Wastewater treatment plant expansion encounters unexpected hazardous waste
- BCM Engineers, Plymouth Meeting, PA (United States)
On the face of it, it should have been a straightforward project. The contract provided for the expansion and upgrade of an 8-mgd wastewater treatment facility in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Essentially, it entailed the expansion of the plant`s capacity to 15 mgd and the replacement of process tankage with activated sludge and tertiary facilities designed to achieve superior effluent quality as mandated by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources (PADER). The entire project was to have been completed in a three-year period at a cost of just over $17 million. However, the discovery of PCB contaminated soils on the site after the work had already begun led to a series of complications that ultimately turned the project into a much more arduous and costly one than could have been foreseen. The complications involved issues ranging from a determination of pollution levels, to waste disposal permitting, to compliance with OSHA standards for health and safety training, to insurance coverage, to the need to modify operating procedures and reschedule the work. As an added contingency measure, the owner of the plant, the Pottstown Borough Authority, decided to retain a hazardous materials contractor to excavate, transport, and dispose of any further contaminated soils that might be encountered later on.
- OSTI ID:
- 37358
- Journal Information:
- Public Works, Vol. 125, Issue 12; Other Information: PBD: Nov 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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