2017 - The Vision Takes Shape
“It is both exciting and satisfying to see the property take shape the way we envisioned after so many years in planning. What was an unstable and dangerous eyesore is now on its way to becoming a safe and useful addition to Carteret’s community of businesses.
And we are very pleased to see how the wetland buffers along the Rahway River and surrounding creeks have been cleaned up of the trash and debris left after Hurricane Sandy. Wildlife and native vegetation are flourishing. I’m very proud that our mitigation efforts go beyond what was required and the results are terrific. Soil Safe is bringing our vision to life.”
Ron D’Argenio Esq., General Partner, Rahway Arch Properties
Progress continues to be made on the clean-up of the old Cytec site. Most of the work to date has focused on Impounds 3, 4, 5 and (See below for mapped location of impounds). Berms on all impounds directly bordering the Rahway have been widened, elevated, and strengthened with soil cement. The fair drainage material has been placed throughout the site, except for Impound 1 and parts of Impounds 2, 5 and 6.
Tons of flotsam, deposited by Hurricane Sandy and other storms, have been collected and removed, including from the adjacent wetlands. The site is safe and stable and remediation is progressing forward according to plan.
Product Quality
As described in the 2016 Update, environmental screening procedures before receipt are strictly enforced resulting in routine rejections of non-compliant material before they are shipped to us.
After processing, samples of finished product are taken from the conical stockpiles under the discharge belt. Post-processing tests are performed by independent labs and the results are reviewed and must be approved by the Licensed Site Remediation Professional before material can be placed. We place only fully approved and certified recycled product and maintain a perfect compliance record.
“The recycled soil product produced at Metro12 has met all of the requirements for the cap system being used to remediate the Rahway Arch site. The product has had consistent geotechnical properties meeting the needs for the low permeability barrier layer and strength properties to stabilize the site.
From an environmental standpoint, the concentrations in the product have been significantly below the maximum concentration requirements in the approved Remedial Action Workplan.
As a result, the remediation to date has been very successful and I anticipate that the completed cap will exceed the goals established for ultimate re-use of the site.”
Albert P. Free, PE, LSRP, EastStar Environmental Group, Inc.
Construction
The old Cytec Impoundments contain approx. 2 million tons of contaminated alum sludge placed directly on soft soils and is surrounded by heavy industrial activity. Capping and containing was selected as the preferred remedial action.
The viscous sludge is a tricky material. When the sludge is saturated, it’s a little like toothpaste. Soil Safe has become very good at capping such unstable materials having capped a municipal landfill built long ago on wetlands, and has now capped hundreds of acres of contaminated dredge spoils on the Delaware River in South Jersey. Our geotechnical engineers developed a loading plan for the Facility Manager to follow. The sludge has to be loaded slowly and monitored. Pore pressure that develops as the cap is placed in layers is released slowly through a layer of clean high permeability material placed on the sludge. This allows the sludge to consolidate and strengthen before the next layer of cap material is placed.
The cover system design calls for a series of layers of materials with specific properties placed to accomplish two primary goals: 1) prevent precipitation from entering the contaminated material, and 2) crown the site with enough slope to collect and move the precipitation in a controlled manner.
The basic cover design at RAP looks like this (from: EPA 542-F-03-015)
The only significant difference from this EPA schematic is the cap surface is sloped to promote run-off and reduce surface ponding. The planned slopes follow the EPA guidelines, as well.
Stormwater management
The cap promotes both evapotranspiration and run-off. Approximately 98% of all precipitation will be managed this way. The site has been contoured to direct excess water to stormwater management ponds. When complete, there will be four stormwater management ponds on the site, designed to manage the rate of discharge to prevent erosion damage to the surrounding wetlands and the Rahway and to improve the quality of the water when it is discharged.
The stormwater basin in Impound 3 (shown above) is almost complete. This area was once subject to overtopping but such flooding no longer occurs due to the berm being elevated above the MHW line.
