Hard Hat Services was awarded a contaminated sediment removal project on the Wisconsin River in Central Wisconsin. The project scope included removal of PAH contaminated sediment from the river, source removal activities on the river bank, sediment dewatering, water treatment, and river bottom and bank restoration.

Hard Hat’s scope included:

• Installation, maintenance, and removal of all turbidity and sediment migration control features.
• Construction and removal/restoration of a 50-ft. x 120-ft. sediment dewatering basin.
• Setup and operation of a water treatment facility, with final discharge back to the river. During completion of the work approximately 600,000 gals. of water was treated and discharged.
• Subaqueous sediment removal of approximately 3,500 ton of contaminated river sediment.
• Removal of approximately 800 tons of source material (from the river bank and adjacent shoreline).
• Dewatering (as necessary) of the removed sediments.
• Subaqueous sand capping in the removal areas – 6-inch sand layer of approximately 1,000 tons.
• Final river bank stabilization and restoration – approximately 320-lf.
• This project was completed for the contracted amount, and was completed approximately 4 weeks ahead of schedule.

Hard Hat Services was retained to provide construction and project management services for this Response Action (RA), which had a budget of about $60 million. The site is on the St. Louis River, approximately four river miles upstream of Lake Superior. The site includes approximately 255 acres of land and river embayments, wetlands, and shipping slips. The aquatic portion of the site is approximately 90 acres. Approximately 800 people live within one mile of the site. Onsite sediments were contaminated with Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs).

The ROD required a combination of dredging and in situ capping along with the construction of an underwater contained disposal facility. Hard Hat served as the representative on site during the RA. Hard Hat was also responsible for overall project construction management services, which included constructability reviews, pre-qualification and bid-phase services for RA Contractors, and on-site construction administration and management during the Response Actions.

As project Construction Manager, Hard Hat prepared overall project cost budgets, schedules, and scope documents to ensure proper coordination with Regulatory Agencies and project team members. During RA activities, Hard Hat was responsible for the daily oversight of the RA Contractors and reported on the daily progress of the work. Hard Hat also participated in construction management services as necessary during the Response Actions. Hard Hat reported directly to the Project Director, and coordinated efforts with the other project team members.

Hard Hat Services acted as general contractor and construction manager for this approximately $3 million project to construct a shoring wall, excavate and treat contaminated soil from a toluene spill, and pump and treat groundwater contamination.

Hard Hat was responsible for schedule and budget control for multiple subcontractors, permit applications, and liaison with state and local regulatory agencies First, the area’s steep slope had to be stabilized. Hard Hat developed a unique shoring wall construction technique for the project. This involved a thorough geotechnical investigation and the design of a mechanical stabilization system. A top-down shoring system with an anchored concrete shoring wall and soil anchors was installed. Excavation of the contaminated soil also required removal of the existing impacted fill soils above the water table in conjunction with the shoring system. Because pure toluene is a specially regulated hazardous waste, soil could not be hauled away; instead, approximately 3,000 cubic yards of soil were treated on site with a thermal desorption remedy.

To address the groundwater contamination, a pump and treat system with an air stripper was used. Backfilling and site restoration were then completed. Treated soil and structural fill were used to cover the shoring wall. The entire area was then seeded and mulched. The client was released from any further obligation to the site.

Hard Hat Services was retained to act as the overall Project Technical Manager and Quality Assurance firm for a $35 million Removal Action. Specifically, Hard Hat managed the removal and dismantlement of two (2) PCB impacted buildings located in Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas.

The Hard Hat project role was to provide overall project management and on-site construction management for multiple subcontractors, schedule and budget control, and liaison with the USPEA and other regulatory agencies. Both buildings have been successfully dismantled. The building debris and materials were disposed of properly following all local, state, and federal regulations.

As Project Managers, our objective is controlling and mitigating the Group’s project-related risks. The main risks associated with the PCB Treatment Inc.

Removal Action projects were:

• Costs
• Long-Term Liability
• Health and Safety
• Compliance

Hard Hat personnel provided preliminary engineering and cost estimating services, supported negotiations with regulatory agencies, prepared the final design, and managed construction of a $21 million dollar remedy for the removal, treatment, and containment of sediments containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Management and support of the project was continuous for 13 years through completion of the construction.

