BergerWorld: 2nd Quarter 2006

Berger was selected by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) to provide environmental analyses, engineering services, permit support and the final design for the 25-acre freshwater wetland mitigation and restoration project at the former Flushing Airport in Queens.

Berger, in an innovative approach to reusing contaminated soils, developed a statistical method for separating groups of soils with discrete contamination levels, a method that subsequently gained approval by the NYSDEC. The soils, mostly coal ash laden with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), were used as fill material when the wetland was originally developed in the 1920s, a common practice in New York City at the time. Since so much of the soil in the New York area has a base of coal ash, excavation and disposal would be impractical, and Berger's statistical technique separated soils with low coal ash PAH levels from pockets with extremely high PAH concentrations. In statistical terms, since there was sufficiently low probability that the two soil samples were related, it could be inferred that they originated from different historical coal ash deposits. The highly contaminated soils were removed and successfully disposed of, leaving the remaining soil to rebuild habitat.

In addition to material reuse, the Berger team also analyzed the hydraulic and hydrologic conditions of the site and designed storm water runoff structures and replacements for nonfunctioning downstream tide gates. Berger's final design included grading, control of common reed by removing its root structures, and planting native grasses. The Team will prepare an environmental monitoring and maintenance plan for submission to NYSDEC, focusing on planted vegetation and assist NYCEDC during the bid, construction and planting phases.