A remediation project required a unique solution by South Jersey Gas
South Jersey Gas recently completed an unusual remediation of a manufactured gas site in southern New Jersey that required building an 80-foot-deep underground containment wall that passed through an active railroad track, not once but twice.
Railroad owner Conrail required the utility to complete construction on a highly accelerated schedule over just two weekends—which South Jersey Gas successfully did.
SJI, the utility’s holding company, which oversees environmental remediation activities for South Jersey Gas’ long-inactive manufactured gas plant sites, partnered with GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc. for the design, construction management and installation of the wall, built to mitigate environmental concerns at the Glassboro, New Jersey, site.
SJI began the current phase of remediation in 2018, with a comprehensive understanding of the unique challenges associated with the project, SJG Environmental Manager Ken Sheppard told American Gas.
The remediation required coordination with affected residents and town and rail officials. The team had a six-day window to remedy the site because of constraints associated with the operations of the railway. During that time, the team worked an aggressive 24-hour daily schedule to meet its goals and minimize the impact to the rail line and local residents, Sheppard said.
The success of the remediation can be largely attributed to the stakeholder-relations model used—one that ensured transparent, timely communication with those affected, educated them about the remediation, and managed expectations around the utility’s activities and the timeline associated with them, Sheppard said.
“This was definitely a win. It was a monumental lift, but it was so well communicated up front and then, if anything, over-communicated when the work was underway,” he said. “The benefit of that was that we wound up getting zero complaints from folks in the area.”
That included no complaints even from the 12 families living nearby who passed on the chance to check into a hotel and stayed in their homes through two weekends of intense construction, he said.