Despite the fact that you have taken every precaution, hitting utility lines or other hidden infrastructure is still relatively common. Even after all the records are consulted and metal detector tests completed, you can dig up an entire storage tank that wasn’t accounted for or find a random pipe with no apparent usefulness.
Having a tool that can get you down there without damage is a significant benefit to those in the field. SCS recommends using the Hydrovac or Air Knife technologies, tools that can save money and time when working on sites with sensitivities or a longer historical background when the risks are highest.
SCS uses these tools when drilling at a transfer station near older or deeper power lines. We find utilities can be buried deeply below ground or are not encased in metal pipes, making metal detectors useless.
When remediating a historic property for developers with nearby utility lines and there’s a question about the accuracy of the records, it is far safer and cost efficient to use these newer technologies to dig a hole as small as for setting a mailbox, or as large as digging an entire site for construction.
The Hydrovac and Air Knife will both remove soil cover and allow you to see any underground utilities or infrastructure before excavation or drilling. The Hydrovac uses pressurized water and a vacuum system to remove soil. The Air Knife accomplishes the same thing using compressed air instead of water.
SCS Engineers can provide a range of equipment sizes and capabilities including:
By Thomas Karwoski and Sherren Clark
About the Authors:
Mr. Karwoski has 30 years of experience as a hydrogeologist and project manager. He has designed and managed investigations and remediations at existing and proposed landfills; and industrial, Superfund, military, and petroleum sites.
Ms. Clark has more than 25 years of experience in civil engineering and environmental science, with a technical background in both engineering and hydrogeology. She manages multidisciplinary projects including landfill design and monitoring, brownfield site investigation and remediation, and environmental management and permitting for private and public sector clients.
Links to SCS Services: CCR, Landfill, and Remediation pages.
SCS’s environmental services supporting COMM22, a mixed-use, mixed-income redevelopment project in San Diego will be recognized at Environmental Industry Summit XV
When the Environmental Business Journal (EBJ) presents its 19th annual Business Achievement awards this March, SCS Engineers will receive an award of Project Merit: Redevelopment, for its investigation and design program for COMM22, a multi-family residential development by BRIDGE Housing.
COMM22 is a mixed-use, mixed-income, transit-oriented development built on a former bus maintenance facility. SCS addressed several issues including underground storage tanks and the testing of fill soils. The firm’s pre-construction characterization and three-dimensional data analysis resulted in time and budget savings.
“Our remediation effort on this property ensured that human health and the environment were protected as cost-effectively as possible,” said Dan Johnson, vice president of SCS. “Affordable housing is important to San Diego communities and we applaud the work of BRIDGE Housing and the collaboration it takes to create urban projects like this.”
BRIDGE Housing Corporation, a leading nonprofit developer of affordable housing, creates and manages a range of high-quality, affordable homes for working families and seniors. Since it was founded in 1983, BRIDGE has participated in the development of over 16,000 homes in California and the Pacific Northwest.
More award-winning redevelopment projects of interest:
Petco Park and East Redevelopment – San Diego
Emerald Ridge Homes – East Alton
NFL Stadium Site – Los Angeles
Commercial Real Estate Transactions blog
East Alton Defense Area Rehabilitation Project Receives Illinois Governor’s Affordable Housing Champion Award. SCS Engineers provides environmental services that help move redevelopment project forward. – Congratulations RISE!
Mark Stroker, Director of Real Estate Development, RISE St. Louis, informed the SCS Engineers team about the honor, saying he felt “a great deal of pride and appreciation that Emerald Ridge was selected by IHDA [Illinois Housing Development Authority] as the Champion’s Award winner for excellence in affordable housing development for 2016.”
Mr. Stroker went on to tell the SCS team that, “It is an extraordinary honor and represents a long and collaborative effort… This was a tough project and wouldn’t have been possible without all of your help.” He attended the Illinois Governor’s Conference in late March 2016, where he accepted the award and discussed the project with conference attendees.
