Posted on 10.13.14
Roche outlines Clifton, Nutley site remediation
Source: http://www.northjersey.com, October 13, 2014
By: Hasime Kukaj
Roche officials said Wednesday that they are satisfied with the progress of soil and groundwater remediation at its Clifton/Nutley campus, which it plans to vacate and sell soon.
A small audience turned out for a public meeting at the Renaissance Meadowlands Hotel Rutherford. In addition to the general public, Nutley commissioners Thomas Evans and Joseph Scarpelli, Township Attorney Alan Genitempo, and Township Engineer Todd Hay attended the gathering.
TRC Environmental Corp. Vice President Dawn Pompeo and Engineer Linda Caramichael presented feasibility studies for soil and groundwater clean-up at four of 15 areas on the Roche site. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection required the meeting to review cleanup options for some sections and allow public comment.
Roche hired TRC Environmental to supervise site environmental investigations and remediation, also under the watch of the the state DEP and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
Soil
Pompeo provided a proposed soil cleanup for areas located in the site’s southern portion (IA-3, IA-7 and IA-10) and upland (IA-14 and IA-15).
According to Pompeo, Roche plans to clean up soils with organic contaminants, using an excavation and off-site thermal treatment with clean soil. The treatment will consist of returning treated soil to the site. The estimated cost is $12.4 million and could take four to six months.
Other alternatives include no action, engineering and institutional controls, and excavation and off-site disposal.
Soil containing inorganic contaminants, such as metals, could be excavated and disposed off-site. Cleanup for these soils could cost $4.75 million, and could take four to six months, according to Pompeo.
Roche also plans to cleanup impacted soils beneath existing buildings, using engineering and institutional controls. That cleanup could cost $250,000.
Caramichael spoke about soil cleanup in a riparian area, between St. Paul’s Brook and paved parking lots in IA-14 and IA-15. Contamination in those areas is due to historic fill material and associated diffuse anthropogenic pollutants (DAP).
For those areas, Roche plans cleanup consisting of engineering and institutional controls, which could cost $800,000, Caramichael said.
Engineering controls pertain to the “use of rock walls contained by steel baskets, geotextiles and stones to protect the stream banks against erosion,” according to a Roche fact sheet.
EPA evaluation criteria consists of overall protection or human health and the environment, compliance with regulatory requirements, long term-effectiveness and performance, reduction of toxicity, mobility or volume via treatment, short-term effectiveness, implementability cost, DEP acceptance and community acceptance, Pompeo said.
Other cleanup alternatives include no action, or excavation and off-site disposal of impacted historic fill material.
Historical fill predates Roche, according to Roche site head Tom Lyon.
Lyon said that the fill material, from ash from coal-burning plants, etc., was acceptable at the time it was dumped. Today, “that fill does not meet residential standards,” as it contains low levels of contaminants, he said.
“So what we’re doing is we’ll be removing those low-level contaminants in that historic fill [by] [thermally] treating it to clean it up, and then returning the dirt clean to the site for reuse,” Lyon said. “In essence, I like to think we’re leaving the site better than we found it.”
Groundwater
Roche proposes biological treatment to address shallow groundwater contamination near former Building 104. The treatment could cost $218,000, according to Caramichael.
The groundwater contamination primarily consists of perchloroethylene (PCE) and its natural breakdown compounds. The common solvent is used in industrial areas and commercial businesses, such as dry cleaners and ink and machine shops.
According to Roche, bioremediation uses naturally occurring organisms to break down hazardous substances into less toxic or nontoxic substances.
Groundwater cleanup in areas, including IA-3, IA-7, IA-11 and IA-15, would use Enhanced In-Situ Bioremediation or EISB “that will include a groundwater recirculation component to optimize the rate and efficiency of groundwater treatment over the large remedial measure treatment area.”
Other alternatives include no action, in-well air stripping, in-situ chemical oxidation, and In-Situ Thermal Treatment with EISB. According to a Roche fact sheet, “in-situ means the contamination is treated in the ground, rather than above ground.”
According to Caramichael, cleanup of 7.8 acres could cost $23.7 million and take two to four years.
Sale prep
“We’ve been really extremely busy here. [There’s] a lot of activity going, and I’d say that most of our activity is really geared around preparing the site for sale,” Lyon said.
“We’re moving along very quickly with proposed remediation, and I’d say we’re gearing up to actually begin very visible remediation activities within the next 30 to 60 days, entailing removing soils and treating soils.”
He added that the visible remediation would occur, assuming the DEP approved proposed plans.
Lyon, who lives in Hamilton, was born and raised in Sayreville. He has been the Clifton/Nutley site head for three of his seven years with Roche.
“This is a great thing to work on, because at the end of the day, where this campus is in 10 years from now, I think we have an opportunity,” Lyon said. “[We’re] trying to get a win-win situation, because this can be a fantastic opportunity.”
Roche spokeswoman Darien Wilson said that the company completed 11 of 12 building demolitions; six were proposed on Nutley’s side and six on Clifton’s side. They had relatively low value for a potential buyer, she said.
Demolition is scheduled to begin on last targeted building by next week.
“All of our demolition should be completed by the end of this year,” Wilson said.
Prospects
After being a part of the community for 80 years, the goal remains to sell the 118-acre site by the end of 2015.
“The prospects are very encouraging. This is a very large, complicated site,” Lyon said. “I believe we’re very fortunate that we have multiple buyers who we’re working with.”
Lyon said prospective buyers have been qualified and “all very viable.”
“We have interest from a number of parties, who have other purchased or purposed sites in similar scope to the Roche property,” Wilson said. “Overall, our divestment timeline and our remediation timelines do remain aligned.”
