Shelburne Street Rotary Contaminated Soil Management

S.D. Ireland (SDI) selected WHEM as the Qualified Environmental Professional (QEP) for contaminated soil management during the redevelopment of the Shelburne Street Rotary. The project involved the re-construction of several thousand feet of roadway, replacement of sanitary sewer and water lines, separation of stormwater sewer lines, and management of contaminated soil from several known hazardous sites within the study area. The main portion of the study area consisted of the section of Shelburne Street entering and exiting the rotary area. Roadwork also occurred along adjacent streets including Saint Paul Street, South Willard Street, Ledge Road, Locust Street, and Gove Court. Other stakeholders involved were the City of Burlington, the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, and several private property owners where excavation was occurring.

Earthwork for the project occurred from 2021 through 2022. During this period, WHEM managed a total of 3,000+ cubic yards (CY) of soil. Roughly half (1,510 CY) of the soil managed was classified as “development soil”. Development soil is defined as soil contaminated with lead, arsenic, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Of this total, WHEM oversaw the onsite reburial of 234 CY underneath engineered soil caps. An additional 1,468 CY of petroleum contaminated soil (PCS) was excavated and disposed of at the Casella landfill in Coventry, Vermont. Remaining soils were used as alternate daily cover (ADC) at Casella landfill in Coventry, Vermont.

Due to the shallow occurrence of groundwater likely contaminated with petroleum, WHEM also oversaw the dewatering of the excavation trenches. WHEM supervised discharge permitting, contaminated water treatment and testing, and flow monitoring. Daily tasks included excavation oversight, soil screening/testing, and soil volume inventory and tracking. At the conclusion of the work, WHEM developed the Completion Report and the Institutional Control Report.

The Shelburne Street Rotary is one of many municipal infrastructure projects where WHEM has provided QEP services. Often, it is beneficial for a municipality to have a desktop review or preliminary subsurface investigation conducted prior to construction. These investigations help to identify whether potentially contaminated soils exist in the project area and allow for appropriate planning measures. Typically, if contaminated soils are identified, a soil management plan (SMP) or corrective action plan (CAP) is required. Having these plans in place prior to project commencement helps prevent unforeseen delays and increased costs due to pausing work to comply with State regulations if contaminated soil is encountered.

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