Land Management and Conservation - Jersey City, New Jersey USA |
Last modified: 3/19/2007 |
A 170-acre site on the banks of Upper New York Bay in Jersey City, N.J., represents a crowning achievement in environmental remediation for PPG Industries.
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Exxon Eagle Works refinery circa 1940s is the site of PPG's chrome cleanup supporting the construction of the Liberty National golf course within sight of the Statue of Liberty. |
The Liberty National Golf Course, which opened in the summer of 2006, sits on land that was home to an oil refinery, railroad yards, a military installation and other industrial facilities. The residue from a nearby chrome-processing plant owned and operated by PPG in the 1950s and early 1960s was used to create earthen retaining dikes for storage tanks at the refinery. Three other companies, meanwhile, were responsible for other contaminants at the site.
Working with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the other responsible parties and the golf course’s developer, PPG restored a 2-acre pond, lined 90,000 square feet of contaminated pond sediment, consolidated 47,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil, restored 1,200 lineal feet of shoreline, installed 1 million square feet of liner and created a protective cap with 120,000 cubic yards of clean fill. As a result, today golfers can enjoy a round in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty and a short ferry ride from Manhattan’s financial district.
The Liberty National Golf Course is just one example of the economic revitalization sweeping New Jersey’s second-largest city. PPG is poised to contribute to the city’s resurgence once again with the remediation of a 16.6-acre site of the company’s former chrome-processing plant, which was sold in 1964. Since the city claimed the land for back taxes in 2001, PPG has demolished a building on the site, installed interim remedial measures and conducted a thorough investigation of the contamination, and it is preparing to test remediation technologies.
Meanwhile, the company was among the first to adopt NJDEP’s standards for community involvement in environmental remediation projects. Believing public support is vital to a successful remediation, PPG has established a storefront presence in the neighborhood near its former plant site, enabling residents to speak with company representatives about the project, review documents and offer their thoughts.
PPG’s leadership has also helped Jersey City win recognition for its redevelopment efforts. The company’s chrome remediation paved the way for a 6-acre industrial site to be transformed into a 124-unit, mixed-income and mixed-financed residential community, which was honored with a Phoenix Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for outstanding brownfield redevelopment.
To date, PPG has cleaned all 37 residential and 10 of 24 non-residential properties in Hudson County, N.J., for which it is responsible. Work plans have been submitted for two unremediated sites, and investigations are under way at others.
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Conceptual aerial view of
Liberty National Golf Course |
Conceptual view of 18th landing |
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Conceptual view of golf course and residential towers |
Tribute of Light for the World Trade Towers viewed from Liberty National site |
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