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Discovery of Hazardous and Non-Hazardous Lead Contaminated Soil Halted Site Demolition Activities

Issue: The Memphis Housing Authority acquired a parcel of land for residential development. The 4.65 acre warehouse property had been used for various industrial operations for more than a century. Demolition efforts began in October 2005. In November 2005, a large area of black ash, glass, and slag was discovered on the southern end of the property beneath the former building. Using analytical results, the area of contamination was delineated into hazardous and non-hazardous areas of lead.

Approach: Typically, a stabilization/binding agent is utilized to bind hazardous material reducing the leachability so the material can be disposed as non-hazardous. Due to the presence of the glass and slag, typical stabilization methods could not be used. Therefore, the contaminated area was further delineated to minimize the amount of material required to be handled and disposed of as hazardous. Traditional "dig and haul" methods were used to remove all contaminated material rendering it safe for human occupancy. The Pickering staff was onsite full time to provide oversight and managed all parties involved in the remediation efforts.

Tasks: Our activities on this assignment included:

Completing a Brownsfield Application/VOAP Agreement
Developing and following a sampling plan for delineation and confirmation sampling
Management and oversight for excavation, disposal, and replacement of 632 tons of hazardous lead soil and 946 tons of non-hazardous lead soil according to TDEC regulations and client requirements
Management and oversight for removal and disposal of one 10,000 gallon and one 1,200 gallon UST.

Timeline from Identification to Disposal: November 2005 through March 2006

Result: Once the contaminated material was removed from the site, confirmation sampling reported no further lead impacts to the site and a Site Summary Report was submitted to, and approved by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) - Division of Remediation (DOR). New residential development is currently underway for the area.