GALLOWAY ENVIRONMENTAL, INC.

Penberthy Electromelt/Toxgon Corp.

Environmental Remediation, Asbestos Abatement, Health & Safety

Seattle, WA

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Key Tasks:

• Environmental Contamination Characterization and Remediation in Soil, Sediment and Water

• On-Site Field Testing

• Facility Decontamination and Remediation

• Health & Safety Management

• Asbestos Abatement

Key Features:

• Negotiated scope of remedial action with the Washington State Department of Ecology

• Designed and constructed an on-site evaporator for dioxin-contaminated water, saving over $500,000 in disposal fees during cleanup.  

• Reduced contaminated soil disposal fees by $500,000 

• Ecology, “With 10 years of failed remedial action by others, you [GEI] were able to clean up this site in less than six months”

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Penberthy Electromelt, Inc. (aka. Toxgon Corp.) maintained a pilot facility at this site where quantities of wastes were laboratory and pilot tested with the Toxgon Vitrification System.  Hazardous materials were oxidized in the super heated atmosphere of a glass melter with resulting bulk reduction, detoxification, and sterilization.  The facility ceased its operation and the primary goal of facility closure was to close the facility in a way that ensures it will not pose a future threat to human health and the environment.

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This site was the location of a hazardous waste vitrification process designed to treat and stabilize hazardous waste, including creosote and pentachlorophenol sludges, aromatic oils, paint solvents and thinners, paint booth filters, contaminated gravel and soils, oils, waste ink, adhesives, phenol-formaldehyde, and other resins and vehicles.  Other materials possibly treated at the site during trial burns included: PCE, TCE, trichlorobenzene, PCBs, dioxin containing waste, spent aluminum potliners, solvents, pesticides, and chromite ores.

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Contamination to much of the facility, its drainage ditch, creek, and soil became contaminated with much dioxins and furans.  

GEI planned and implemented the removal of contaminated soil, water, concrete, and stream sediments from this hazardous waste treatment facility.  The overall remediation program generally included the following services:

• Temporarily rerouting the salmon-bearing critical area stream to allow for efficient sediment removals;

• Remediation of dioxin-contaminated sediments from a salmon-bearing critical area stream;

• Contaminated concrete testing and removal;

• Asbestos abatement;

• Structure decontamination and demolition;

• Impacted soil removals;

• Evaporation of thousands of gallon of dioxin contaminated water; and

• Decontamination (RCRA “Clean Closure”) of the facility.

GEI designed and constructed an on-site evaporator for dioxin-contaminated water, saving over $500,000 in disposal fees during cleanup.  Likewise, GEI saved the client an additional $500,000 in soil removal fees through our discovery of artificially high thallium levels caused by interferences from high-iron soils.  Other work for this project included developing a position paper on “derived-from” hazardous waste designation to attain “contained in” determinations, saving the client even more in more disposal fees.  

As a result of our work, we reduced the overall remediation costs by over $1,000,000.

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Seattle Waterfront Construction Project

Environmental Site Assessment, Remediation, and Worker Health & Safety Services

Seattle, WA

 

Key Tasks:

• Hazardous Waste Remediation in Soil and Water

• On-Site Field Testing

• UST Decommissioning

• Health & Safety Management

Key Features:

• Original Remedial Action Cost Estimate $1,000,000

• Actual Remedial Action Cost $100,000

• GEI was recognized as the “Environmental Consultant of the Year” for this project

 

This property was originally part of the Seattle Tide Lands.  Railroad property, situated immediately west of the Site, was developed with railroad tracks built on creosote-treated wood piles.  The demolition of the railroad tracks and dredge filling of the site and relocation of the shoreline to its current position was completed in circa 1920.  Reportedly, the creosote-treated wood piles may have been demolished and/or disposed of in-place as part of the dredge filling of the tide lands.

 

The planned office complex development of the property included the excavation and off-site disposal of approximately 24,000 cubic yards (cys) of soil and the installation of a sub-slab water collection system beneath the concrete sub-floor in the basement of the buildings.  The depth of removals ranged from about eight (8) feet to about twelve (12) feet.

 

The owner's excavation contractor encountered soils that had creosote and heavy oil odors and notified the owner that the materials appeared to be contaminated.  To properly characterize the soils for off-site disposal, GEI collected approximately 100 soil samples from throughout the site for field screening and follow-up chemical analysis.  The objective of this sampling and analysis was to segregate the affected materials from n on-affected materials prior to off-site transportation.

 

Based on the characterization of the soils, GEI identified approximately 24,000 cys (38,400 tons) of impacted soil that needed to be disposed of in a permitted (Subtitle D) landfill.  The disposal costs for the creosote-impacted soils was estimated to be about $1,150,000 (at $30/ton). GEI identified a local landfill that was undergoing "Closure" and negotiated an agreement with the landfill that allowed GEI's client to save over $1,000,000 in disposal fees and saved the landfill approximately $200,000 in soil import costs (at $8/cy for import fees).  Additionally, approximately 9,000 tons of petroleum-impacted soil, associated with underground storage tanks that was discovered during the planned excavation, was transported to Rabanco’s transfer station.

