In 1868 Chicago Gas Light and Coke Company built a Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP Plant) to produce coal gas at 1180 N. Crosby Street, Chicago, Illinois. In the early 1960’s, People’s Gas, the subsequent owner, closed the plant. ComEd, an Exelon company, purchased a 5.5 acre parcel, one of several which the MGP site was located on, and built an electrical substation. As is the case with former MGP plants, this site made the Superfund registry of the US EPA and is highly impacted by its former use to this day.
As part of certain Federal mandates for infrastructure security, Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) was required to build a wall enclosing the facility. The construction of this wall required the excavation, handling, and disposal of highly contaminated soils. To better protect on site workers and the immediate surrounding residential homes, A3 Environmental Consultants was subcontracted to perform perimeter air monitoring, personnel air monitoring, and waste tracking for Arcadis (Hoffman Estates, Illinois) who is the prime contractor on this ComEd project. Aldridge Electric, Badger Daylighting and RW Collins are all also part of the construction team.
Working with Ramboll, who is People’s Gas’ prime contractor, and Arcadis, A3E provided four months of air monitoring support and waste tracking services or 10 hours a day. A3E’s field staff was lead by Tom Bouleanu and performed by Lorne Filewicz.
Air Monitoring
To assess the site air conditions real time, A3E utilized the following handheld equipment: MultiRAEs, UltraRAEs, and Photoionization Detectors (PID). Due to the widespread and varied contamination at the site, the equipment was calibrated to detect a wide range of hazardous vapors and gas. However, the primary concern at the site was benzene.
Each morning, all equipment was cleaned and calibrated, and at regular intervals throughout the day the equipment was “bump” tested. A3E performed both perimeter air monitoring and personnel air monitoring, continuously logging and recording all readings.
Perimeter air monitoring was performed at the work area boundaries in 15-minute intervals to evaluate if construction activities were resulting in the release of hazardous vapors from the soil or the generation of contaminated dust. The concern with the off-site migration of these vapors and dust is the potential impact to the sensitive residential populations which border the site. If hazardous vapors were detected at the boundaries of the work area, A3E would task the construction crew to stop work and to utilize engineering controls to mitigate the release.
Personnel air monitoring was performed inside of the work area boundaries in 15-minute intervals to protect worker safety. The construction workers are the most exposed and most at risk to the hazardous waste at the site. As such, any detection of hazardous vapors in the hand held equipment would result in a reassessment of the work area activities. If engineering controls were unable to mitigate the release, the work area would be designated as hazardous and the soil would be disposed of at the proper waste facility.
Soil Manifesting & Disposal
Soils from the project fell into two categories, contaminated and uncontaminated. A3E field staff tracked and manifested transportation of Clean Construction Demolition Debris (CCDD) soil and other soils that were contaminated as defined by Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
Client:
Arcadis USA, Hoffman Estates, Illinois Office
Location:
Services:
Perimeter Air Monitoring
Personnel Air Monitoring
Key Staff:
Duration:
4 Months – Starting September 2023
