EPA 000-0-99000
December 1999
Hll
(3
united States
Environmental Protection Agency
Region!
United states
Armv Corps of Engineers
New Yort District
Fast Track Dredged
Material Decontamination
Demonstration for the
Port of New York
and New Jersey
Report to Congress on the Water Resources
and Development Acts of 1990 (Section 412),
1992 (Section 405C), and 1996 (Section 226).
united states
Department of Enew
Broolnaven National laboratory
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EPA 000-0-99-000
May 1999
Fast Track Dredged Material Decontamination
Demonstration for the Port of New York
and New Jersey
An Interim Report to Congress on the
Water Resources and Development Acts
of 199O (Section 412), 1992 (Section 4O5C),
and 1996 (Section 226).
Submitted by:
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Region 2
United States Army Corps of Engineers
New York District
United States Department of Energy
Brookhaven National Laboratory
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DISCLAIMER
This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United
States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof,
nor any of their employees, nor any of their contractors, subcontractors, or their
employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability
or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information,
apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe
privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product,
process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not
necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the
United States Government or any agency, contractor or subcontractor thereof. The
views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect
those of the United States Government or any agency, contractor or subcontractor
thereof.
Printed in the United States of America
Available from
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NTIS price codes:
Printed Copy: A04; Microfiche Copy: A01
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary vii
1. Introduction 1
2. Charge from Congress 2
3. WRDA Decontamination Program Overview 2
3.1 Program Objectives and Challenges Addressed 2
3.2 Organizational Structure of the WRDA Program 3
3.3 Relation to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-New York District Dredged
Material Management Plan 3
4. The New York/New Jersey Harbor 4
4.1 Description of the Harbor 4
4.2 Dredged Material Issues in the Harbor 7
4.3 Importance of the Harbor of NY/NJ 8
5. Contaminants in Harbor Dredged Material 9
5.1 Types of Contaminants 9
5.2 Managing Contaminated Dredged Material in the Harbor 11
6. Distribution of Contaminants in the Harbor 12
6.1 Visualizations of Containment Distributions 12
6.2 Contaminant Maps for: 13
6.21 Passaic River, NJ 13
6.22 Newark Bay, NJ 13
6.23 Hudson and East Rivers, NY 13
6.24 Jamaica Bay, NY 15
7. Technology Summary 15
7.1 Phase 1. Study of Alternative Methods for Disposal of Dredged Material (WRDA 1990) 15
7.11 Evaluation of Innovative Technologies 15
7.12 Evaluation of Potential Fast-Track Demonstration Technologies 15
7.13 Demonstration Project Site Screening 18
7.2 Phase 2. Bench- and Pilot-Scale Demonstrations (WRDA 1992) 18
7.21 Development of a Treatment Train 18
7.22 Bench- and Pilot-Scale Technology Testing 20
7.23 Summary of Bench- and Pilot-Scale Results 36
7.3 Phase 3. Full-Scale Dredged-Material Decontamination Demonstration (WRDA 1996) 37
7.31 Design of Treatment Train for Sediment Decontamination 37
7.32 Low Temperature Approach 38
7.33 High Temperature Approach 38
7.34 Treatment Train Commercialization 39
8. Supporting Activities 42
8.1 Risk Assessment 42
8.2 Sediment Toxicity Evaluations 42
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8.3 Public Outreach Activities 44
8.4 CompanionTechnology Efforts 44
8.41 Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANY/NJ) 45
8.42 The Office of New Jersey Maritime Resources (ONJMAR) 45
8.43 State of Michigan and EPA-Region 5 45
8.44 Technology Firms 45
9. Interim Findings and Recommendations 46
9.1 Interim Findings 46
9.2 Recommendations 47
10. Appendices 49
Appendix 1 49
Summary of the Relevant Sections of the Water Resources Development
Acts of 1990, 1992, and 1996.
Appendix 2 51
WRDA Publications and Reports
Appendix 3 53
Public Outreach Presentations
Appendix 4 57
Participating Technology Development Firms
Appendix 5 59
Acronyms
IV
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Acknowledgments
This report was prepared by E. A. Stern, EPA - Region 2; K. R. Donato, USAGE
New York District; N. L. Clesceri, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; and K.W
Jones and L. M. Barbier, BNL. Patricia Yalden, BNL, was responsible for the
graphic design of the report.
Photographs of the port activities were provided by the Port Authority of New
York and New Jersey, the National Park Service Gateway National Recreation
Area, the Hudson River Foundation, Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park,
and the New York City Community Sailing Association.
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Executive Summary
This Interim Report sets forth the major accomplishments of the Fast Track
Dredged Material Decontamination Demonstration for the Port of New York
and New Jersey authorized by Congress under the Water Resources Develop-
ment Acts of 1990 (Section 412), 1992 (Section 405c), and 1996 (Section 226).
The final goal of the demonstration is to develop environmentally and
economically-acceptable methods for the processing of contaminated dredged
material from the Port on a scale of 500,000 cubic yards per year (cy/y).
An average of 3-5,000,000 cy/y of dredged material is produced as a result of
the dredging required for maintenance of navigation channels essential for the
safe and efficient operation of the Port. Approximately 70 - 80% of this total is
currently unsuitable for ocean disposal, due to toxicity and/or
bioaccumulation. One approach to placement on land is to carry out a decon-
tamination procedure to produce an environmentally-acceptable material
suitable for beneficial use that can be used as part of an overall self-sustaining
commercial operation.
The demonstration has gone through a number of discrete steps. These are:
Planning: literature survey/evaluation of existing technologies. (Section
412)
Bench-scale test: evaluation of a number of technologies on the laboratory
scale. (Section 405c)
Pilot-scale: evaluation of effectiveness of several technologies found to be
most effective from the results of the bench-scale tests. (Section 405c)
Planning for full-scale demonstrations: conceptual designs for treatment
facilities. (Section 226)
Large-scale treatment demonstrations: construction of facilities is now in
progress. (Section 226)
Scale-up to full-scale operations: conceptual designs for commercial-scale
treatment facilities. (Section 226)
Operational demonstrations for decontamination of dredged material in
quantities of 10,000 cy or more are being carried out for two technologies
during 1999. An increase to larger facilities will follow.
This report summarizes the work performed for the phases listed above. In
summary, it is shown that dredged material can be successfully decontami-
nated using several different technologies at the bench- and pilot-scale levels.
Several potentially-viable beneficial use applications have been demonstrated.
They include production of construction grade cement, glass tiles and fiber
products, and manufactured topsoil. Finally, plans for the work necessary to
develop the demonstration during 1999 are discussed. Possible governmental
actions to assist in the development of a commercial operation are also
proposed.
VI1
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1. introduction
Environmentally-responsible management of sediments and soils containing
potentially toxic organic and inorganic compounds is a problem of national
importance. There is an urgent need to provide affordable methods to remove
the contaminants and beneficially use the decontaminated material.
