FOCUSED FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR PASSAIC RIVER SEDIMENTS: IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES FOR EARLY ACTION

摘要

The Lower Passaic River Restoration Project is an interagency effort to remediate and restore the complex ecosystem of the Lower Passaic River, which includes the 17-mile (28 kilometer) tidally influenced portion of the river from the Dundee Dam to the river's confluence with the Hackensack River and Newark Bay. For the first time, on a project of this magnitude, a joint Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) - Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) approach is being taken to address the restoration (including remediation) of one of the most degraded waterways in the United States. In a partnership among the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), an integrated comprehensive restoration study (Study) is in progress to develop a comprehensive remediation/restoration plan for this highly degraded urban waterway and the surrounding 118 square mile (305 square kilometer) watershed. The substances and contaminants found in the sediments of the Study Area include dioxins, pesticides such as dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and metals such as cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, and zinc. The Focused Feasibility Study (FFS) seeks to determine the feasibility of taking early action to address threats to human health and the environment while the overall Study proceeds. Early action goals have been developed, which include: (1) mass remediation, (2) address sources (erosion), and (3) consistency with overall project goals. To achieve these goals, analyses are being conducted to identify target areas for remediation, and to characterize current risks associated with these target areas. Technologies are being screened and alternatives assembled based on combinations of dredging and capping. These alternatives are being evaluated against criteria consistent with USEPA guidance, which may require many engineering feasibility analyses to be conducted, including but not limited to: 1. Dredged material management analysis. 2. Development of approaches for management of dredging resuspension and residuals. 3. Hydrodynamic modeling to estimate potential for flooding impacts. 4. Cap erosion modeling to guide design of cap armor layer. 5. Risk characterization. 6. Cost estimation. The completion of these analyses at such an early stage in the project will result in many benefits to the overall Study process, including the differentiation of data gaps, highlighting of areas for coordination, and confirmation of project goals. The focus of this presentation will be to describe the FFS process and identify benefits to the overall project from this early evaluation of remedial alternatives.