In his notification to Mr. Stroker about the award, Benjamin Fenton, IHDA’s Housing Coordination Services Manager, explained that three nominees are chosen for this award every year for distinguished developments, initiatives, or programs in affordable housing. The nominees stand out for their commitment to serving the Annual Comprehensive Housing Plan focus areas and one or more of the State’s Priority Populations, and for having positive impacts on the community in which they are located.
Before it was redeveloped, The Emerald Ridge Development was known as the “Defense Area,” and it consisted of 18 one- and two-story multi-family buildings containing approximately 80 apartments. The Defense Area was built by the Federal government as temporary housing in the early 1940’s to accommodate workers at the nearby Olin ammunition plant during the war effort. After the war, these barracks-style buildings were not dismantled as originally planned but were sold off to private owners. Over the years, they were re-sold multiple times, and the condition of most of the buildings became more and more deteriorated, in addition to being constructed with asbestos-containing materials and lead-based paints.
Residents were temporarily relocated, and the old buildings were demolished and replaced with 46 newly constructed, high-efficiency single-family homes. The residents who lived in the area when the redevelopment project commenced were given the opportunity to rent homes in the new development, and some accepted. The rechristened Emerald Ridge Development is located in the Village of East Alton, Illinois, and the new single-family homes are affordable to families earning 60% of the Area Median Income, which includes nearly two-thirds of the residents of East Alton.
Services that SCS Engineers provided at the site included lead and asbestos abatement sampling and specifications, asbestos abatement management, subsurface investigation for a Phase II ESA, NESHAP demolition inspections, and two Phase I ESAs to assess the property for potential environmental impairments, to satisfy IHDA requirements, and to satisfy the CERCLA requirements to qualify for landowner liability protection.
Stephanie Hill, SCS Project Director, said: “I am honored to be part of the RISE team that brought so much value to the community.” Ms. Hill offered special thanks to Randy Homburg, SCS Geologist and Project Manager, for his work on this redevelopment project, and to the other SCS team members who performed the environmental site assessments.
“Our clients enable SCS to build, grow, and sustain an engineering firm dedicated to solving environmental challenges,” said Jim Walsh, President and CEO of SCS. “We sincerely thank our friends, colleagues and, in particular, our clients for helping us achieve a highly regarded ranking each year.”
Firms are ranked in terms of revenue by Engineering News-Record magazine (ENR), as reported in the May 2, 2016, issue of the “ENR Top 500 Design Firms Sourcebook.” SCS has made the Top 500 list since its publication in 2002 and has ranked in the top 100 of that list since 2008.
When sorted by firm type, SCS Engineers is ranked the second largest environmental engineering firm (ENV) and is ranked in the “Top 20 Sewerage and Solid Waste” service firms in the nation. SCS has made this top 20 list since 2002.
Later in the year, ENR will publish additional resources and lists, including the “Top 200 Environmental Firms” issue, typically published in the month of August.
Learn more about our latest innovation, SCSeTools
If you are buying or selling a property with a history of soil or groundwater contamination in Wisconsin, the state’s Department of Natural Resources requires vapor intrusion pathway screening. The screening is also necessary when buying or selling a property adjacent to a property with soil or groundwater contamination. Is this analysis necessary?
The screening is essential; vapors from contaminated soil or groundwater may transfer to indoor air, causing health risks. The vapors may or may not have an odor. Screen testing and analysis will determine their existence and the level of concentration. Most commonly levels are low, and no additional action is necessary. If beyond the threshold determined safe by your state, some mitigation may be required before purchase.
It is not a simple matter to apply an individual state’s current regulatory guidance to determine the need for vapor intrusion mitigation. The actual intrusion, or expected intrusion in the case of new buildings, is often overstated, and some regulatory agencies use screening values for indoor air chemical concentrations that are at or below levels commonly found in buildings. The slightest error in sampling technique can dramatically affect the resulting data.
SCS offers the full array of vapor intrusion services for residential, commercial, and industrial properties, and for developers, municipalities, lenders, attorneys, industrial facilities, tenants, landlords, and buyers and sellers of real property.
