Progress on cleanup of South River Metals site

Church Street property slated for development as senior complex

BY NICOLE ANTONUCCI
Staff Writer

ABERDEEN — Township officials are moving forward with remediation of the former South River Metals property on Church Street in preparation for the development of a senior housing complex.

The Township Council approved a $360,000 bond ordinance at the April 3 meeting, which will offset funds expended for cleanup work on the site.

“The bond is to pay for … the studies and the removal of the tanks,” Holly Reycraft, borough administrator, said. “There were two oil tanks, and the studies included testing of the site to see what kind of contamination there is.”

According to Tim Gillan, of CME Associates, township engineer, the approximately 14-acre property dates back to the 1800s, when itwas the site of a piano manufacturing business. During the early 1900s the site expanded to include additional manufacturing buildings.

By the 1930s it had become the site of South River Metals, an industrial company involved in the manufacture of railroad siding

The company went out of business, and the property was used as a warehouse for a furniture company until there was a fire and the building was abandoned, he said.

“There was a period of time when no one was there and it was in disrepair, and ultimately no one was paying taxes on the property, so the town foreclosed,” Gillan said.

“As a result of the foreclosure, it was just sitting there for a period of time and it became a nuisance. There were fires and concerns … the town elected to have it demolished.”

The town began to apply for funding to investigate the site to determine whether there were areas of contamination and then began the cleanup in 2003.

“Since it was an industrial site, there were some areas of contamination on the site from various pollutants,” Gillan said. “The site has a long history, and back in those days the environmental issues were significantly different. ”

He explained that the site had multiple underground storage tanks, which have been removed.

The soils were also tested, he said, and much of the soil remediation has been done as well.

The warehouse building was also demolished after asbestos was removed and disposed of from inside the building.

“That was done several years ago. We have had an ongoing investigation since 1995, using funds for investigation and identification of contaminants and locations of contaminants,” Gillan said.

“As a result, we have been working with the state for the remediation and the development of a work plan to determine exactly what has to be done on the site in order to utilize the site for residential purposes.”

Reycraft explained that the council is in negotiations with Community Investment Strategies (CIS), the developer the township approved late last year to construct a senior complex.

Barbara K. Schoor, CIS vice president, proposed the development of 80 independent senior-living units in a three-story building, during a joint meeting of the Township Council and Planning Board on Sept.27, 2011.

She also presented the possibility of an additional three story, 80-bed assisted-living facility on the site.

Gillan explained that approximately 5 acres of the 14-acre lot would be used for residential housing.

The additional acreage is intended to be dedicated as a conservation area, he said. Development is not expected to begin for one to two years.

The municipality is in the process of reviewing a report from the DEP.

“We are responding to the state comments on the different materials that were found on the site and whether or not official investigative work needs to be done,” Gillan said. “As a result of that, we anticipate that the work plan will be approved for initiation of the remediation action.”

The council is in the process of coming up with the final estimate for the cost of the remediation.

“We currently have a tentative estimate of $1.7 million,” Gillan said, adding that the cost of remediation depends on the contaminants found and the level of work that needs to be done.

He also explained that the municipality would not have to absorb the whole cost.

“When it comes to actually doing the site work, depending on the availability of funds, the state will pay 50 percent of the eligible remedial activity,” he said, adding that the township has an application pending before the state for more funding.

“The municipality is trying to get as much money as they can in order to mitigate and minimize expenses to everyone for the actual work. The municipality is very interested in trying to finalize this to the extent possible so they can move forward with the redevelopment project,” Gillan said.