The New York (NY)/New Jersey (NJ) Harbor is a specific example of this broad
national problem. The Harbor, which is an immense natural resource in the
center of a densely populated urban area, is a critical habitat for estuarine and
marine life and a stopping place on the Atlantic flyway for migratory birds. It is
used for recreational activities by millions and generates important business
opportunities based on these recreational uses. The Harbor is also the loca-
tion of the Port of New York/New Jersey which is the largest port on the
eastern seaboard and contributes to the economics of New York, New Jersey,
and other nearby states.
However, the Harbor is naturally shallow (approximately 19 feet) and must be
routinely dredged to maintain navigation channels and private berthing
facilities that are crucially important for the operation of shipping activities.
Sediments found in the Harbor are contaminated with varying levels of organic
and inorganic compounds. Some of these contaminants may adversely impact
the health of the aquatic environment and thus, in many cases, the sediments
are currently found unacceptable for unrestricted placement in an aquatic
environment.
Therefore, there is an urgent need for developing other options to dispose
each year of the several million cubic yards of dredged material produced in
the dredging of federal navigation channels or remediation of specific sedi-
ment "hot spots" in the Harbor. The application of sediment decontamination
technologies is one component of a potential approach for the management of
dredged material in the Port ofNY/NJ.
The great challenge is to find practical, environmental and economically
sound solutions for the management of the dredged material that meet the
environmental, commercial, and recreational needs of the Harbor users.
This interim report details progress on a Congressionally-authorized pro-
gram designed to render contaminated dredged material suitable for
beneficial uses. The results of this program will be applicable to other
harbors and port regions in the United States.
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2. Charge From Congress
Work performed on this project has been authorized by Congress under the
Water Resources Development Acts (WRDA) of 1990,1992, and 1996. The
program set forth by Congress defines a series of progressive steps that lead
to a full-scale demonstration of one or more decontamination technologies
with a processing capacity of at least 500,000 cy/y. These goals abstracted
from the legislation are listed below. The complete text of the relevant sections
of the WRDA legislation is given in Appendix 1.
Phase 1. Study of Alternative Methods for Disposal of Dredged Material
(WRDA 1990)
Implement a demonstration project for disposing on an annual basis up to 10
per cent of the material dredged from the NY/NJ Harbor region in an environ-
mentally sound manner other than by ocean disposal. Environmentally sound
alternatives may include, among others, capping of borrow pits, construction
of a containment island, application for landfill cover, habitat restoration, and
use of decontamination technologies.
Phase 2. Bench- and Pilot-Scale Demonstrations (WRDA 1992)
The term decontamination as defined under WRDA 1992 includes local or
remote prototype or production and laboratory decontamination technolo-
gies, sediment pre-treatment and post-treatment processes, siting, economic,
or other measures necessary to develop a matrix for selection of interim
prototypes of long-term processes. Decontamination techniques need not be
preproven in terms of likely success.
Select removal, pre-treatment, post-treatment, and decontamination technolo-
gies for contaminated marine sediments for a decontamination project in the
New York/New Jersey Harbor and recommend a program of selected technolo-
gies to assess their effectiveness in rendering sediments acceptable for unre-
stricted ocean disposal or beneficial use, or both.
Phase 3. Full-Scale Dredged-Material Decontamination Demonstration
(WRDA 1996)
Select removal, pre-treatment, post-treatment, and decontamination technolo-
gies for contaminated estuarine sediments for a decontamination project in
the New York/New Jersey Harbor from results of Phase 2 or equivalent testing.
Provide for the development of one or more sediment decontamination
technologies on a full-scale pilot scale demonstrating a processing capacity of
at least 500,000 cy/y.
3. WRDA Decontamination Program Overview
3.1 Program Objectives The WRDA Decontamination Program has been carefully designed to meet the
and Challenges Addressed overall goals specified by Congress. To that end, the program, which empha-
sizes the rapid development of environmentally- and cost-effective methods
for decontamination of dredged material in NY/NJ Harbor, is a matter of
pressing importance. Hence, emphasis has been placed on demonstrations of
technologies that can be put into commercial operation as rapidly as possible.
The WRDA Decontamination Program draws upon many disciplines. They
range from basic science and engineering fields that technically support the
technology development to matters of marketing and commercialization
related to beneficial use of the decontaminated materials. Together they
define a complete treatment train for removing, processing, and disposition of
the treated material through beneficial use. The final objective of the program
is to promote dredged material decontamination on a commercial scale as a
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component of the overall dredged material management plan for the Port of
NY/NJ.
The topics that enter into the overall WRDA Decontamination Program are as
follows:
* Bench-, pilot-, and full-scale technology testing and evaluation
* Design of an integrated treatment train
» Commercial-scale design engineering
» Commercialization of decontamination technologies
* Public Outreach Program/Citizens' Advisory Committee (CAC)
3.2 Organizational Structure
of the WRDA Program
PROJECT TEAM
; EPA
', Region 2
Army Corp
of Enginee
New York Olsl
1 r
s
rs
let
,ir
1
DOE
Brookhaven
National Lab
Multi-State Technical Support
Rutgers University
NJ Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
t ,•
*•
;.»-,
if.:
«?
Figure 3-1. WRDA Program
Technical Team
Meeting the need for decontamination technologies is a challenging task not
only from the standpoint of solving formidable scientific and engineering
problems, but also, and more importantly, from the need to implement com-
plex collaborations among the many different parties concerned with the
problem.
The WRDA Decontamination Program is the direct responsibility of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-Region 2 working in collaboration with
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USAGE) New York District. They have
involved the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory
(BNL) as the technical project manager for the work. An organization chart for
the project is shown in Figure 3-1.
The team concept is the foundation for the WRDA group organizational struc-
ture. It includes federal, state, and local government, and university groups on
the public side, and technology/engineering development firms, harbor
shipping interests, and citizen groups on the private side.
An enhanced reservoir of technical expertise for the project was created
through the organization of the Multi-State Alliance (MSA) to bring in participa-
tion of regional NY and NJ academic institutions including Rensselaer Poly-
technic Institute, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Stevens Institute of
Technology, and Rutgers University. This MSA expertise assisted the project in
its early phase by providing proposal review, specialized technical expertise,
and public outreach activities. As the WRDA Decontamination Program moves
toward commercialization, there has been reduced funding for MSA because of
a decrease in programmatic needs. However, the MSA structure was successful
in providing "seed" funding that resulted in an expansion of the regional basic
science and engineering capabilities relevant to the dredged material problem.
The WRDA Decontamination Program has also used the recognized resources
of the USAGE Waterways Experiment Station (WES) on many portions of the
project. WES is an international authority on dredged material research and
management and serves both the USAGE districts and EPA regions.
3.3 Relation to the
U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers-New York District
Dredged Material
Management Plan
The USACE-New York District is responsible for developing a comprehensive
Dredged Material Management Plan (DMMP) for the Port of NY and NJ. A
DMMP report, issued in the Fall, 1999, provides a menu of options from which
federal, state, and local decision makers, along with the harbor and estuary
stakeholders, can select or modify for inclusion into the final DMMP. The
DMMP will undergo detailed investigations necessary to implement the alter-
natives in an environmental, protective manner based on short-, mid-, and
long-term needs and economics of the Port.
