Update #22
PSE&G Weekly Project Update – Week of August 26, 2024
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. 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.
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.
Excavation within the enclosure began Tuesday, August 20th. Current site access off Market Street will remain the same for the duration of the project.
Ongoing Monitoring & Mitigation Measures During Remediation
- Dust suppression and odor controls.
- Odor assessment walks conducted twice daily.
- Air monitoring within the enclosure.
- Perimeter air monitoring.
- Run enclosure air filtration system.
- Vibration monitoring between remedial work and the nearest onsite buildings.
- Trucks carrying impacted soil will be covered and use a wheel wash before exiting site.
- Soil erosion and sediment controls.
- Site security 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Anticipated Work to be Performed: August 26th – August 30th
- Continue excavation beneath the enclosure.
- Continue to transport impacted soil by truck to licensed disposal facilities.
- Continue to run chiller unit for the first part of the freeze wall.
- Continue to install piping for establishing a belowground freeze wall for subsequent areas within the remediation boundary. For more information, https://jfitchwayproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/freezewall.pdf.
- Remove and load out asphalt at the northern portion of the site.
Work Performed: August 19th – August 23rd
- Excavation beneath the enclosure began on August 20th.
- Transported impacted soil by truck to licensed disposal facilities.
- Continued to run chiller unit for the first part of the freeze wall.
- Continued to install piping for establishing belowground freeze walls. Includes trenching outside of excavation limits.
- Drone photos were taken of the project site on August 21st.
- The contractor conducted an emergency drill on August 23rd.
Community Outreach
- Issue 21st weekly update and posted it to the project website.
- City Emergency Responders toured site on August 22nd.
- 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).