Location: Woodbury Heights, New Jersey

Regulatory Program: Industrial Site Recovery Act (ISRA)

Duration: February 2000 to Present

Summary: Chlorinated Solvent Release ISRA Remedial Investigation and Remedial Action Selection, Assistance with Cost Recovery through Insurance and State Grant and Loan Program

Princeton Geoscience evaluated groundwater monitoring data from nine quarterly sampling events as part of a natural attenuation monitoring program initiated by another consultant.  This included developing a new conceptual model of site hydrogeologic conditions; further assessing groundwater geochemistry and potential impacts to receptors; determining site-specific contaminant degradation half-lives; application of several groundwater models (BIOCHLOR, Disperse and site-specific calculations); and development of a proposed Classification Exception Area (CEA) and monitoring program.

Based on results of these activities, Princeton Geoscience determined that some degree of source treatment and groundwater remediation is necessary.  A remedial program has been developed which includes a supplemental evaluation of the source area (former vapor degreaser location) and a focused application of enhanced, in-situ bioremediation.  Regenesis Bioremediation Products, Inc.’s Hydrogen Release Compound (HRC) will be injected into the subsurface at the former release area, to enhance the reductive dehalogenation processes currently taking place.  A groundwater monitoring program will be performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the remedy and determine when benchmarks for switching to monitored natural attenuation have been achieved.

An important aspect of this project has been completing activities required under New Jersey’s Industrial Site Recovery Act, within the financial constraints of the former property owners responsible for the cleanup.  Princeton Geoscience was initially informed by the client and their attorney that attempts to recover costs through the client’s former insurer had determined that no financial relief was possible, because the insurance company was no longer in business.  For this reason, the client (a retired individual) had been paying project costs personally since the mid-1990s.  Princeton Geoscience discussed the case with several attorneys and identified a firm willing to pursue insurance reimbursement on a contingency basis.  Working with Princeton Geoscience, the firm obtained proof of past insurance coverage.  The successor to the client’s insurance company has since acknowledged the coverage and agreed to pay past and future costs associated with the groundwater remediation project. 

Because the outcome of the insurance cost recovery efforts was initially uncertain, Princeton Geoscience also pursued grant and loan funds for the project through New Jersey’s Hazardous Site Discharge Remediation Fund (HSDRF).  Grants are being pursued for both Innovative Technology and Innocent Purchaser funds.  Innovative Technologies proposed for use on the project include the HRC treatments and the source evaluation, which will be consistent with components of USEPA’s Triad Approach.  An Innocent Purchaser grant is being sought to recover costs for previous and required future remediation of contaminants not believed to have been present in the client’s waste stream.   Specifically, a distinction has been made between the type of solvent used by the client during their operation of the site in the 1980s (1,1,1 trichloroethane (TCA)) and those used during plating and metal working operations over a 25-year period by previous site owners (including perchloroethene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE)).  The main impact to ground water at the site is currently associated with PCE, TCE and their degradation products.

NJDEP has approved the proposed source evaluation and remedial approach and is currently reviewing the HDSRF application.  Upon determination of the client’s eligibility for HDSRF funds, a mechanism for apportioning costs between insurance and grant reimbursement sources will be developed and the proposed project activities implemented.