Some of the options that are presently proposed include deposition of dredged
material into containment facilities. These may include upland confined
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disposal facilities (CDFs), contained aquatic disposal facilities, sub-channel
sites, nearshore containment facilities, and island CDFs (containment islands).
Decontamination of dredged material with beneficial use is one component of
an overall dredged material strategy. Pollution prevention, and contaminant
and sediment reduction into the waterways are paramount to the DMMP. A
final plan will include a set of options that will comprise a major thrust in cost-
effective disposal and beneficial use.
4. The New York/New Jersey Harbor
4.1 Description of the The NY/NJ Harbor complex comprises the Hudson River, East River, Long
Harbor Island Sound, Hackensack River, Passaic River, Newark Bay, Jamaica Bay,
Arthur Kill, and the Kill van Kull. The waters of the Harbor drain into the
Atlantic Ocean through the Narrows which lies between Brooklyn and Staten
Island, NY. A map of this complex marine and estuarine system is shown in
Figure 4-1. Note that estuaries are water bodies where freshwater empties into
and mixes with saltwater. Estuaries are different from oceans and rivers -
chemically, biologically, and hydraulically - and are highly productive from an
ecological and economic standpoint. They are regions where there is a com-
plex interplay of the river currents with tidal effects that causes dynamic
changes in salinity and layering of the saline and fresh water involved. The
sediments in the system are moved back and forth in the Harbor as a result of
the changing water velocities. These movements transport contaminants
through the Harbor system. By way of visualizing this system, the Harbor
performs as a sediment trap because the decreased water velocity gives the
contaminated sediment particles more time to settle to the bottom. The
estuarine salinity in the Harbor promotes agglomeration of the particles
thereby also leading to their enhanced settling.
The origin of contaminants in sediments is due to industrial and other anthro-
pogenic activities. The contamination is the result of decades of point source
and nonpoint source pollution into the estuary. Point sources include indus-
trial outfalls, sewage treatment plants, and combined sewer overflows.
Nonpoint sources include urban runoff, leachate from adjacent landfills, and
atmospheric deposition. It can be visualized that as the erosion of the land
mass occurs, soil particles enter a water body where they can be transported
until conditions develop further to settle or deposit them on the bottom.
During this transport process, when these particles interact with contaminants
in the water column, the contaminants can adhere to these particles. Depend-
ing on the local conditions, some of these particles may settle directly in
navigational channels, thereby creating the need to dredge, or the contami-
nated particles may settle in non-navigational, but quiescent areas such as
mud flats. These areas may in turn re-distribute contaminants to navigational
channels.
The sediments are composed of materials from various geological strata. The
composition of the sediment around the harbor is of great importance for
beneficial use. Figure 4-2 shows the composition of materials taken at eight
locations in the Upper Bay and along the western shore of Manhattan. Mea-
surements of the composition of ten core samples at various points along the
Harbor show that there is not a wide range of variability in the major elements
present. In particular, silica content is of importance for several beneficial uses
and is found to be relatively high in all the latter cores. The composition of
these cores is summarized in Table 4-1.
The sediments found in the Harbor are generally very fine-grained silts and
clays (80-95%) with a small fraction of larger grain sizes and large-size debris.
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Figure 4-1.
NY/NJ Harbor Estuary
Contaminants mostly associate with these fine-grained sediments. The size
distribution of the sediment particles is shown in Figure 4-3 for sediments from
Newark Bay. Most of the particles are very small with many of them being less
than one tenth the diameter of a human hair. While the fine-grained nature of
the sediments can be a major complication in the development of some
treatment trains, their presence may be a non-issue for some beneficial use
applications.
As-dredged material has the consistency of a black mayonnaise or gel with a
solids content at 30% to 40% when obtained using a conventional clam-shell
bucket dredge. The total organic carbon (TOC) of typical NY/NJ Harbor
dredged material ranges from 2-10%; the higher the TOC, the greater the
affinity for organics to bind to a sediment particle. Generally, upon dredging,
the material is chemically stable and is found to pass the EPA Toxicity Charac-
teristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) at least as a short-term assessment. TCLP
measures the leachability of forty contaminants. TCLP is used by the EPA and
the states of NY and NJ as one of the several regulatory "tools" to determine if
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Figure 4-2. Variation of sediment core compositions as a function of depth below the
surface for eight locations in the NY/NJ Harbor. (Source: "Environmental Geology
and Geological Development of the Lower Hudson Estuary and New York Harbor"
by Nicholas K. Coch and Dennis Weiss in Geology and Engineering Geology of the
New York Metropolitan Area. Field Trip Guidebook T361. 28th International Geologi-
cal Congress, American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, 1989.)
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Particle Size (mm)
Figure 4-3. Typical particle size distribution found for sediments in the NY/NJ
Harbor. Note that most of the particles are less than 0.1 mm in size.
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Table 4-1. Major Oxide Composition for Sediments from NY/NJ Harbor
Compound
Fe203
CaO
MgO
Ti02
K20
Si02
AI203
Na20
Zr02
PA
MnO
NaCI
Calculated
Claremont
I
7.14
2.64
2.99
.89
3.08
65.72
14.17
2.74
.058
.41
.093
4.04
Claremont
II
4.87
2.38
1.64
.74
2.42
74.05
11.13
2.30
.062
.27
.070
2.44
Claremont
III
5.20
4.57
1.80
.72
2.51
70.70
11.73
2.30
.044
.29
.080
2.80
Lower
Hudson River
5.41
5.82
1.70
.83
2.27
69.07
12.18
2.24
.063
.26
.078
2.31
Upper
Hudson River
5.85
2.37
1.87
.85
2.66
71.40
12.12
2.38
.058
.28
.097
2.54
Arthur Kill
B/A Sed
5.59
2.10
1.71
.75
2.34
73.53
11.02
2.36
.049
.39
.064
2.21
Arthur Kill
C/CB Sed
4.68
1.70
1.04
.54
1.71
79.48
7.69
2.68
.038
.34
.038
1.32
Bay Ridge
A/Red Hook
6.08
2.96
2.34
.80
2.73
69.05
12.57
2.89
.045
.38
.096
3.86
Bay Ridge
Gowanus
6.72
1.93
2.13
.93
2.66
69.61
12.79
2.54
.053
.43
.081
2.97
Composite
4.86
2.50
1.57
.66
2.19
75.23
10.25
2.30
.044
.28
.061
2.31
Values are given in pecent.
4.2 Dredged Material Issues
in the Harbor
dredged material could be subjected to the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA). In all but a very small number of cases, RCRA has not
been applied in practice to proposed discharges of dredged material.
The dredging and disposal options are of paramount importance to the Port of
NY/NJ, since ships require depths in excess of 40 feet, while the average
natural depth of the Harbor is 19 feet without any dredging. Authorized by
Congress, the USAGE built and maintains a system of 240 miles of federal
navigation channels designed to provide the required depths. The average
annual volume of sediments that need to be dredged to keep these federal
navigation channels and private berthing areas operational in the Port of NY/
NJ is approximately 5 million cy/y. In addition, another 2 million cy are
dredged by private applicants annually. A summary of yearly dredging for the
past 20 years is given in Figure 4-4 and Table 4-2. It can be seen from this figure
that the average yearly dredging volume is about 5,800,000 cy/y. Future dredg-
16,000,000
14,000,000
12,000,000
-E 10,000,000
rt
o 8,000,000
3 6,000,000
4,000,000
2,000,000
0
D Private Maintenance
0 Federal Deepening
• Federal Maintenance
1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994
Year
Figure 44. Summary of yearly dredging in the Port of NY/NJ from 1976-1995.