The tasks completed by Hard Hat Services personnel included:

• Preparation of preliminary designs for containment structures and dredging plans.
• Preparation of cost estimates to support the preliminary designs
• Support the owner in negotiations with the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
• Prepared cost estimates and pricing for completion of final design and construction of the negotiated remedy
• Managed implementation of the remedy that included the following components:
• Construction of a new marina slip to replace an existing slip used by a pleasure boating facility
• Construction of a double sheet pile cut-off wall across the slip
• Installed a soil-bentonite filled slurry wall around the closed slip
• Installed two soil-bentonite filled slurry walls on property north of the harbor
• Moved 5,000 cubic yards of sediment with more than 500 ppm PCBs to the north property from the closed slip
• Removed PCBs from 13,000 cubic yards of sediment with more than 500ppm PCBs using thermal desorption technology
• Dredged 35,000 cubic yards of sediment from the harbor into the closed slip
• Constructed RCRA caps on each of the three soil-bentonite enclosed containments
• Installed monitoring wells and a ground water extraction and treatment system at each containment
• The Hard Hat personnel were responsible for preparing or managing the preparation of all work plans, designs and documents required for the approval of the project.

The Lordship Gun Club operated on Lordship Point from 1926 through 1986 as a rod and gun club. The facility was used by the Remington Arms Company and was open to the public on weekends. Operations included shooting skeet and trap over the open waters of Long Island Sound. During operation of the Gun Club, it was estimated that lead shot was discharged up to 300 feet offshore in the ocean. The remedial plan negotiated with the State of Connecticut required removal of the lead shot found in the inter-tidal zone and upland areas of the site where feeding waterfowl could ingest the shot. Hard Hat worked with American Marine Constructors to prepare work plans and design a system for dredging the sediment containing the lead shot. The sediment was processed to remove the lead shot and then the sediment was restored to the beach. The design included the preparation of a mass removal criterion for assuring the success of the project in meeting the restoration goal of 99.8% removal. The system was installed and tested in the spring of 2000, with processing of the sediment occurring in fall 2000 and spring 2001. The equipment treated approximately 65,000 cubic yards of sediment and produced approximately 300 tons of lead shot. The treated sediment exceeded the lead shot removal goal by a factor of two.

Specific responsibilities of the project included:

• Prepared detailed project operations planning documents, including a Comprehensive Project Work Plan, a Process Plant Design and Operation Plan, a Construction Operations Plan, a Process Plant Verification Plan, and a Quality Control Plan.
• Developed programs to protect the environment during site operations and prepared an Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan, a Fuel Storage and Spill Containment Plan, a Waste Management Plan, a Noise Control Plan.
• Developed programs to protect site workers and the public during dredging and treatment operations and prepared a comprehensive Site-Specific Health and Safety Plan.
• Prepared the conceptual and detailed engineering design for the dredging.
• Managed the detailed design and fabrication of an innovative treatment system to remove lead shot from the dredged sediment.
• Provided support to the owner in obtaining state and federal environmental permits required for dredging.
• Provided oversight for the dredging of sediment, the processing to remove lead shot by gravity separation, and the backfilling of clean sediment.

Hard Hat prepared a review and analysis of options and a constructability review for closure of the sludge lagoons at the Clarksville, VA site. The property has been historically used for the disposal of sludge from the operation of a wastewater treatment facility at the Burlington Performance Wear Division plant. The lagoons were stabilized by mixing the sludge with fly ash, solidifying the ponds. Afterwards, the lagoons were regraded to eliminate low spots and minimize the potential for future drainage and ponding problems.

The Fox River between Lake Oshkosh and Green Bay Wisconsin contains several paper mills. The mills recycled carbonless copy paper in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Recycling of the paper resulted in the release of some Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) into the river. As part of the continuing efforts between the State of Wisconsin and the Paper Mills, a demonstration of sediment removal by hydraulic dredging was undertaken in 1999 to measure the environmental impact versus benefit of sediment removal.

Hard Hat was part of a team for the remedial design and remedial action bid package preparation for the Demonstration Project. The demonstration, performed by others, remove approximately 20,000 cubic yards of PCB-containing sediment from the Lower Fox River in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Hard Hat’s responsibilities included developing and implementing a sediment sampling and bench-scale testing program to obtain data for the remedial design, designing a sediment removal, dewatering, and disposal demonstration program, and preparing contractor bid packages.

Surface water runoff from a manufacturing operation resulted in the transport of sediments into a stream. The State of Illinois is requiring the manufacturer to remove the impacted sediments at both his former operation and eventually from the stream.

Hard Hat provided guidance on the methods for removing sediment from a 2-mile long section of the stream. The stream flows at an average rate of 16 cubic feet per second. The guidance on methods for removing the sediment was used by the client in developing a sampling and testing plan for the sediment.