Transforming a Brownfield into a Mixed-Use Development
Tighe & Bond is providing Licensed Environmental Professional (LEP), polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), and wetlands consulting for the redevelopment of the former Norwich State Hospital property. The former hospital site is a significant regional brownfield with 59 deteriorated structures on 387 acres of land. The project plans to invest $600 million to redevelop the site as a regional entertainment destination and mixed-use center known as the Preston Riverwalk. Funded by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), this is one of the largest redevelopment projects in the northeast.
Tighe & Bond is in charge of overseeing all environmental site investigations, remediation, and permitting efforts. In this role, Tighe & Bond is coordinating with the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (CTDEEP), the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), DECD, and the client’s consultants. The project team has also assisted the Preston Redevelopment Agency with EPA and DECD brownfields funding applications. The site also has significant cultural resources, and Tighe & Bond has worked with the client’s Archaeology consult and the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) to identify and protect them.
Tighe & Bond investigated and provided an evaluation of remedial alternatives for 48 Areas of Concern (AOCs), and then developed innovative approaches for closing each by consolidating approximately 42,000 cubic yards of impacted soil on-site, then capping with on-site borrow and clean demolition materials. The innovative site remediation approaches led to approximately $23.5 million in cost savings, including an estimated $12 million from on-site consolidation of soils. Tighe & Bond also investigated and provided remedial observation for PCB-impacted media at over 20 former transformer rooms as well as a building impacted with PCB caulking.
Services Snapshot
Tighe & Bond prepared a demonstration of compliance document for submittal to CTDEEP to allow several thousand gallons of No. 6 oil to remain in place. The material is not impacting groundwater significantly and the cost to remove would be prohibitive for the project. Tighe & Bond’s wetlands team oversaw inland wetlands and coastal wetlands permits, flood management certification, and stormwater construction permit. The project team also coordinated with Natural Diversity Data Base (NDDB) maps to avoid critical habitat areas.