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Table 4-2. Yearly Dredging Volumes for the Port of NY/NJ
Year
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
Total
Av/yr
Federal
Maintenance
(cubic yards)
10.358.895
4.516.349
5.736.442
6.058.124
2.551.702
1.095.109
2.959.622
2.951.500
3.851.022
4.605.709
1 .964.647
2.056.199
1.094.769
1.715.082
2.110.246
2.293.700
2.769.739
1.510.829
1.116.650
73.507
61.389.842
3.069.000 (53%)
Federal
Deepening
(cubic yards)
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1.834.880
3.638.555
7.393.961
1.220.900
207.650
719.700
688.200
1.725.250
1.001.970
18.431.066
922.000(16%)
Private
Maintenance
(cubic yards)
1.253.083
776.969
2.214.045
1.146.400
1.337.460
1.236.000
1.405.410
1.211.342
3.540.100
997.500
2.135.071
2.464.251
1.544.263
6.092.163
1.282.971
653.858
677.012
3.133.015
1.388.340
874.411
35.363.664
1.768.000(31%)
Total
(cubic yards)
11.611.978
5.293.318
7.950.487
7.204.524
3.889.162
2.331.109
4.365.032
4.162.842
7.391.122
5.603.209
4.099.718
6.355.330
6.277.587
15.201.206
4.614.117
3.155.208
4.166.451
5.332.044
4.230.240
1.949.888
115.184.572
5.759.000 (100%)
ing needs will also be high because of the need to deepen the channels up to
55 feet to handle the next generation of super-container (Post Panamax) ships.
In fact, USAGE estimates for the Port a long-term average of approximately 4
million cubic yards of dredged material generated every year. This volume
includes federal and non-federal dredging projects. Approximately 75% of that
total volume, or 2.9 million cubic yards, is estimated to be unsuitable for use at
the Historic Area Remediation Site (HARS) and therefore requires other
management options.
4.3 Importance of the
Harbor of NY/NJ
Based on tonnage of freight handled, the Port is the largest on the eastern
coast of the United States and third largest in the entire country. It plays a key
role in the economy of the region, and its continued efficient operation is
important to a substantial population. In 1995, 2.3 million 20-foot equivalent
container units (TEUs) were handled in the Port of NY/NJ. According to the
Port Authority of NY and NJ, the Port generates more than $29 billion in
revenue annually and is responsible for more than 193,000 jobs. Thus, any
prolonged interruption in dredging would adversely affect the regional
economy. The Port is currently faced with an operational crisis brought about
by stricter regulations that reduce the amount of dredged material that is
considered suitable for ocean placement in the coastal Atlantic Ocean thereby
restricting the ability to maintain — let alone deepen — port navigation
channels and private berthing areas where access to these channels is needed.
-------
5. Contaminants in Harbor Dredged Material
5.1 Types of Contaminants There are many sources for the contaminants found in the Harbor sediments.
They include inputs from industrial activities over the past 100 years or more,
effluents from sewage treatment plants, storm water run-off, and airborne
particulates from local and distant sources. It is not surprising then that there
is a long list of contaminating compounds of anthropogenic origin found in the
sediments and waters of the Harbor. They fall into a few major categories:
Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs):
PAHs are organic compounds that may be naturally occurring, in association
with petroleum materials, but are also the product of incomplete combustion
of a variety of fuel stuffs, e.g., coal. PAHs have been associated with cancer
both in aquatic and terrestrial systems. They (or their metabolic intermedi-
ates) act by binding to biologically-important molecules, especially nucleic
acids, causing mutations and metabolic errors that can result in the develop-
ment of tumors which may be cancerous.
Chlorinated organic compounds - pesticides, herbicides, and polychlori-
nated biphenyls (PCBs):
These are organic compounds that derive from specific targeted uses, e.g.,
pesticides to control nuisance agents. PCBs were developed as insulating
chemicals for transformers and capacitor usage, but were used in other
industrial processes, as well. The major concern about these compounds is
that they tend to degrade very slowly and thereby bioaccumulate and bio-
concentrate in food chain dynamics. They exert a wide range of effects that are
dependent upon the ability to concentrate to actionable levels in organisms
where they are found mostly in fatty tissue and oils.
Dioxins and furans:
Organic compounds formed as a by-product of chemical production, princi-
pally of Agent Orange (2,4D and 2,4,5T), a defoliant, or in combustion of
materials, e.g., coal, solid wastes, as a gaseous emission. These compounds act
at very low doses because they bind to specific biological receptors of both
aquatic and terrestrial organisms. They are considered carcinogens and have
been found to inhibit intercellular communication and stimulate cell prolifera-
tion in carcinogenesis.
Metals:
Metals may be naturally occurring in the region due to erosion of upland
geological deposits, or may originate from industrial or other anthropogenic
activities, e.g., metal finishing, painting, and in liquids, gases, or solid residu-
als. The dose determines whether a metal is toxic since many metals are
essential to most species at some level. Non-essential metals, e.g. mercury,
cadmium, and lead may affect organisms by inducing deficiencies of the
essential metals through competition at active sites in biologically-important
molecules as well as by exerting toxicity above certain levels.
The contaminants found at several key locations in the Harbor are shown in
Table 5-1. The locations are Newark Bay, Arthur Kill, and Newtown Creek which
are of major importance for shipping in the first two cases and for direct
impact on the environment and nearby population in the latter case. Most of
the material dredged from federal navigation channels and private berthing
areas contains a wide range of organic and inorganic contaminants at relatively
low concentrations. However, there are sediment "hot spots" that exist in
areas outside navigational channels with significantly higher contaminant
levels. These "hot spots" are legitimate candidates for application of decon-
tamination procedures in their own right since their elimination would contrib-
ute to contaminant source reduction in other Harbor areas.
9
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With respect to generalities related to contaminant levels, the following points
should be noted:
* The USAGE estimates, that 70-80% of all dredged material from the Port
would fail the effects-based testing criteria for use as remediation material at
the HARS (i.e., non-HARS material). Effects-based testing means select
benthic animals (e.g., amphipods, sandworms, clams, and shrimp species)
are exposed to the test material and measured for mortality and
bioaccumulation.
* Typically, contaminants present in dredged material are adsorbed to the clay
and organic fractions. Thus, when the material is brought upland, contami-
nants are largely immobilized, which limits their bioavailability. However,
long-term effects of upland placement may promote oxidation, which could
increase teachability of metals and other contaminants.
» It should not be construed that non-HARS material is consequently unsafe
for upland or nearshore placement. Different testing protocols are used to
Table 5-1. Summary of Contaminants in Select New York/New Jersey Harbor Sediments (Chen 1994)1
Contaminant
Newark Bay Arthur Kill Newtown Creek N) Non-Resid.2 N] Resid.3 NY Resid."
