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Community Relations Sites Harrison Ave Landfill

 

Harrison Avenue Landfill

Camden City, Camden County
PI# G000004459

December 2007 Fact Sheet

Background

The Camden chapter of the Salvation Army has received a $54 million grant from the Ray and Joan Kroc Foundation to build and operate a state-of-the-art 132,000 square feet community center in the Cramer Hill neighborhood of Camden City. The construction of the Salvation Army Center will begin in 2008 and will feature an atrium-style town plaza, a family service center, indoor and outdoor recreational facilities, an aquatic center, a child care center, and community enrichment, job-training and anti-poverty programs.

Camden officials and Salvation Army representatives chose to locate the community center on the former Harrison Avenue Landfill because the site is large enough to accommodate the project, is owned by the City Redevelopment Agency, and is located along bus routes and a proposed rail station allowing for easy access. The location is also in close proximity to the 12,000 children who reside in Cramer Hill and North Camden.

The Harrison Avenue Landfill is part of the Cramer Hill Brownfield Development Area (BDA) consisting of eight abandoned brownfield sites covering over 200 acres and extending over two miles of shoreline along the Delaware River. The city of Camden and the Camden Redevelopment Agency have been working closely with NJDEP’s Office of Brownfields Reuse to investigate and reuse these properties.

Harrison Avenue Landfill Investigation

The 85-acre Harrison Avenue Landfill sits at the confluence of the Delaware and Cooper rivers in the Cramer Hill section of the city. The property is bound by East State Street to the southwest and Harrison Avenue to the southeast. The landfill operated from 1952 until 1971 and was never formally closed following state requirements due to the budget deficits in Camden.

Camden City and the Salvation Army have requested financial and technical assistance from the NJDEP to address the contamination issues associated with the landfill. In 2006, the NJDEP and the state Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) awarded a $2.1 million grant from the Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund (HDSRF) to the Camden Redevelopment Agency to perform remedial investigation activities. An additional $2.9 million of HDSRF funding was allocated in 2006 to fund future remedial actions.

The remedial investigation findings for the work completed in mid-2006 found the landfill contained mainly municipal solid waste. Test results from surface soils, soil gas groundwater and leachate are typical of conditions found at municipal solid waste landfills. Sediment and surface water impacts were minimal except for the presence of solid waste found in the Delaware River tidal flats. However, an area of industrial chemical waste material saturated with chlorobenzene and dichlorobenzenes was found in the southeast portion of the landfill. This material is approximately 20 to 30 feet below the municipal solid waste grade and is a source of ground water contamination that is migrating to the east of the site.

Current Status

To clear the way for the construction and operation of the new Salvation Army Camden Community Center, the NJDEP is initiating a $4 million cleanup project to remove the buried industrial chemical waste discovered during the remedial investigation in the southeast portion of the landfill. The interim remedial measure will consist of excavation and off-site disposal of an estimated 14,000 cubic yards of material contaminated with chlorobenzene and dichlorobenzenes that resulted from disposal of industrial chemical waste in a localized area in the interior of the landfill. The material is acting as a continued source of ground water contamination and localized soil vapor contamination.

The NJDEP will implement continuous dust and odor suppression measures during construction activities. Air-monitoring stations will be established to measure dust particulates and continuous air monitoring will be performed for vapors to ensure these measures are effective. The hours of operation will be 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

In November 2007, the NJDEP approved a Remedial Action Workplan for the 23-acre Salvation Army Camden portion of the landfill. The Remedial Action Workplan specifies that the entire site will be covered with an at least two-foot thick engineered cap, removal of all municipal solid waste from the Kroc Center building footprint, a landfill gas mitigation system for the building and outdoor areas, and control of leachate and groundwater associated with the municipal solid waste.

Future Actions

In December 2007, the NJDEP and the NJEDA anticipate that an additional $225,000 HDSRF grant will be awarded to the Camden Redevelopment Agency for further investigations to finalize the design of the remedial actions and facility layout. Additionally, in December 2007, the NJDEP and NJEDA expect to award the Camden Redevelopment Agency an additional $4.5M in remedial action grant monies from HDSRF to provide a total of nearly $7.5M necessary to remediate the landfill and build the Kroc Community Center. These grants bring the state’s commitment for investigation and cleanup funding to nearly $14M since 2006. Remediation activities are anticipated to begin in summer 2008.

The Salvation Army Camden Construction activities are expected to quickly follow the remediation activities beginning as early as November 2008. With continued cooperative work between the City, Camden Redevelopment Agency, the Salvation Army Camden and NJDEP, the Kroc Center could open in spring 2010 to serve the needs of Camden area residents.

For more information about the NJDEP publicly funded removal action, please contact:
NJDEP, Office of Community Relations
(609) 984-3081 | (800) 253-5647

For more information about the remedial activities associated with the Salvation Army Community Center Project, please contact:
Frank McLaughlin, Brownfield Project Manager
NJDEP, Office of Brownfields Reuse
(609) 633-8227

 

Update

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) will be resuming on-site remediation activities at the Harrison Avenue Landfill.

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