Contact SCS at 1-800-767-4727 or email us at .
Question about this blog, please email one of the authors Robert Langdon and Thomas Karwoski.
SCS has offices nationwide to serve our customers. To learn more about vapor mitigation, please visit the SCS website here: https://www.scsengineers.com/services/hazardous-waste-and-superfund/vapor-intrusion-mitigation-systems.
SCS Engineers’ Vice Presidents Tom Rappolt and Dan Johnson have collectively been named the 2015 IEA Associate of the Year by the Industrial Environmental Association (IEA) of San Diego. An award will be presented at the 31st Environmental Awards Luncheon on October 29, 2015, at the San Diego Convention Center.
IEA promotes responsible, cost-effective environmental laws and regulations, facilitates environmental compliance among member companies and provides educational activities for the San Diego community and Southern California.
“This award recognizes SCS Engineers’ many years of support for IEA and our mission,” said Meridith Marquis, President of IEA. “Several SCS staff members have provided critical technical expertise, helped IEA members and staff in evaluating the impacts of regulatory and legislative proposals, and actively participated in several IEA committees and conferences.”
Learn more about SCS Services by clicking here.
A few years ago, the City of Miami discovered the presence of solid waste ash in their City parks. The ash had been generated by old incinerators and disposed around the City during the early to mid-1900s. Faced with unfunded clean-up costs, the City challenged SCS Engineers to assess the sites and develop a cost-effective strategy to remediate the parkland.
SCS developed a plan to perform complete, yet expedited, environmental assessments of all the locations and then designed an Environmental Cleanup Program utilizing engineering controls to meet Florida’s regulatory compliance, site remediation, and permitting requirements. The Cleanup program is designed to protect residents and visitors during the construction phases, and also to establish environmental safety standards at each site.
The Cleanup Program was developed to provide an environmental solution that eliminates the need for offsite disposal of the affected soils, thereby reducing an estimated 670 metric tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere. This safety measure ensures that remediation work can be performed safely without harmful impacts on humans, animals, or plant life. Due to the innovative design of the program, SCS calculates that 112,000 cubic yards of landfill airspace will be saved as work progresses. This, along with the other innovations introduced as part of the overall design, will save the City of Miami more than $10 million dollars.
SCS Engineers continues to oversee the Cleanup Program which remains on-schedule and on-budget. The City of Miami has already reopened Merrie Christmas Park and Blanche Park, with Douglas Park and Curtis Park scheduled to be fully opened in 2016.
“Our environmental professionals have always worked well with the City; Miami knows they can count on us to seek the safest solution to any environmental issue,” said Eddy Smith, SCS Vice President, Southeast Region.
INDUSTRY, CA — SCS Engineers, working with CNC Engineering, is providing engineering, permitting and construction services for landfill-related improvements for the City of Industry Business Center East Project (IBC-East).
The 245-acre IBC-East site is being prepared for the construction of a new commercial-industrial development. Site preparation includes moving 9,000,000 cubic yards of earthfill to create suitable building sites, roadway, utility and other civil improvements. An 11-acre portion of the development site was used as a solid waste landfill until the late 1960s.
SCS Engineers evaluated potential landfill-related areas of concern, identified regulatory challenges, and performed a comprehensive site characterization study for the project. SCS also prepared design plans and specifications for landfill mitigation measures, and is currently providing construction support services including responses to contractor requests, engineering during construction, construction quality assurance observation and testing services.
“SCS Engineers has a history of providing excellent construction support services to the City of Industry,” said John Ballas, Engineer for the City of Industry. “Their demonstrated ability to support landfill-related improvements makes them the ideal choice for this project.”
For more information visit Brownfields and Remediation
and Construction Services, or Landfill Redevelopment
With in-house construction capability and skills in turning a traditional cleanup job into a more sustainable and cost-efficient project, SCS Engineers has seen its remediation practice grow ahead of the overall industry’s pace.