Lyon also said that Roche continues to work with the Clifton and Nutley’s Joint Repurposing Committee.
“I’m encouraged that we are continuing to make progress, not only at having a right answer for Roche, but a right answer for the communities,” Lyon said.
For remediation plans, there is a 30-day public comment period from Oct. 2 to 31. For more information visit www.roche-nutley.com
Roche hired TRC Environmental to supervise site environmental investigations and remediation, also under the watch of the the state DEP and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
Soil
Pompeo provided a proposed soil cleanup for areas located in the site’s southern portion (IA-3, IA-7 and IA-10) and upland (IA-14 and IA-15).
According to Pompeo, Roche plans to clean up soils with organic contaminants, using an excavation and off-site thermal treatment with clean soil. The treatment will consist of returning treated soil to the site. The estimated cost is $12.4 million and could take four to six months.
Other alternatives include no action, engineering and institutional controls, and excavation and off-site disposal.
Soil containing inorganic contaminants, such as metals, could be excavated and disposed off-site. Cleanup for these soils could cost $4.75 million, and could take four to six months, according to Pompeo.
Roche also plans to cleanup impacted soils beneath existing buildings, using engineering and institutional controls. That cleanup could cost $250,000.
Caramichael spoke about soil cleanup in a riparian area, between St. Paul’s Brook and paved parking lots in IA-14 and IA-15. Contamination in those areas is due to historic fill material and associated diffuse anthropogenic pollutants (DAP).
For those areas, Roche plans cleanup consisting of engineering and institutional controls, which could cost $800,000, Caramichael said.
Engineering controls pertain to the “use of rock walls contained by steel baskets, geotextiles and stones to protect the stream banks against erosion,” according to a Roche fact sheet.
EPA evaluation criteria consists of overall protection or human health and the environment, compliance with regulatory requirements, long term-effectiveness and performance, reduction of toxicity, mobility or volume via treatment, short-term effectiveness, implementability cost, DEP acceptance and community acceptance, Pompeo said.
Other cleanup alternatives include no action, or excavation and off-site disposal of impacted historic fill material.
Historical fill predates Roche, according to Roche site head Tom Lyon.
Lyon said that the fill material, from ash from coal-burning plants, etc., was acceptable at the time it was dumped. Today, “that fill does not meet residential standards,” as it contains low levels of contaminants, he said.
“So what we’re doing is we’ll be removing those low-level contaminants in that historic fill [by] [thermally] treating it to clean it up, and then returning the dirt clean to the site for reuse,” Lyon said. “In essence, I like to think we’re leaving the site better than we found it.”
Groundwater
Roche proposes biological treatment to address shallow groundwater contamination near former Building 104. The treatment could cost $218,000, according to Caramichael.
The groundwater contamination primarily consists of perchloroethylene (PCE) and its natural breakdown compounds. The common solvent is used in industrial areas and commercial businesses, such as dry cleaners and ink and machine shops.
According to Roche, bioremediation uses naturally occurring organisms to break down hazardous substances into less toxic or nontoxic substances.
Groundwater cleanup in areas, including IA-3, IA-7, IA-11 and IA-15, would use Enhanced In-Situ Bioremediation or EISB “that will include a groundwater recirculation component to optimize the rate and efficiency of groundwater treatment over the large remedial measure treatment area.”
Other alternatives include no action, in-well air stripping, in-situ chemical oxidation, and In-Situ Thermal Treatment with EISB. According to a Roche fact sheet, “in-situ means the contamination is treated in the ground, rather than above ground.”
According to Caramichael, cleanup of 7.8 acres could cost $23.7 million and take two to four years.
Sale prep
“We’ve been really extremely busy here. [There’s] a lot of activity going, and I’d say that most of our activity is really geared around preparing the site for sale,” Lyon said.
“We’re moving along very quickly with proposed remediation, and I’d say we’re gearing up to actually begin very visible remediation activities within the next 30 to 60 days, entailing removing soils and treating soils.”
He added that the visible remediation would occur, assuming the DEP approved proposed plans.
Lyon, who lives in Hamilton, was born and raised in Sayreville. He has been the Clifton/Nutley site head for three of his seven years with Roche.
“This is a great thing to work on, because at the end of the day, where this campus is in 10 years from now, I think we have an opportunity,” Lyon said. “[We’re] trying to get a win-win situation, because this can be a fantastic opportunity.”
Roche spokeswoman Darien Wilson said that the company completed 11 of 12 building demolitions; six were proposed on Nutley’s side and six on Clifton’s side. They had relatively low value for a potential buyer, she said.
Demolition is scheduled to begin on last targeted building by next week.
“All of our demolition should be completed by the end of this year,” Wilson said.
Prospects
After being a part of the community for 80 years, the goal remains to sell the 118-acre site by the end of 2015.
“The prospects are very encouraging. This is a very large, complicated site,” Lyon said. “I believe we’re very fortunate that we have multiple buyers who we’re working with.”
Lyon said prospective buyers have been qualified and “all very viable.”
“We have interest from a number of parties, who have other purchased or purposed sites in similar scope to the Roche property,” Wilson said. “Overall, our divestment timeline and our remediation timelines do remain aligned.”
Lyon also said that Roche continues to work with the Clifton and Nutley’s Joint Repurposing Committee.
“I’m encouraged that we are continuing to make progress, not only at having a right answer for Roche, but a right answer for the communities,” Lyon said.
For remediation plans, there is a 30-day public comment period from Oct. 2 to 31. For more information visit www.roche-nutley.com