The two pictures below show the same area of an impound before and after initial capping. The first picture shows exposed sludge. When saturated, which was most of the time, it supported little weight. The second picture shows the same area with a 4’ layer of drainage material under the first two 12” lifts of low-permeability material. Now it supports construction equipment and reduces percolation, protecting the groundwater and the River.
Successive layers of low-permeability material will be added to create the slope needed to direct stormwater runoff to collection basins around the site.
Finally, a layer of topsoil will be placed to promote vegetation on most of the site, and asphalt in certain areas used for access and parking.
This ‘best practices” system will provide a stable base for the areas to be developed and support vegetation and ecologically diverse buffers on the perimeter of the property. This includes the riparian enhancement areas along the River that are currently under construction.
Geotechnical Monitoring
Regular monitoring of the placement and settlement of these layers confirms the settlement is occurring. This settlement was anticipated and engineered into the cap design. The monitoring has shown that the settlement is well within the design parameters.
Horizontal movement and subsurface pressure monitoring have shown that the site is stable and that the unique construction procedures developed for this site are working. The result is a usable site ready for redevelopment.
Recycling operations
Earlier this year, we passed the 1,000,000-ton benchmark. Both processing and placement operations continue to exceed expectations and the remediation is on target against the baseline schedule thanks to a dedicated staff and thorough planning.
“Soil Safe is committed to two overriding operating principles: to provide our employees with a safe and healthy work place and our customers with reliable service without future liabilities. To that end, our service and compliance record is unrivaled in the state, and our company-wide health and safety record is outstanding. We work hard every day to maintain those records.”
Milt Morris, VP Eastern Operations
Commitment to Excellence - Facility Design and Features
Unlike most other New Jersey Class B facilities, Metro12 is bonded by Soil Safe to ensure no taxpayer money will be needed to fulfill the obligations of the project.
Metro12 operates a tire wash and water truck to keep the streets and neighborhoods free from dust and discharges. It also uses a weather station to monitor and alert field personnel to extreme conditions so appropriate actions can be taken for dust control.
Health and Safety
There have been no recordable accidents in 2017. We take H&S seriously.
“We review observations by crew members in morning meetings. Safety Bulletins are used for in depth discussion. Communications, emergency response and weather-related safety concerns are stressed. Most importantly, we empower all team members to “Stop Work” if any condition is observed requiring further evaluation. This approach has resulted in our outstanding safety record.”
Peter Anthony, Metro12 Facility Manager
Tracking
Also unlike other “recyclers”, Soil Safe processes the soils and blends it with cement to create a bona fide recycled product. Most other “recyclers” do not do this – they simply transload contaminated soils to other trucks and ship it out untested, most often to landfills.
Soil Safe samples and analyzes its product. It tracks the material from the point of generation to this controlled end use site. This creates generator-to-placement documentation showing that the material was sampled at the generator location, processed, and resampled after processing to confirm compliance with end-use market requirements before placement. Others simply cannot provide that assurance to its customers.
Permit and Environmental Compliance
All incoming materials are tested to ensure quality of the raw stocks, and all finished product is tested to confirm its acceptability for use, both physically and chemically, in the remediation. Monthly audited reports document quantities, quality, and chronological placement location of all materials used on the job.
Other than documenting a faulty read-out from a brand-new piece of equipment in the first few days of start-up operation in 2014, the facility has had no enforcement issues whatever from any local, county, state or federal agency. No discharges of any kind – air, water, ground – have occurred.
Previous “controversy”
As mentioned in the 2016 update. certain individuals, posing as “environmentalists”, were paid huge sums of money by a competitor of Soil Safe to spread false information about the project.
The environmental groups were duped into believing Soil Safe and the project would be detrimental to the Rahway River and surrounding communities.
Soil Safe was subjected to “greenmail” by aggressive and misinformed groups; asked to pay money and be subject to other onerous and unwarranted impositions or be subjected to media attacks and lawsuits that would hurt our business. We chose to fight.
