Moyer Carriage Lofts Brownfield Remediation
C&S was selected by Housing Visions to plan, design, and implement the characterization and brownfield remediation of the former Moyer Carriage Lofts Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP) site. As the engineer of record, C&S conducted an environmental investigation to qualify the site for the BCP and completed the application for approval by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC).
The overall project was the historic rehabilitation of the former Moyer Carriage and Car Companies, now called Moyer Carriage Lofts. The site is in the Hiawatha-Lodi Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA) which is an area designated by the Department of State as a priority for environmental cleanup and reinvestment. The Moyer complex was built in phases between 1882 and 1909 and occupied the entire block, totaling approximately 175,000 square feet of floor space. The renovated lofts provide affordable housing aimed at working families, and provides 128 housing units, six of which are fully accessible.
Comprehensive Brownfield Remedial Investigation
C&S performed a thorough remedial investigation (RI) which included:
- Collecting and analyzing surface soil samples.
- Advancing dozens of soil borings and testing subsurface soil.
- Installing and testing six groundwater monitoring wells in the fractured shale bedrock.
- Installing and testing soil vapor wells.
- Collecting and analyzing sub-slab air samples.
These efforts identified several feet of historic fill material (HFM) across the site, impacted by SVOCs and metals. Additionally, subsurface soil in the courtyard, groundwater, and sub-slab vapor were found to be impacted by chlorinated VOCs, particularly trichloroethene.
Remedial Action Work Plan
C&S prepared a remedial action work plan (RAWP) to outline the methods for brownfield remediation, which included:
- Removing several abandoned underground storage tanks (UST).
- Removing CVOC soil source material to meet NYSDEC Protection of Groundwater Soil Cleanup Objectives (PGW SCOs).
- Treating groundwater via in-situ combined chemical/biological remediation.
- Installing a sub-slab depressurization system (SSDS) to mitigate potential soil vapor intrusion (SVI) into the structure.
- Constructing a cover system to prevent exposure to remaining contamination in the HFM.
Project Achievements
As part of the brownfield remediation, four USTs were removed, over 5,000 tons of non-hazardous soil and more than 1,500 tons of hazardous soil was sent offsite for disposal. Additionally, over 3,000 gallons of ABC solution was injected into the groundwater, and nearly 20,000 pounds of ABC+ was injected into the soil in the courtyard.
The project was completed in December 2023 and won a 2025 ACEC New York Engineering Excellence Platinum Award.