New Bedford Foss Marine Terminal Brownfield Site Redevelopment
New Bedford Foss Marine Terminal, LLC • New Bedford, MA
Solution Overview
Client:
New Bedford Foss Marine Terminal, LLC
Business Challenge:
- Environmental assessment; remediation oversight; civil/site design; and regulatory permit processing with array of local, state, and federal authorities for redevelopment of a marine facility to support offshore wind development.
Solution:
- Worked effectively with Massachusetts State Enhanced Remedy program committee to prepare and submit work plans for the Superfund site’s bulkhead improvements and dredging permits needed to install a new bulkhead and allow dredging to occur.
Results:
- Successfully delivered the waterside work and designed around the New Bedford Port Authority’s Phase V Dredge campaign schedule, a key step in the redevelopment of the large brownfield site which will support job creation in the city of New Bedford and the emerging offshore wind industry.
Challenge
Apex is supporting the redevelopment of an existing 38.53-acre brownfield site located in downtown New Bedford, Massachusetts into a marine terminal facility to support offshore wind development, a growing industry in the US. The property, underutilized and partially vacant for decades, is located in close proximity to offshore development. The site formerly housed a bulk petroleum distribution terminal and an electrical power generation station.
New Bedford Foss Marine Terminal, LLC hired Apex to provide site assessment, remediation oversight, civil/site and engineering design for landside and waterside components and, most critically, guide them through a complex regulatory process involving obtaining an array of permits from local, state and federal agencies, including demolition, overall site development, and state and federal waterways.
Solution
Apex (and our subconsultants) have assisted New Bedford Foss Marine Terminal, LLC with the evaluation and engineering necessary to demolish most of the onsite structures, including the former power plant building, four large capacity bulk petroleum storage tanks, a warehouse, a service garage, and several other buildings/shed structures.
Our team brings invaluable insight and expertise surrounding the client’s expectations and goals having performed environmental due diligence on this comprehensive project in early 2021. Apex’s project management staff have successfully guided the team through several important phases of the project.
Phases have included:
- Demolition planning
- Geotechnical evaluation and engineering in which Apex developed geotechnical recommendations for preparing the existing soils to safely support the wind turbine components, vehicles, and the moving cranes
- Civil/site design and engineering, including the stormwater management system
- Preparation of site plans
- Local and state permitting to achieve the necessary grades for the redevelopment and stormwater system
Apex’s services on this project include performing a traffic study and preparing and distributing (via public spaces and newspaper advertising) an environmental justice public notice detailing the process of the project in five languages.
Most notable among our roles on this project is delivery of the waterside work schedule, designed around the New Bedford Port Authority’s Phase V Dredge campaign (expected to begin in September 2023 and conclude in January 2024). New Bedford is a Superfund site requiring dredging and bulkheads be permitted though Massachusetts State Enhanced Remedy program. Apex worked effectively with the program’s committee to prepare and submit work plans and recently received approval from the City of New Bedford’s Planning Board, which led to obtaining the bulkhead improvements and dredging permits needed to install the new bulkhead and allow dredging to occur.
The work is now at a stage where final design work can proceed. Apex is currently coordinating with the marine engineer to incorporate waterfront bulkhead and pier designs into our plans for overall site development and permitting. Our team is successfully adapting to the marine engineer’s frequent changes in the design as we perform oversight of subconsultants’ design work involving lighting, fencing, electrical and landscape architecture services.
Results
We are actively preparing and filing numerous permits—involving both landside and waterside components—with state agencies, including the state fire marshal and Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act; local agencies; and federal agencies, including US Department of Marine Fisheries and US Army Corps of Engineers.
Notably, Apex secured a permit from the state to allow for the beneficial reuse of 13K tons of asphalt brick and concrete from the demolition of the former buildings as backfill and grading material on the net fill site which reduces the amount of offsite fill necessary to complete the grading.
This project, which is located in a blighted downtown that is also considered an environmental justice area, will transform a historic and underutilized port into a busy working waterfront. The New Bedford Foss Marine Terminal will provide long-term operation and maintenance to vessels bringing crews and materials to offshore wind facilities throughout the state, supporting job creation in New Bedford through the emerging offshore wind development industry. As a result of Apex’s involvement in this project, the client has realized significant time and cost savings and was able to obtain the required permits from the various regulatory jurisdictions to keep this project moving and on schedule.