2,3,7,8 TCDD (ppt) 130 39 9.9
OCDD(ppt) 5494 3016 15369
TCDD/TCDF TEQ (ppt) 197 61 224
Total PCBs (ppm) .92 1.16 2.86
Anthracene (ppb) 1400 880 5820 2 0.49 1
Benzo(a)anthracene (ppb) 3070 1460 6190
Chrysene (ppb) 3100 1630 6050 10,000 10,000 50,000
Total PAHs (ppb) 32550 19120 59380 4000 900 224
Total Herbicides and DDT (ppb) 145 1219 420 40,000 9000 400
Arsenic (ppm) 9-17 17-25 5-33 — n/a5 396,500
Cadmium (ppm) 1-2 1.5-3 1-20
Chromium (ppm) 175 161 305 20 20 7.5
Copper (ppm) 105-131 178-304 61-770 100 1 1
Lead (ppm) 109-136 111-261 68-554 — — 10
Mercury (ppm) total 2-3 2-4 1-3 600 600 25
Nickel (ppm) 33-40 20-60 12-140 600 400 SB6
Silver (ppm) 2-4 2-5 2-3 270 14 0.1
Zinc (ppm) 188-244 230-403 104-1260 1500 1500 20
, A. S. C. 1 994. Letter Report: Analytical Results of NY/N] Harbor Sediments. Base-Catalyzed Dechlorination Demon-
stration Project, Battelle, Columbus, OH. Correspondence to A. Massa, US EPA, Region 2, New York, NY.
2NJ Department of Environmental Protection. Non-residential soil, direct contact. J.J.A.C. 7:26D, revised 7/1 1 196.
3NJ Department of Environmental Protection. Residential soil, direct contact. J.J..A.C. 7:26D, revised 7/1 1 196.
"NY Department of Environmental Conservation. Recommended soil cleanup objectives. HWR-94-046 (Revised) January
24,1994.
5n/a = not available.
6SB = Site background.
10
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determine dredged material acceptability at different types of placement
sites. Thus, non-HARS material may be suitable for placement or beneficial
use at upland or nearshore sites. An important example of beneficial use
upland is land remediation, an umbrella term that includes landfill capping,
brownfield remediation, and mine reclamation. Dredged material for this use
may only require minimal treatment, such as solidification/stabilization and
manufactured-soil production (see below).
For the non-HARS material, the concentrations of these compounds are low
compared to action levels under RCRA hazardous-waste regulations and
Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) toxic-waste regulations. The contami-
nant levels in navigation dredged material under current management
practices do not pose a significant threat to public health. Newtown Creek
sediment passed TCLP testing, with all but one of the 40 regulated contami-
nants (under toxicity characteristic) found below method detection limit
(MDL). The one exceedance, chromium, was slightly above MDL and two
orders of magnitude less than the action level.
If environmental dredging is conducted in the future, some sediment "hot
spots" in the Harbor may have much higher contaminant levels than those
found in navigational dredged materials. For these more-contaminated
materials, more stringent management and engineering controls will be
taken to ensure their safe handling and disposition and compliance with all
applicable environmental regulations.
5.2. Managing
Contaminated Dredged
Material in the Harbor
f.
The WRDA Decontamination Program focuses on one option for managing
dredged material, namely decontamination. The changes in testing criteria
have created the need for finding new methods for placement of that portion
of the material unsuitable for HARS placement. Several other management
options exist and are being evaluated under the USAGE Dredged Material
Management Plan for the Port.
Jin 1977, the EPA and the USAGE developed the "Green Book" to provide a
methodology for testing dredged material to determine its suitability for ocean
disposal. Since the manual was national in scope, local dredged material
concerns were addressed and implemented by Regional Guidance Manuals.
The 1977 "Green Book" was revised and replaced in 1991 with testing proce-
dures that increased the analytical sensitivity of chemical detection limits, the
number of chemicals of concern for testing, and added other biological testing
assays. These changes in the testing protocols significantly reduced the
volume of dredged material that could be disposed of at the Mud Dump Site.
In a final rule that became effective on September 29, 1997, EPA de-designated
and terminated the Mud Dump Site and simultaneously designated it as the
Historic Area Remediation Site (HARS). The HARS is designated to receive only
dredged material suitable for use as material for remediation. This material is
defined as uncontaminated dredged material that will not cause significant
undesirable bioaccumulation or sediment toxicity effects.
The disposal of this dredged material is the subject of intense interest to many
different groups in the NY/NJ region since recent federal-state agreements
have severely reduced the volume of sediments found suitable for placement
in the ocean. Proposed solutions for the disposal problem include the use of
sub-aqueous disposal facilities, containment islands, upland disposal sites,
reclamation of abandoned mines, and sediment decontamination.
Most of the sediments in the Harbor are currently unsuitable for placement at
the HARS as remediation material. Currently, USAGE estimates that only 20% to
30% of the sediments are suitable for remediation material.
11
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This means that other acceptable means for disposal must be found for
approximately 70-80% of the dredged material handled yearly. The USAGE
estimates this volume of non-HARS material to be 2.9 million cy/y. This
estimate covers public and private dredging.
Public acceptance of disposal options for untreated dredged material and even
dredged material that has been treated, but still contains contaminants, is
often affected by concern for the long-term fate of the contaminants and the
associated environmental and human-health effects.
Decontamination, a component of other disposal alternatives, is the only
option that reduces or eliminates the toxic organic and inorganic com-
pounds that may cause harmful effects, thereby directly addressing the
Public's concerns.
6. Distribution of Contaminants in the Harbor
6.1 Visualizations of Surprisingly, up to this effort there were no readily accessible maps or compa-
Contaminant Distributions rable visual representations of the distribution of contaminated sediments in
the NY/NJ Harbor region. Several large-scale temporal and spatial studies have
been conducted to date, but compiling this information into a comprehensive
database that can map sediment characteristics and its attributes such as,
sediment concentrations, sediment toxicity, and bioaccumulation over the
entire Harbor has yet to be accomplished. This lack of a Harbor atlas of
sediment contamination means that it is difficult to determine the location of
"hot spots" related to point sources of contamination. Furthermore, knowledge
of "hot spots" defines the regions that may be causing environmental impacts
and may thus be primary candidates for application of the decontamination
technologies.
Overlying these maps with site facility and outfall data may help pinpoint
contributions from active sources that are reflected in increases of surficial
sediment concentrations. A general view of the extent of Harbor contamination
is also necessary to make predictive evaluations with sediment toxicity data in
defining the total volume of material that is not suitable for ocean placement
and could be in need of decontamination.
Sediment visualization of NY/NJ Harbor sediments serves several different
functions as it relates to sediment decontamination. By delineating problem
areas, three-dimensional spatial distributions of contaminants can be helpful.
This is important as it helps to define the appropriate type of decontamination
technology to be used and the volume of material that must be treated. Visual-
izing with depth gives more precise information on how deep down to remove
sediment, while making sure that we are not exposing more contaminated
material that historically we find with depth. This information is critical in
deriving the cost economics of sediment decontamination as well as in defin-
ing areas that need further investigation.
