Meadowlands Golf Redevelopment
Borough of Rutherford, Township of Lyndhurst, and Borough of North Arlington, Bergen County, New Jersey
The 450-acre Meadowlands Golf Redevelopment Project is comprised of three landfills in Hackensack Meadowlands district of Bergen County, New Jersey. EnCap Golf Holdings, LLC and the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission have teamed up for the redevelopment of the project site. The proposed beneficial reuse of the site includes a 36-hole golf course complex, office space, a hotel/resort complex with a spa and conference center, and possibly timeshare or residential units. The project would be constructed under the Brownfields Redevelopment Act.
On behalf of EnCap Golf Holdings, LLC, Paulus, Sokolowski and Sartor (PS&S) performed a full range of environmental permitting, civil engineering and geotechnical engineering consulting services for the redevelopment area. PS&S prepared a remedial design package, consisting of a soil and geosynthetic material landfill cover section, to address the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) regulations regarding landfill closure and post-closure care. This landfill cover section would ultimately provide a scientifically justifiable, final remediation and closure of the Avon Landfill, the Kingsland Park Sanitary Landfill, and the Lyndhurst and Rutherford Landfills that is protective of human health and safety, as well as the environment.
The unique regional setting has historically precluded any major development at the site. A blanket of loose solid waste combined with soft organic sediments and a thick deposit of clay results in weak, unstable and settlement prone conditions. In response to these challenges, PS&S developed major, large scale ground improvement program (GIP) comprised of dynamic compaction (DC) to densify the waste materials followed by the installation of vertical wick drains and the placement of surcharge fill. The GIP encompasses over 120 acres and comprises the installation of over 50,000 vertical wick drains and up to 2,000,000 cubic yards of surcharge fill. The clay deposits, which extend to 150 feet in depth in some areas, required the use of a custom-built wick drain installation machine.
The placement of fill required for proper landfill closure and the subsequent redevelopment will generate settlements on the order of five to 10 feet. However, when the GIP is completed, the post-construction settlement should be on the order of several inches; tolerable to relatively lightly loaded and flexible structures. The installation of deep down hole specialized instruments enable PS&S' geotechnical engineers to monitor the behavior and success of the GIP.
In support of the remedial design package, PS&S conducted a landfill gas survey and a geotechnical and hydrogeologic investigation. In addition, PS&S prepared a wetlands mitigation plan in accordance with NJDEP and U.S. Army Corps of Enginees (ACOE) wetland criteria. PS&S obtained conceptual NJDEP approval of a Remedial Action Workplan/Closure Plan (RAW/CP) and a Major Landfill Disruption approval. The RAW/CP incorporated a brownfield approach to site remediation, such as containment via a landfill cap, groundwater Classification Exception Area (CEA), and deed restrictions.
PS&S also prepared a Level 1 Environmental Assessment (EA) for the construction of the perimeter engineering controls (vertical hydraulic barrier and leachate management system) and a Level 2 EA for the construction of the landfill closure and site remediation activities. The Level 1 and Level 2 EAs were submitted to the NJDEP to support the NJDEP Environmental Infrastructure Trust (EIT) Fund Financing Program.