Remediation of the former Long Branch Gas Plant is in the homestretch, and the site is slated for commercial development in the near future.
John Raspa, director of environmental affairs for New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG), which owns the site on Long Branch Avenue, said in an interview last week that there would be one final phase of remediation prior to the site being developed.
“Right now, it is safe, and when we finish all the digging and the excavation type work, there is not going to be any kind of disturbance,” he said. “Essentially, the property could be reconstructed, redeveloped.
“Nothing is really preventing it from being redeveloped in the near future.”
Raspa, as well as other stakeholders from NJNG, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the city, apprised the public on the remediation work at the annual Community Advisory Panel (CAP) update meeting held at the Brookdale Learning Annex on Oct. 1.
Raspa said NJNG would retain control over the future development of the site. “Although we put restrictions on it as the owner, we don’t want to have residential housing and the city doesn’t want residential housing,” he said. “The city wants commercial and retail, so they have some ideas and are working with developers.
“We’ll enter into a development agreement with the city, and we’ll still have control of the property in terms of controlling the deed restrictions on it and the things you can and cannot do.” The former gas plant operated from 1870 to 1961 on a 17-acre site on Long Branch Avenue that is now in the city’s Broadway Gateway redevelopment zone.
At past meetings, residents raised concerns about odors, contamination and groundwater emanating from the gas plant, which is currently owned by NJNG. However, only a few residents attended the meeting last week.
Margaret Bruderek, environmental engineer and project manager for NJNG, outlined the remediation work that would take place over the next year.
“We plan to do the next phase of work, which is the Seaview Avenue culvert,” she said. “Then we also plan to do some groundwater monitoring and pilot studies.
“We also anticipate completing the soil remediation in the spring and summer of 2015, and the contractor will be mobilizing in the fall of 2015.”
Raspa said this next phase of work would be the last major remediation work done on the site.
“We’ve gotten pretty much all of the soils cleaned up, this is the last big dig,” he said. “All the real physical work is going to be done probably by the end of 2015.”
He said that while this will be the last major remediation work on the site, NJNG will continue to monitor the environmental impacts on the site for the foreseeable future.
It was also announced during the meeting that four families living at the Seaview Manor homes, which is owned and operated by the Long Branch Housing Authority (LBHA), would be temporarily displaced while the Seaview Avenue culvert is constructed.
Tyrone Garrett, LBHA executive director, said the families would be moved to marketrate rental units at the newly constructed Woodrow Wilson Commons housing complex for eight to 12 months; the authority would subsidize the additional rent.
He said the residents would be given the opportunity to stay at Woodrow Wilson; however, once construction ends, the subsidy would be eliminated.
He also said relocating the families within the housing authority system would allow the children to continue attending Long Branch schools.
A group of residents previously joined together to sue NJNG over health problems allegedly resulting from contamination at the site.
CAP, a grassroots group composed of community leaders, was formed five years ago with the goal of overseeing the remediation project and informing the community of the ongoing work.
CAP members include city officials, community members, representatives of the Long Branch Housing Authority, citizen groups, members of the clergy and property and business owners.
While it was in operation, the gas plant produced coal tar, which is a mixture of hydrocarbons and other compounds left after combustion that produces a residue with a sticky texture that resembles roofing tar.
In 1951, NJNG purchased the site from Jersey Central Power & Light Co., and some 30 years later, residues of coal tar were found in the soil and waterways surrounding the area. Studies of the contamination impact started as early as 1984, and remediation efforts at the area began in 2000.