There is need for visualization of sediments not only for federal navigational
channels, but also for "mudflat" areas outside these channels. These are areas
that are not dredged and have accumulated sediments over time. Since the
sediments may be exposed at low tides, the contaminants may be bioavailable
for organisms, birds, etc. that feed in the areas. These areas can contribute to
the growing volumes of navigational material designated unsuitable for HARS
remediation.
The WRDA Decontamination Program has addressed these needs by develop-
ing a preliminary Harbor Atlas of Sediment Contamination. The data were
taken from recent measurements, including data from the EPA Regional Envi-
12
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ronmental Monitoring Assessment Program (R-EMAP), that give large-scale
coverage of sediment contaminants in the Passaic River, NJ, and in each major
water body in the Harbor. The Atlas shows the degree and extent of the Harbor
contamination which is the target of the decontamination treatment train that
has been developed. A web site for display of the maps and other Harbor data
is being developed and can be found at http://www.wrdadcon.bnl.gov
6.2 Contaminant Maps for:
6.21 Passaic River, NJ
The Passaic River is acclaimed as one of the most polluted in the United
States. Intensive manufacturing has taken place along its banks for over a
century. The crowning insult to its environmental condition was the fire and
destruction of a production facility manufacturing Agent Orange, causing
major contamination from dioxins (a by-product from Agent Orange synthesis)
at a location close to the center of Newark, NJ. The upland location is classi-
fied as a Superfund site, with six miles of the Passaic River designated a study
area of the upland Superfund site. A detailed sampling of contaminants along a
six-mile stretch of the river was carried out in 1995 in an attempt to delineate
the problem. A total of 78 core samples were taken at 1200-foot (up/down-
stream) intervals with three cores obtained on the left and right banks and
midstream of the channel. The cores were analyzed for contaminant concen-
trations in one-foot sections to a depth of 15 feet.
The results of the investigation can be displayed in different ways. Figure 6-1
shows the distribution as a function of depth for 2,3,7,8-TCDD, the most toxic
form of the dioxins. The "hot spot" of dioxins is clearly visible. The data can be
viewed in several different ways. A vertical section through the "hot spot" is
given in Figure 6-2. A total of some three hundred similar sections have been
produced over the entire length of the study section. A stereo view of the "hot
spot" is shown in Figure 6-3. This approach gives the environmental managers
the ability to study the spatial distribution in a very elegant and interpretive
way.
Management decisions can be based on precision remediation methods as
opposed to requiring the treatment of excess amounts of material to ensure
that the contaminated portion of the waterway can be processed in its en-
tirety. This translates into determining the cost and economics based on
volume of what needs to be removed (or kept in place), and what depth to
dredge to ensure complete removal of the contaminants. Displays of multiple
contaminants can also determine which type of decontamination technology
should be used.
6.22 Newark Bay, NJ
Newark Bay (home to Port Newark and Elizabeth Channels), is the focus of
shipping efforts in the Harbor. It is fed by water and sediments from the
Passaic and Hackensack Rivers and is extensively contaminated as a result. In
this case, as for the data for the Hudson and East Rivers and Jamaica Bay,
surficial data only are available. The calculated surface distributions for PAHs,
PCBs, lead, and 2,3,7, 8 TCDD are shown in Figure 6-4a. Indications of "hot
spots" can be seen at several locations. The number of data points are limited
so that care needs to be taken in drawing conclusions from these displays.
However, they do show in the best possible way where there is maximum
reason for concern and where further, more detailed sampling is needed.
6.23 Hudson
and East Rivers, NY
Data for the Hudson and East Rivers are of interest for environmental and
commercial reasons. Figure 6-4b shows the distributions of PAHs, PCBs, and
lead. Recent investigations consider contributions to Harbor contamination
13
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2,3.7,8-TeCDD concentration |ng/Kg)
S X £ S
3 3 S 3
Figure 6-1. Three-dimensional visualization of
the distribution of 2, 3, 7, 8-TCDD in the Passaic
River. The depth below the surface is shown in
feet.
Figure 6-2. North-south section of the Passaic
River at Easting 2148263 showing the
localization of 2, 3, 7, 8-TCDD as a function of
the depth in feet below the sediment surface.
The "hot spot" below the surface is clearly seen.
I
in-ji 6.964e+05
HE 6 956e+05
6.9526+05 |
~ 6.9486+05
6.9446+05
"H 65566+05
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-= 6.9446+05
2,3,7,8-TCDD Sediment Concentration Distribution
(25000 ng/Kg)
2,3,7,8-TCDD Sediment Concentration Distribution
(25000 ng/Kg)
Figure 6-3. Stereo pair showing the concentration of'2,3,7,8-TCDD in the Passaic River, NJ as a function of
depth in feet. Even though they are not printed in three dimensions, you may be able to see the two 2-D
images in 3-D if you bring the page near your eyes, un focus your gaze while staring at the background,
slowly pull the page away, and let the two images become one.
-------
from sources in the Harbor region and from transport down the Hudson River
into the Harbor. The results show that there are substantial effects from
riverine transport for some compounds and that, for others, the inputs are
from Harbor sources. Thus, the Harbor cannot be considered as an isolated
system and solutions to contamination of sediments extend over substantial
regions of New Jersey and New York.
6.24 Jamaica Bay, NY
Jamaica Bay stands apart from the other locations. It is a major environmental
preserve for aquatic life and for migratory birds. While it is not the location for
major shipping activities, nor a location where major industrial activity has
taken place, nevertheless, a federal navigation channel is maintained for
access to landfills and petroleum terminals.
The major potential point sources for contamination in the Bay are John F.
Kennedy International Airport, two Brooklyn landfills located on the shore line,
and contributions from sewer outfalls and direct discharges. The distribution
of PAHs, PCBs, and lead is shown in Figure 6-4c. Contaminant levels are lower
than for other areas of the Harbor, but the regions of concern are very obvi-
ous. These results, supplemented by other data, can be used in planning
methods for contaminant reduction in the Bay.
7. Technology Summary
7.1 Phase 1: Study of
Alternative Methods for
Disposal of Dredged
Material (WRDA 1990).
Methods for the handling and disposal of dredged material have been studied
and developed for many years. An extensive literature evaluation of these
methods was conducted so that an informed selection of the best existing
methods for forming a complete treatment train could be made. The evalua-
tion covered a number of different technological processes that are summa-
rized below. Overall, the information gathered in this initial study provided a
summary of the existing state-of-the-art that gave an excellent starting point
for planning the later phases of the WRDA Decontamination Program.
7.11 Evaluation of
Innovative Technologies
Information on more than 500 treatment technologies was obtained through
inquiries to government agencies and through literature and database surveys.
A review of these technologies was performed, and six vendor-specific tech-
nologies and eight conceptual technologies were chosen for consideration for
further evaluation, testing, and/or development.
7.12 Evaluation of
Potential Fast-Track
Demonstration
Technologies
A second evaluation of technologies was done to search for technologies
which had potential for use in a fast-track demonstration at the pilot-scale size.