 

The Washington State Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) recognized GEI as the "Environmental Consultant of the Year" for this "Office Development of the Year"  project.

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Kaiser Grade & Fill Project

Environmental Remediation, Health & Safety

Port of Tacoma, WA 

GEI provided health & safety and remediation oversight at the historic Kaiser Aluminum facility in Tacoma. The Kaiser Aluminum Facility operated almost continuously at the Kaiser site from 1942 to 2002.  During the course of Kaiser's operations, portions of the site have been used for settling ponds and sludge storage areas. Settling ponds had been filled and relocated, and sludge stockpiles had been removed and consolidated on-site. 

The Port of Tacoma purchased the Kaiser Aluminum site in the first quarter of 2003. The Port's long-term plan for the property is to redevelop the site for port maritime industrial uses. However, in order for the redevelopment of the Kaiser Property to occur, the Port has determined that the entire site will need to be brought up to the grade of nearby Port facilities, which is approximately three feet higher than the pre-existing elevation of the site.  Approximately 500,000 cys of fill materials will be needed to cover the entire site. 

The Port conducted an investigation of the portion of the project site previously used as a log sort yard. This investigation revealed areas of Asarco slag with arsenic concentrations above Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) Method C industrial soil cleanup levels.  Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides and/or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were also contaminates of concern in some of the materials.  Approximately 2000 cys of Washington State Dangerous Wastes and Contaminated Wastes were excavated and removed from the site.

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Former Gas Station

Environmental Remediation, Health & Safety, and UST

Seattle, WA 

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Key Tasks:

• Environmental Contamination Characterization and Remediation in Soil and Water

• On-Site Field Testing

• Health & Safety Management

• Assist with Negotiations for Cost Recovery with Responsible Party

Key Features:

• Cleanup of 4,000 tons of petroleum-contaminated soil

• Extraction and recycling of 20,000 gallons of petroleum contaminated groundwater 

 

GEI conducted UST decommissioning, site remediation, and health & safety management during the redevelopment of a former retail fuel station into residential apartments.  This project included the removal of one small (500 gallon) UST, excavation, transportation, and thermal desorption of 4,000 tons of petroleum-contaminated soil, extraction and recycling of 20,000 gallons of petroleum contaminated groundwater, installation of a bentonite slurry wall, installation of several groundwater monitoring wells and installation of a sub-slab depressurization system (SSD).  GEI’s negotiation with the Washington State Petroleum Technical Assistance Program (PTAP) is expected to obtain a NFA determination by the first quarter of 2020.

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Former Greyhound Bus Station

Environmental Remediation, Cost Recovery

Everett, WA

 

Previous environmental investigations at this former Greyhound Bus Station in Everett, Washington confirmed petroleum contamination that needed to be remediated to allow the owner's intended re-development of the Site. During the soil removals, GEI observed impacted soils in source areas that had not been previously identified. GEI's historical land use and development research identified a previous property owner that was responsible for the newly-discovered contamination. GEI worked with the owner's legal team to recover nearly $700,000 in cleanup costs from the newly-discovered responsible party at the Site.

 

Historic records indicate that the Puget Sound Traction, Light & Power Company (PSTLP) owned and operated at the site from circa 1914 to 1957. The records indicated that PSTLP’s development and site use are likely sources of the gasoline-range petroleum and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (Creosote) contamination of the Site. Some of the newly discovered contamination appeared to be related to fill materials adjacent to and directly beneath railroad ties that were installed during the electric trolley use at the site and an underground gasoline storage tank that remained buried at the property.

 

Gasoline-range petroleum impacts to the Site’s soil were confirmed in soil to depths up to 23 feet below the ground surface with the highest concentrations centered near the former UST location.

 

• Approximately 6,829.28 tons of petroleum-impacted soil was delivered to the CEMEX thermal desorption facility in Everett for processing and recycling.

 

• 128.43 tons of soil impacted by heavy oil, cPAHs and lead were disposed of at Waste Management’s Columbia Ridge facility ­(CEMEX was not permitted to accept these lead-contaminated soils).

 

• Approximately 5,000 cubic yards of clean (non-impacted) soils were excavated and temporarily stockpiled at a nearby site until they could be used as backfill at the site. 

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Former Gas Station Remediation

Environmental Remediation

Poulsbo, WA

GEI completed in-situ treatment of impacted soil and groundwater at this site in Poulsbo, Washington,  The impacts were associated with a release of gasoline observed to an unnamed creek located within 300 feet of the Site.  The release of gasoline compounds to the creek appeared to be associated with a leaking underground storage tank (LUST) removed from the subject property.

GEI used a compound that employs sodium percarbonate that is injected into the subsurface using direct-push equipment.  Once in the subsurface, the product produces an effective oxidation reaction comparable to that of Fenton's Reagent without a violent exothermic reaction and produces only minor, local changes to the Site's pH. 

 

GEI's recent groundwater sampling from monitoring wells have confirmed that contaminate levels have met Washington State Cleanup levels in all wells for four quarterly monitoring events.