Eastport Plaza Dry Cleaner Vapor Investigation and Remediation
Confidential Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) • Eastport, NY
Solution Overview
Client:
Confidential REIT
Business Challenge:
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The client requested an investigation to identify and mitigate environmental concerns associated with a former dry cleaner’s operation.
Solution:
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Apex installed sub-slab depressurization systems (SSDs) and conducted operations and maintenance and soil vapor (SV) sampling to confirm the systems’ effectiveness.
Results:
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The client’s SV concerns were successfully mitigated and the SSDs will continue to run as a low-cost, minimally invasive solution.
Challenge
The client purchased a retail strip center in Eastport, New York (identified as Eastport Plaza), with the intention of leasing the multiple tenant spaces. The client hired Apex to conduct due diligence Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) activities at the site to ensure that the property was compliant with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and that conditions were protective of human health.
Solution
Apex conducted a Phase I ESA at the site in December 2021. Multiple recognized environmental concerns (RECs) were identified, including a former dry-cleaning facility. Phase II soil, groundwater, and SV sampling activities were completed in February 2022 to evaluate potential impacts. Following an initial round of soil, groundwater and SV sampling, as well as additional rounds of SV sampling, it was determined that chlorinated volatile organic compounds (cVOCs) were present in the SV at the site beneath the concrete slab of the vacant dry cleaner tenant space and one adjacent tenant space.
Apex recommended installing two SSDs at the site, one in each of the two tenant spaces identified to have vapor concerns, to safeguard protection of health and the environment. Communication testing was performed in the vacant spaces to determine the potential effectiveness and required number of suction points for the SSD systems. The systems were installed, and multiple rounds of operations and maintenance (O&M) activities were conducted to confirm the system was running efficiently; additionally, multiple rounds of SV sampling were conducted to determine if the SSD systems had mitigated vapor concerns beneath the concrete slab of the tenant spaces.
Results
Following multiple rounds of O&M activities and SV sampling, it was determined that the SSD systems had efficiently mitigated the vapor concerns beneath the slab of the tenant spaces. The SSD systems are seen as a low-cost, minimally invasive long-term solution to remove and mitigate vapor concerns and are expected to continue to run for an extended period of time.