4630 River Road Site (Site # 915258)– Tonawanda, New York
Brownfields Cleanup Program Project
PEI Project Manager: Mr. Peter Gorton/Mr. John Berry, P.E.
Giuseppe Holdings, LLC owner of the 4630 River Road Site (Site # C915258), Tonawanda, New York entered into a Brownfied Cleanup Program (BCP) Agreement with the NYSDEC under the Voluntary section of the “Brownfield Cleanup Program Act”. Giuseppe Holdings, LLC contracted Panamerican Environmental, Inc. (PEI) to complete the BCP.
The 4630 River Road Site is located on approximately 3.5 acres of undeveloped land. The site is bounded by the Niagara River to the north, vacant industrial property and a County park to the east, a paved bike path and River Road to the south, and United Refining Company property to the west. The site is currently vacant and zoned for waterfront mixed use. The proposed redevelopment project includes the construction of 64 apartments with underground parking and marina facilities.
The site was undeveloped until approximately the 1970’s when two storm water retention ponds covered two thirds of the property. These ponds received storm water from the former Ashland Petroleum Company that was located on adjacent property to the west. The use of the ponds was reportedly discontinued in 1982 when operations at the Ashland Petroleum facility ceased. Closure of the retention ponds was completed in 1997 with the removal of the impoundment and excavation of contaminated soils. Confirmatory sample results revealed the presence of benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene and xylenes in the sidewalls and floor of the excavation. In May 2010, a Phase II Environmental Site Investigation was completed to evaluate the property. These results revealed the presence of ethylbenzene and xylenes at concentrations that exceeded the NYSDEC soil cleanup objectives for residential use.
The BCP Remedial Investigation (RI) field activities were completed by PEI during January and February 2013 with the completion of test pits, and the collection of soil and groundwater samples for chemical analysis. The The results of the RI revealed that several areas across the site contain elevated concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metals in surface and/or subsurface soils. Groundwater, however, was not impacted by site related contaminants.
The site cleanup plan is described in the Alternatives Analysis Report prepared by Panamerican Environmental, Inc., in 2014. Under the proposed remedy, all on-site soil and fill that exceeds unrestricted use soil cleanup objectives (SCOs) would be excavated and transported off-site for disposal. Remedial activities occurred during October and November 2016. In total, approximately 17,000 to 18,000 cubic yards of soil and fill have been excavated to accommodate site development and PEI is in process of developing the final engineering reports for the Certificate of Completion.