Location: Portsmouth, Virginia
Client: EPA Region 3
Under contract to EPA Region 3, EA has provided environmental services over the past 10 years at the Atlantic Wood Industries Superfund site, a former wood treating site, on the Elizabeth River in Portsmouth, Virginia. The Atlantic Wood Industries site consists of approximately 48 acres of land in the industrialized waterfront area of the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River in Portsmouth, Virginia. From 1926 to 1992, a wood treating facility operated at the site using both creosote and pentachlorophenol. As a result of historical site operations, sediments in the Elizabeth River contained visible creosote. The groundwater and soil at the site are also heavily contaminated with creosote. Creosote contamination previously migrated into a storm sewer and discharged to an inlet of the Elizabeth River.
EA was the prime contractor for four major environmental remediation projects; all four projects were implementation of EA designs. This effort involved EA placing daily, full-time construction management/inspection staff for the duration of construction activities. Typical duties involved planning of the work, managing subcontractors, conducting quality assurance/quality control inspections, providing safety compliance, generating daily reports for EPA, generating monthly invoices, and documenting the progress of the work by generating final Remedial Action Reports. These services have been provided to complete the following projects:
- Excavation of contaminated soil from along a roadway and construction of perimeter berms for a future confined disposal facility for contaminated dredged material (2010–2011).
- Construction of a riverside containment berm that will form one side of an aquatic-based disposal facility for contaminated dredged materials (2011).
- Relocation of a major storm drain through highly contaminated soil to a river discharge. The pipelines were placed in a polyethylene trench to help keep creosote contamination away from the pipelines. Due to a very high local groundwater, an extensive dewatering system was necessary. Four large concrete junction boxes were also constructed (2013).
- Regrading and filling of approximately 150,000 cubic yards of amended sediments for an onsite landfill. The completed site will be re-usable for production and storage space by the onsite industry. Significant stormwater management and geotechnical challenges were present on this project (2018 – ongoing).
In addition, EA provided construction phase engineering services for three other projects, all designed by EA. Typical services for these projects included review of contractor submittals, periodic onsite inspections, responses to contractor requests for information, participation in regular meetings and progress conference calls, any necessary engineering during the construction phase, and review and approval of as-built drawings.
- The in situ stabilization/solidification of a former water pond area. This involved the mixing of a reagent (organophilic clay and cement) with 43,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil below the water table.
- The construction of a 1,100 foot-long steel sheet pile retaining wall placed in the Elizabeth River.
- The environmental dredging of 350,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment within the Elizabeth River.
