Remediation News:
Additional Investigations Before Tackling Final Remedies
The former Paulsboro Terminal is a large, complex site requiring several remediation strategies to clean it up. In addition, environmental activities are regulated by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and strict guidelines are in place for every step of the process.
Working with the NJDEP, BP has spent more than two decades conducting extensive soil, groundwater, and sediment/surface water investigation, while implementing interim remedial measures (IRM) to control and clean up source areas. The Remedial Investigation (RI) process is nearing completion and, as redevelopment plans take shape, BP has met with the NJDEP a number of times to discuss what has taken place to date and how to proceed in selecting final remedies.
To complete the RI phase of their regulations, the NJDEP has asked BP to conduct additional sampling in the Delaware River and Mantua Creek, to supplement similar data collection efforts performed since 2003.
Conclusions drawn from the original sampling efforts were that the observations of chemicals in river sediment were no different near the site than from other "background" sampling locations some distances away. It is important to note that the Delaware River and its tributaries historically received run-off and discharges from many sources along the industrial corridor through which they flow. It will be interesting to see if residual impacts are evident from the 265,000 gallon oil spill that occurred from the Greek oil tanker Athos I in November 2004 in the Delaware River at the mouth of Mantua Creek.
The NJDEP has approved a sampling plan submitted by BP and the work will be performed during the first quarter of 2007. The sampling plan includes collecting sediment samples at 21 locations in the Delaware River and Mantua Creek, plus an upland area that may have been an overland drainage pathway between the former DuPont property and Mantua Creek. The results of the supplemental sampling will be presented in a Remedial Investigation Report Addendum, intended to conclude the RI phase of activities at the site.
Once the NJDEP indicates that remedial investigations have been completed to their satisfaction, BP will submit a Remedial Action Selection Report (RASR) which will lay out a strategy for moving forward with the final phases of site cleanup. The RASR will evaluate available remedial approaches and help determing which technologies are most appropriate for site conditions. A number of cleanup technologies will be recommended for the various source areas at the site that have already been identified through extensive investigations and may have already been the subject of interim remedial measures.
The approach to final cleanup includes dividing the site into several Remedial Management Units (RMUs) based on source areas, types of chemical impacts, what type of media (for example, soil or groundwater) are involved, and what future land uses will be. Once the RASR has been through the NJDEP and public review process, specific Remedial Action Workplans (RAWs) will be submitted for the various RMUs on a prioritized basis. Over the last year BP has been working on many components of the RASR and RAWs so that these critical steps can be implemented without delay and coordinated with redevelopment of the site.
