Innovative remedial investigation results in significant cost savings

Client challenge

Our client, a responsible party at a Superfund site, needed support with remedial investigation, design, and action to address lead-contaminated soil present at and surrounding the site located on a former foundry. National, state, and community stakeholders had both common and distinct concerns about the soil contamination and how the cleanup efforts could impact public health and safety.

In addition, the client needed to assess its role in the cleanup of this multifaceted site. The client chose Haley & Aldrich to take on the complex challenge of determining the extent of the remediation it bore responsibility for and how to approach remediation in the most efficient and cost-effective manner, while also managing the stakeholder needs.

Our approach

We knew a conventional approach would not suffice given the complexities of the site. Instead, we went back in time to investigate the history of the entire site to uncover other potential sources of contamination. Our “one team” approach included our civil, geotechnical and chemical engineers, geologists and scientists to conduct a “fingerprint analysis,” which determined which lead samples came from the former foundry and that most of the lead in the soil within a 10-block area of the foundry came from other sources.

This effort — along with ongoing collaboration and information sharing with the EPA, the community, and other stakeholders — resulted in the EPA’s decision to substantially reduce the remedial action required by our client, which significantly lowered the cleanup cost. As a result, we cleaned up only the contamination that our client was directly responsible for and restored the site to preexisting conditions.

Value delivered

• Delivered significant project cost and time savings with an extensive remedial investigation into other responsible sources using our innovative source analysis methodology, including fingerprint and statistical analysis
• Maximized efficiency and minimized costs through our rapport with the EPA, which resulted in a phased approach for investigating off-site soil
• Transformed a potentially negative experience with the public into a positive one with proactive communications and educating stakeholders and the surrounding community