ROCKAWAY

LOCATION: QUEENS COUNTY, NY

CLIENT: NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION

MARKET SECTOR: ENERGY UTILITY

 

THE OPPORTUNITY

PS&S provided environmental remediation, permitting and construction phase services to assist National Grid in implementing the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (NYSDEC) remedial design at the Rockaway Park Former Manufactured Gas Plant site.

Rockaway Park was a booming gas manufacturing plant between the 1870s and the 1950s, providing gas used for many residential and commercial purposes. NYSDEC had to close the plant because hazardous substances used in chemical manufacturing processes spread into the underlying soil and groundwater and contaminated the site.

 

THE CHALLENGE

The challenges for PS&S were to construct a Mitigation Barrier Wall to prevent contaminants from moving laterally onto adjacent sites and into the bordering Jamaica Bay; provide noise and vibration monitoring services for the Metro Transit Authority (MTA) Railroad, gas transmission mains, and retaining wall; and prepare a response to infrastructure affected by Hurricane Sandy. 

 

THE PS&S SOLUTION

PS&S provided the expertise and equipment to monitor noise and vibrations and to ensure that implemented measures would be sufficient to prevent erosion. PS&S excavated 8 feet of impacted soil and disposed of the contaminated soil off-site. In addition, PS&S designed and installed a 120-foot-deep Composite Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (DNAPL) Migration Barrier Wall, made of a system of interlocking steel piles and triple fluid jet grouted soil-cement columns, to prevent the belowground movement of hazardous materials into nearby properties and Jamaica Bay. PS&S also supervised the installation of a 2-foot-thick site-wide soil cover cap to further contain any leftover contaminants in the soil.

 To properly dispose of hazardous materials, PS&S helped design an On-Site Waste Management Area, which used a closed loop system to recycle the water used in jet grouting and to safely transport waste to a waste treatment facility. PS&S adhered to Stormwater Best Management Practices to develop the best methods for ensuring that stormwater did not carry contaminated materials off the site.