical reduction, soil vapor extraction, and phytoremediation.
Key Outputs/Deliverables
Numerous deliverables have been generated throughout the life of this project, including, but not limited to, the Notice of Intent to Remediate, the site characterization reports for both the mercury and VOC-related Act 2 sites, Baseline Human Health and Environmental Risk Assessments for both sites, Act 2 Cleanup Plans for both sites, an Act 2 Final Report for the mercury-related site, and development of environmental covenants. Since groundwater monitoring has been ongoing for nearly 20 years, a tremendous amount of data has been generated. Correctly managing this data has been key to providing efficient updates to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) and U.S. EPA and for use in the development of various remedial designs.
Value Added and Innovation Delivered Over and Above Contract/Requirements
CEC personnel recommended that an innovative sampling device (HYDRAsleeve™) be used to collect quarterly and semiannual groundwater samples. HYDRAsleeve™ is a dedicated, single-use in-well passive sampling device deployed within the water column in a monitoring well and is in communication with groundwater on a continuous basis. During quarterly groundwater sampling activities, the existing HYDRAsleeve™ is quickly removed, which activates a check valve in the device. The groundwater sample captured within the HYDRAsleeve™ is returned to the surface and transferred to laboratory-provided sampling bottles. A new HYDRAsleeve™ is then deployed into the groundwater monitoring well for sampling during the next quarterly or semiannual event.
The client accepted CEC’s recommendation. As a result, quarterly groundwater monitoring costs have been reduced by over 20%.
How CEC Successfully Overcame Challenges in Delivering the Services
Prior to transitioning to the HYDRAsleeve™ technology, CEC personnel were required to gain PADEP approval, which was done through a combination of verbal and written communications. The PADEP approved the use of HYDRAsleeve™ for the collection of groundwater samples for future monitoring events.