The false claims were litigated in Federal court and Soil Safe was vindicated for every one of them. All the claims were dismissed. Soil Safe’s process was determined to be a “textbook example of recycling” (See Judge Bumb decision - 6/30/17).
We are also working to ensure that ALL recyclers are subject to the same tough scrutiny that all solid waste companies in New Jersey and New York are subject to. We are supporting legislation to require recyclers to comply with registration and background checks to eliminate bad actors from operating in this environmentally important space.
“The genesis of the attack against our Rahway Arch Remediation Project was revealed through a detailed discovery and deposition process. As a factual and now formally documented matter, significant misinformation was intentionally provided to various environmental groups by a direct competitor of Soil Safe pursuant to a specific industry agenda; a revelation that was as disturbing as it was unsurprising.
Regardless, the regulatory and judicial authorities saw through this smokescreen and formally recognized Soil Safe’s operation as “textbook recycling of materials” that produces an excellent soil product, certified to the National Green Building Standard for deployment in site remediation and construction related activities. As an industry leading recycler, Soil Safe has proven on a technical and operational level that our high-quality soil recycling and remediation services are the superior choice for all of our customers."
Mark Smith, President, Soil Safe, Inc.
Relationship with Carteret – our host community
Soil Safe continues its active participation in many events and support several organizations in Carteret including Cub Scout Troop 88, Carteret PBA, Carteret Volunteer Fire Company and Carteret Conquers Cancer.
Soil Safe has also been proud to support the annual Carteret High School Scholarship for students pursuing a career in math, engineering, technology or the sciences.
This years’ award was too hard to select so two impressive winners were chosen. Congratulations to Nicole Casale and Jonah Alamo for your strong achievements.
Our Facility manager Peter Anthony with Jonah Alamo and Nicole Casale
"The Soil Safe Scholarships make it possible for our students studying engineering, math, science and technology to succeed at the next level, at prestigious universities. This corporate involvement is an important component of our Scholarship Program and we appreciate Soil Safe's ongoing generosity to our students."
Patricia Drill, Director of Student Services, Carteret High School
Project Goals remain unchanged
The goals of the project remain unchanged – remediate the alum sludge impoundments with a fully characterized recycled product, stabilize the underlying materials and berms surrounding the site, create viable buffers and riparian areas adjacent to the existing wetlands, and create usable, ratable property. This will result in creating a safe and sustainable littoral habitat along this heavily industrialized and ecologically-stressed stretch of the Rahway River.
Soil Safe’s customers can be assured that their recyclable material get processed, recycled, and used appropriately, exactly as we say it will.
Give us a call!
Metro12 is a 120-acre soil recycling facility permitted and approved by NJDEP and all other governing regulatory agencies. Facility permits and documents may be reviewed here: (LINK)
SSI-Metro12 has an unmatched daily capacity of 7,000 tons, a certified onsite truck scale, as well as the logistical expertise that Soil Safe is known for to minimize turnaround time. This facility gives our customers the competitive advantages of working with a facility close to the market center while also having the capability to receive larger volumes of soil on a daily basis.
For information: 1-800-562-4365 ext. 1104
For Customers and Visitors
The Facility is located immediately off the NJ Turnpike at Exit 12 and represents a true multiple turn facility from project sites anywhere in the North Jersey/NYC metropolitan area.
Soil Safe’s experienced and knowledgeable staff will help you address your soil recycling needs. Jim Grant leads our corporate sales staff and can be reached at (410) 872-3990 ext. 1104.
“We’ll walk you through the process to assure you and your clients that your soil has been properly recycled. Call us today about our services or to arrange a site visit."
Jim Grant, VP Sales
Directions - From the New Jersey Turnpike:
Take Exit 12 toward Carteret/Rahway. Immediately after the Toll Booths, merge onto Peter J. Sica Industrial Highway. At the first Traffic Light Turn Left onto Roosevelt Ave. Cross the rail tracks, turn right and bear left around the Amazon warehouse. The entrance to SSI-Metro12 is ahead on the right. Follow the gravel road to the scale house and sign in.