Update #17
PSE&G Weekly Project Update – Week of July 22, 2024
A contractor of Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) will continue to mobilize equipment and personnel for the John Fitch Way Project and prepare the site for remediation. The Project site is located in the portion of the state-owned parking lot near the New Jersey Department of Labor Building and Division of Taxation Building and adjacent to the helicopter pad.
Work began the week of April 15th. The first 12-16 weeks will focus on preparing the site for excavation. All soil disturbance activities are part of this preparation and outside the area of remediation.
Weekly updates are posted to the project website: https://jfitchwayproject.com/
Questions? Concerns? Call the Project Information Line at (855) 356-2383 or email us at comments@jfitchwayproject.com.
NOTICE: The contractor plans to conduct an emergency drill on Wednesday, July 24th at 10:45 am. The drill will be initiated by sounding an air horn 3 times and is expected to last approximately 15 mins. The site crew will then assemble at the site’s rally point, which is adjacent to the construction entrance off Market Street.
REMINDER: For the safety of employees and the community, the sidewalk and walking path adjacent to Route 29 (Market Street) and at the PSE&G project entrance has been closed. Please use an alternate route.
Anticipated Work to be Performed: July 22nd – July 26th
- Continue to mobilize equipment.
- Continue to construct the enclosure.
- Continue to install piping for establishing a belowground freeze wall. This is being done in phases. This will provide necessary support for the future remediation. Area 1, which supports the first phase of excavation, is complete. For more information, https://jfitchwayproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/freezewall.pdf.
- Continue to soft dig and pre-trench excavation limits (outside area of remediation). Underground infrastructure is removed. All located pipes are first identified, confirmed as inactive, and are cut and capped outside the area of known impacts.
- Continue to construct and test water treatment system.
- Load out asphalt as needed.
- Continue perimeter air monitoring.
- Continue dust controls.
- Maintain soil erosion and sediment controls.
- Security guard posted 24/7.
Work Performed: July 15th – July 19th
- Continued to mobilize equipment and personnel to the site, including a crane for construction of the enclosure and a back-up generator to provide initial power to the freeze wall chiller unit.
- Continued to construct the enclosure.
- Continued to soft dig and pre-trench excavation limits (outside area of remediation). Underground infrastructure is removed. All located pipes are first identified, confirmed as inactive, and are cut and capped outside the area of known impacts.
- Continued to install piping for establishing a belowground freeze wall.
- Continued to construct water treatment system.
- Continued to remove asphalt, as needed.
- Continued perimeter air monitoring
- Continued dust controls.
- Maintained soil erosion and sediment controls.
- Security guard posted 24/7.
Community Outreach
- Canvassed neighborhood to talk about the enclosure and other changes to the site.
- Issued 16th weekly update and posted it to the project website.
- Weekly updates emailed to: NJ Department of Treasury (which in turn distributed to the NJ State Department of Labor, Division of Taxation, Hughes Justice Complex, Office of the Governor); City of Trenton officials; Mercer County Officials; community and neighborhood organizations.
Background: The project will remediate impacts to soil from the operations of a former manufactured gas plant (MGP) operated by a predecessor company of PSE&G in Trenton from the late 1840s to late 1890s. Approximately 100,000 tons of MGP-impacted soil will be excavated. Any infrastructure related to the former MGP operations that remain underground also will be removed. Most of the work will be performed within a temporary sprung structure (i.e., tented enclosure). Excavated soil will be transported to a permitted off-site soil treatment and disposal facility. The excavated areas will be backfilled with certified clean fill and restored to the pre-existing conditions. Groundwater encountered during soil remediation activities will be treated and conveyed off site in accordance with permitting.
The project is anticipated to take approximately 18 months to complete. All work is being performed in cooperation with and under the oversight of the Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP), and in accordance with the requirements and guidance of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP).