$695,000 Added to Airport Site Remediation

CREST HAVEN – At the Dec. 10 freeholder caucus, a resolution to award an additional $695,000 to Tetra Tech, Inc., for engineering and licensed site remediation services at the Cape May County Airport, was discussed.
The resolution was approved at the regular meeting.
Nancy Mauro, director of the Engineering Department, reminded freeholders that the airport was identified by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) as a known contaminated site. In 2012, the county was required by the DEP to obtain the services of a licensed site remediation professional (LSRP) to investigate and remediate the site. 
There’s been significant work and progress at the airport in the last two years, according to Mauro, including the remediation and demolition of three contaminated buildings.
“I’m happy to say we are now at a turning point in the work, for the majority of  /.,./;the site has been investigated, and work is nearing completion,” said Mauro.
She introduced Adam Haydt, LSRP and project manager for Tetra Tech, who described the work at the site.
He explained the work was a result of the DEP’s issuance of the Site Remediation Reform Act (SRRA) in 2009, which required the retaining of an LSRP, and the remediation of historical discharges, which occurred prior to 1999.
Discharge, as it relates to SRRA, includes real discharges and potential discharges, referred to as an area of concern (AOC). “We don’t know, in some cases, whether a discharge occurred until an investigation is conducted; however, it is important to note that an AOC does not necessarily equate to an area of contamination,” said Haydt.
A preliminary assessment, conducted at the airport in 1993, prior to the issuance of SRRA, identified 39 AOCs. Tetra Tech evaluated that list, and determined that the actual number of AOCs, per DEP regulations and guidance, was 105.  
No AOCs had been fully completed to remedial investigation per DEP guidance prior to Tetra Tech’s work, said Haydt. Currently, 75 of 105 AOCs have been completed.
He also noted that a few remediation activities had occurred in the past, but no final documents were produced for that work.
The most substantial gains made at the site, according to Haydt, were due to Tetra Tech’s grouping of AOCs by geographic area. “The reporting for a lot of these minor AOCs, for which no remediation or remedial investigation was required, we lumped these together,” said Haydt.
So far, Tetra Tech has completed reporting and site remediation for seven of 18 reporting groups.
One of the 11 remaining groups, which added to Tetra Tech’s scope of work, relates to PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in groundwater, an emerging contaminant in New Jersey and the nation, according to Haydt.
He said initial work was done to evaluate PFAS compounds in groundwater at the site, “in reaction to several potential triggers, which we had identified in the file record. One of the things, which is included in our proposal, is the initial phase of remedial investigation.” 
In reference to Tetra Tech’s proposal, given to freeholders, Haydt said, “You can see that we are predominately in the later stages of the remediation process. Those AOCs, which are still in the remedial investigation phase … most of those are substantially far along in the remedial investigation phase.
“The funding that we are requesting is some add-on to complete the investigation for some AOCs, which we identified potential contamination, and need some additional delineation beyond what we had initially assumed.
“Otherwise, we’re talking about the later stages of the remediation process, getting into remedial action work plans, and completing remediations so that final remediation documents, RAOs (response action outcome), can be issued, and these can be wiped off the county’s books, which would be a huge win for everyone.”  
Haydt added that substantial progress was expected, by the end of 2020, on the closure of AOCs, with 75% of RAOs expected to be issued. “We think that we are very close to the finish line,” he said, noting that the only thing expected to be remaining, by the end of 2021, would be the PFAS investigation, which is the result of new guidance/regulations issued by DEP.