DEP
orders contaminated fill dug out of Trenton school
site
Schools Construction Corp. must
remove tons of dirt tainted with asphalt shavings
Tuesday, October 25, 2005 • BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL •
Star-Ledger Staff
Thousands of cubic yards of contaminated
dirt used as fill at the site of a new elementary school in
Trenton must be removed by New Jersey's Schools Construction
Corp., the state Department of Environmental Protection
ordered yesterday.
The new order gives the construction
agency seven days to put in place a permanent system for
keeping down dust at the school site, which sits between two
existing public schools in a crowded neighborhood on
Trenton's north side.
Within two weeks, the SCC must begin
digging up and removing the estimated 35,000 cubic yards of
contaminated fill dirt that was trucked onto the site to
make it sturdy enough to support a proposed $28 million
elementary school.
And within three weeks, the order says,
the corporation must propose a plan for excavating the
contaminated soil that sits underneath the frame and
concrete foundation already in place for the new
school.
"Our goal is to have all the fill
removed," said Joseph Seebode, the DEP's assistant
commissioner for site remediation.
The state has already spent almost $10
million on the proposed elementary school. Seebode said the
DEP is willing to consider proposals for removing the
contaminated soil without tearing down the portions of the
school that have already been built. But if that is not
possible, he said, the schools corporation will have to
knock it down, or convince the DEP it can safely leave the
tainted soil under the foundation.
"If it comes down to a point of
impracticality to remove all the fill with the building
remaining, we will have to have that discussion," said
Seebode.
Work on the new school has been suspended
since May, when tests disclosed that soil laced with asphalt
shavings was used as fill, in violation of DEP
standards.
In September, after an environmental
study raised concerns about contaminated dirt and water
spreading off the construction site, Trenton school
officials closed an adjacent elementary school and moved the
pupils to a vacant parochial school building in neighboring
Hamilton.
Last week, the Trenton Board of Education
sued the SCC and the contractors building the school,
seeking relief from the contamination.
Kevin McElroy, a spokesman for the SCC,
said the corporation is prepared to comply with the DEP
order to ensure that the site is safe.
Dunstan McNichol covers state government issues. He may
be reached at dmcnichol@starledger.com or (609) 989-0341.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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