Possible technologies were found from discussions with representatives of
government agencies and research institutions, whereby, more than 400
technologies were found for consideration. After review, 60 technologies were
considered to have potential for a fast-track demonstration. More detailed
consideration was given in two further reviews using the following criteria:
effectiveness, implementability, cost, full-scale suitability, and potential for
beneficial use of the residuals. After completion of the three-step selection
process, seven technologies were finally selected as the best candidates for
further evaluation and testing after completion of the three-step selection
process. The seven types of selected technologies are as follows:
* Low energy extraction process
4 Soil and sediment washing
* Critical fluid solvent extraction
15
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-------
Thermal desorption
Dehalogenation/stabilization/solidification
Solidification/stabilization with silicate compounds
Anaerobic thermal processing.
7.13 Demonstration
Project Site Screening
Ideally, a successful decontamination treatment train must be able to handle
dredged material volumes on the order of 500,000 cy/y. The scale of the
operation is such that an appropriate site will need to have an area of 10 to 20
acres, good access to barge, rail, and truck transportation, and crucially, be
acceptable to the community in which it is to be located. A list of 27 potential
locations in New York and New Jersey was developed. However, many of those
sites were found to have serious drawbacks and were eliminated from further
consideration during following phases of the decontamination demonstration.
In the later phases of this project, it has been found most effective to make the
site acquisition the major responsibility of the private sector. The federal
agencies contribute by verifying technologies and treatment effectiveness to
the state agencies responsible for permitting and to the site owners.
7.2 Phase 2. Bench- and
Pilot-scale Demonstrations
(WRDA 1992).
The application of decontamination technologies to the sediments found in the
Port of NY/NJ, on a scale large enough to contribute significantly to solution of
dredged material management, is a task that has not been attempted previ-
ously in the United States. A phased approach is required to validate the
performance of the technologies and to acquire data needed to engineer
operational facilities. These needs were met by the WRDA Program by setting
up a series of steps running from an initial "proof-of-concept" demonstration at
the bench scale (five to twenty gallons) and pilot scale (2-20 cy) on through to
construction of a commercial-scale facility. The Phase 2 work was devoted to
the bench- and pilot-scale testing steps. Sediment taken from Newtown Creek,
NY, one of the most polluted waterways in the Harbor region, was used for
these tests.
7.21 Development of a
Treatment Train
Sediment decontamination ties together a series of operations starting with
removing sediment from the Harbor and finishing with production of a mate-
rial that is suitable for beneficial use options. In this case, the complete system
defines a treatment train. A conceptual plan for a treatment train is shown in
Figure 7-1. The objective of the testing of decontamination technologies is to
provide viable methods for incorporation into the decontamination and
beneficial use portions of the treatment train.
The choice of technologies utilized results from the initial survey carried out
under Phase 1 and also incorporated findings from the EPA Assessment and
Remediation of Contaminated Sediments (ARCS) and Superfund Innovative
Technology Evaluation (SITE) programs. However, the characteristics of the
estuarine sediments found in the Harbor may differ from those of the fresh
water sediments and soils used in the ARCS and SITE tests, and results of the
earlier tests needed to be revalidated for the Harbor environment. It was also
felt that a series of tests at different volume scales were necessary for actually
assembling a viable treatment train.
The guiding principles in selection of technologies for the demonstration
testing were:
* selection of a range of approaches for flexibility in treating different
sediment types and different levels of contamination
18
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» selection of existing commercially-relevant technologies that could be
extended rapidly to full-scale operation
An innovative procurement procedure was developed for meeting these
criteria within the framework of the Department of Energy Federal Acquisition
Regulations (FARs). The project was organized into a series of four phases that
took the work from the bench-scale through optional work at the pilot-scale
and ultimately to demonstrations at 100,000 and 500,000 cy/y. This procedure
eliminated the need to carry out individual procurements at the larger scales
and reduced the overall contracting time by 9 to 12 months for each step.
Another advantage of this procurement process is its ability to re-visit tech-
nologies that may have performed "under par" and since then improved their
process efficiencies.
A list of potential technology vendors was assembled from several sources.
This list was supplemented by announcing the issuance of the request for
proposals (RFP) in the Commerce Business Daily (September 26, 1994). A
potential bidder list of 150 technology vendors resulted, all of whom re-
quested copies of the RFP, which resulted in a total of 24 formal proposals
being received. These were evaluated with the assistance of several federal
and university technical experts. Seven companies were selected for the initial
bench-scale testing.
The bench-scale testing selections actually defined a matrix of technologies
that fit into the treatment train concept. They included low-, medium- and
high- temperature methods that could be used to treat dredged material with
different contamination levels and which yielded different products for benefi-
cial use. A block diagram showing how they can be combined into a treatment
train or matrix is shown in Figure 7-2. Note that this treatment train adds
parallel tracks into the decontamination procedures so that the path followed
by a treatment train can be optimized to fit the needs of the Harbor.
Component?
Transport of
Landfill of
Debris
Component 1 Component 2
Off-Loading Initial Size
Separation
Component 4
Final Size
Separation
Wastewater
Component 8
Transport of
Treated Material
-Q-* Discharge
To Harbor
Figure 7-1. Conceptual Plan for a Treatment Train for
Dredged Material.
Filter
GAC
Components
Effluent Treatment
19
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WRDA Treatment Train
Dredge
-
Physical
Separation
A.D. Little, WES
Weston, Sevenson, M&E
I
T
Manufactured Soil
WES
t
1 *
1
\
\
J
1
S/S/Chemical
Treatment
IT, M+E, Marcor
WES
t
*
Thermal Desorption
BCD Process
Battelle
1
1 t
Outsized Material/Debris
Dredged Material
< 2 mm
1
Soil Washing
and Chelation
BioGenesis
* -
*
Thermal Desorption
IT
t
t
Fluidized Bed
BioSafe
t
Solvent Extraction
M&E
+ -
t
Rotary Kiln
IGT
*
Plasma Torch
Westinghouse
*
*-
Beneficial
Use
Contaminated
; Material? ":
Higher Temperature
More
Contaminated
Material
Highest Temperature
Most
Contaminated
Material
Figure 7-2. WRDA Treatment Train. The different technologies tested in the program are displayed according
to the temperature used in the processing.
7.22 Bench- and
Pilot-Scale
Technology Testing
The specific approaches tested were (listed in order of increasing temperature
used in the process):
Manufactured Soil: US Army Corps of Engineers, Waterways Experiments
Station (WES)
The manufactured soil is created by blending cellulose waste solids (yard waste
compost, sawdust, wood chips) and biosolids (cow manure, sewage sludge) with
the as-dredged sediment.
Manufactured soil production has been developed by the USAGE WES and
applied in test projects. Its inherent simplicity makes it an attractive approach.
Initially, contaminant concentration reductions are accomplished through
dilution coming from the addition of materials needed for soil formation. Over
time, however, it is possible that organic contaminants may be reduced, e.g.,
through bioremediation (including phytoremediation and other natural meth-
ods), although specific data are lacking.
