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Brownfield Investigation and Development

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The Project: Brownfield Investigation and Development

đź“ŤLehigh & Northampton Counties, Pennsylvania

The Challenge

EARTHRES, in prime partnership with two other firms, secured a contract for environmental services to be performed under the U.S. EPA 2010 Brownfields Assessment Grant given to the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC) for 2010 – 2013.  Forty-four firms submitted proposals to implement the grant for LVEDC.  In 2015, the contract was extended when LVEDC secured a second grant from the US EPA.

Under the contracts, EARTHRES has successfully completed Phase I All Appropriate Inquiry (AAI) Environmental Site Assessments and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments for both small and large brownfield sites located in the Lehigh Valley.  The work has included the preparation of Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPPs); site-specific Health and Safety Plans (HASPs), Sampling and Analysis Plans (SAPSs); Remedial Investigation Work Plans (RIWP), Remedial Action Plans (RAPs); Cleanup Plans, and Remediation Bid Documents.

The Solution

EARTHRES completed Phase I Environmental Assessments following the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standard E 1527-05 and E 1527-13 for Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs), which satisfies the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) All Appropriate Inquiry (AAI) rule for commercial properties.  EARTHRES completed all Site Investigations/Phase II ESAs in compliance with ASTM E 1903-11: Standard Practice for ESAs: Phase II ESA Process. Also, investigations were customized to comply with the requirements of the U.S. EPA and Pennsylvania’s Land Recycling Program (Act 2).

These investigations included obtaining surface soil samples, obtaining subsurface soil samples using a geoprobe, soil gas sampling, surface water gaging and sampling, installation and sampling of groundwater monitoring wells, and conducting hydrogeologic investigations requiring the installation of groundwater monitoring wells, hydraulic testing and groundwater modeling.

Geophysical methods such as Electromagnetic Magnetic (EM) surveys and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) were used to identify and locate underground storage tanks, piping and other structures prior to implementing subsurface investigations (i.e. installing test borings, test pits, soil gas probes and groundwater monitoring wells).

The Results

EARTHRES completed all necessary brownfield investigations and remedial activities to support LVEDC’s ongoing community revitalization initiatives.

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