Connecticut Green Business Awards
URS
500 Enterprise Dr., Suite 3B
Rocky Hill 06067
860-529-8882
Urscorp.com
No. employees: 45,000
It’s not often that environmental professionals involved in a development get to see the project all the way through to the handing over of keys to the door. But when engineering design firm URS took on a Hartford remediation project in 2006, they stayed until the bitter(sweet) end.
John Brogden, project leader and state licensed environmental professional, says the site at 1450 Main Street took three years to complete.
“URS, the environmental consultant for the project, conducted several rounds of environmental investigation at the property, identified areas in the soil that needed release, and assisted with the solid waste disposal,” Brogden says.
There was illegal dumping going and some construction materials left after the buildings were razed several years prior. Ash was also found, as was some contaminated soil.
“We had identified that there was solid waste present at the site which rendered the site applicable with the state’s solid waste regulations,” Brogden says.
They began with an abandoned grassy field that was once a couple of city blocks occupied by buildings, most of which were razed in the early 1980s.
“There’s a state law that captures state properties that are contaminated into a state program requiring investigation and cleanup. Then there is generally a lot of environmental investigation, cleanup and remediation work. We are what you’d call the environmental consultant,” says Brogden.
The environmental consultants typically clean up a property, then leave a clean slate for developers to come in and build. This project was different.
“In this project we helped them all the way through,” Brogden says. “Because it was a solid waste disposal area, it required approval by the Department of Environmental Protection and they mandated some oversight, so we were involved all of the way through the process until a point that the site was paved and the vegetative areas were complete. We were also involved with this one through the construction.”
This site was not under other state regulatory programs. It had contaminated soil and the developer wanted to clean it up to provide the residents with a clean place to live. The presence of solid waste brought the site under the regulations and requirement of the state’s solid waste regulations.
“URS enjoyed working on this project,” says Brogden. “It was interesting for us because it was a project we saw through from beginning to end, all the way to the construction of this nice residential property. It’s something environmental consultants don’t always get to do. It was a great project for us. It was nice to give something back to a community that needed new housing.”
The project was completed with the construction of a multi-residential housing development, grounds and parking.
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