Sites for placement of the manufactured soil will be determined by criteria
formulated by the states of NY and NJ. For example, comparison with NJ
residential and nonresidential soil cleanup standards show that the contami-
nants in the manufactured soil will exceed standards in several instances.
There probably will be sediments that are less contaminated and where this
approach could meet these clean-up criteria.
Bench-scale testing was performed in a green house to determine whether the
estuarine sediments could be formed into a viable soil. The results were
positive and showed values for the relative amounts of the manufactured soil
20
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components that formed the most fertile soil. The suitability of the soil for
growth of different plant species was tested for tomato, marigold, rye grass,
and vinca. The results of analytical testing are shown in Table 7-1. The reduc-
tion in contaminant concentrations results from the dilution by the materials
added to create the soil.
The results of the initial testing showed that a viable soil was formed. The
approach gave promise of being able to serve as a management option for
placement of large volumes of dredged material at a potentially low cost. As a
variation in this approach, the use of dredged material that had been treated
to reduce contaminant levels could eliminate possible questions about placing
large volumes of dredged material in the environment with a possible deleteri-
ous effect on environmental and human health. It was therefore considered
useful to proceed to carry out a pilot-scale test under actual weather condi-
tions to be found in the Harbor area.
The work was undertaken at a site in the Port Newark Marine Terminal. A
number of test cells were constructed so that the soil composition could be
varied and growth of several different plant species could be evaluated. The
test period covered two growing seasons. A photograph of two test cells with
grass produced during the second growing season is shown in Figure 7-3. The
Table 7-1 . Summary of Results for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station Bench-scale
Manufactured Soil Demonstration: 30% Dredged Material, 50% Sawdust, 10% Cow Manure
Containment
2, 3, 7, 8 TCDD (ppt)
OCDD (ppt)
TCDD/TCDFTEQ(ppt)
Total RGBs (ppm)
Anthracene (ppb)
Benzo(a)anthracene (ppb)
Chrysene (ppb)
Total PAHs (ppb)
Arsenic (ppm)
Cadmium (ppm)
Chromium (ppm)
Copper (ppm)
Lead (ppm)
Mercury (ppm) total
Zinc (ppm)
As Dredged
41.5
17463
518
1.22
3700
4480
4560
57,900
33.5
3.0
377
1172
617
1.29
1725
Man. Soil
30% As
Dredged
15.2
5290
182
0.782
1590
3130
3720
35,800
12.5
7.9
•140
393
331
_
514
Percent
Reduction
63.4
69.7
64.9
68.0
57.0
30.1
18.4
38.2
62.7
78.6
62.9
66.5
46.4
~
70.2
NJ
Non-Resid.
—
—
—
- 2
10,000
4
40
—
20
100
600
600
270
1500
NJ ,
Resid?
—
—
—
0.49
10,000
900
9000
n/a4
20
1
600
400
14
1500
1 NJ Department of Environmental Protection. Non-residential soil, direct contact. J.J.A.C. 7:26D, revised 7/11/96.
2NJ Department of Environmental Protection. Residential soil, direct contact. J.J.A.C. 7:26D, revised 7/11/96.
3 NY Department of Environmental Convervation. Recommended soil cleanup objectives. HWR-94-046 (Revised).
4NJ Department of Environmental Protection. Non-residential soil, direct contact. J.J.A.C. 7:26D, revised 7/11/96.
5 SB = Site background.
NY
Resid.3
—
—
—
1
50,000
224
400
396,500
7.5
1
10
25
SB5
0.1
20
January 24, 1994.
21
-------
Figure 7-3. Grass growing in test cells
used during the pilot-scale testing of
manufactured soil created by the US
Army Corps of Engineers Waterways
Experiment Station.
^fi*?r •.-,••., •:-;
-------
Table 7
-2. Metal Concentrations In Plant Tissue (mg/kg) from Port of Newark
Demonstration Site in May 1997.
Metals
Antimony
Cadmium
Chromium
Copper
Lead
Mercury
Nickel
Thallium
Zinc
Standard deviations are
Control
0.00
0.07(0,01)
0.40(0.15)
5.65 (0,22)
1.53(0.29)
0.11 (0.10)
0.87(1.51)
0.13(0.05)
38.50 (5.38)
listed in parenthesis.
PI Treatment
0.00
0.56 (0.50)
0.70 (0.27)
20.57 (2.46)
1.92(0.58)
0.42 (0.07)
6.94(1.532)
0.03 (0.00)
167.67(44.41)
Pn Treatment
0.19(0.31)
0.30 (0.03)
0.51 (0.16)
12.53(5.78)
1.91 (0.23)
0.04 (0.06)
5.46(1.58)
0.03 (0.05)
115.17(43.78)
Pm Treatment
0.00
0.06 (0.02)
0.57 (0.15)
15.30(2.67)
1.32(0.21)
0.07(0.12)
5.92(2.15)
0.05 (0.05)
123.33(15.37)
overall results from the pilot testing corroborated and extended results from
the bench-scale tests. Uptake of metals observed in the pilot-scale testing are
shown in Table 7-2. Transfer of metals and organic contaminants was demon-
strated during the testing and must, therefore, be considered carefully when
planning actual uses for the soil created from untreated sediments.
The overall results showed that a viable topsoil was formed and that, under
carefully controlled conditions, use of manufactured soil could be considered
for use on a larger-scale project. The advantages of this method include
relatively low cost and easy implementation with no need for complex capital
equipment or dewatering of the material. The disadvantage is that the degra-
dation of the organic compounds and fate of the heavy metals proceed with
unknown rate and pathways so that food chain transfer issues could restrict
use as a topsoil. Since the removal and transport of these contaminants is an
in-situ process that proceeds slowly and unpredictably, long-term monitoring
will be required.
It was also concluded that a large-scale demonstration of the use of manufac-
tured soil, if performed under the WRDA Decontamination Program, should be
done in conjunction with an actual decontamination technology to ensure
manufacturing an end product that would pass public scrutiny, i.e., placement
for brownfields, ornamentals, etc.
Solidification/Stabilization: WES/International Technology 0T)/Marcor/
Metcalf & Eddy Inc. (M&E)
Solidification/stabilization (S/S) is a treatment that creates solid aggregates from
dredged material by addition, of Portland cement, fly ash, lime and/or proprietary
chemicals.
Solidification/stabilization (S/S) is a treatment technology that mixes in bind-
ing agents to reduce the water content, improve structural/geotechnical
properties, and better immobilize the contaminants within the material.
Binders include Portland cement, fly ash, lime, and cement kiln dust. Propri-
23
-------
etary additives may also be used. After blending, the material is allowed to
"set" into a hardened, granular soil-like condition, with a lower water content
and improved structural/geotechnical properties (e.g., shear strength,
compactability). Contaminants typically become more tightly bound to the
sediment matrix by chemical and mechanical means. This enhanced immobili-
zation prevents significant levels of contaminants from leaching into aquifers
and water bodies or otherwise becoming biologically available. The high
alkalinity found in commonly-used binders further aids in reducing the leach-
ing potential of most toxic metals. Material that has undergone S/S is some-
times referred to as "stabilized" material.
The right types and proportions of admixtures are tailored to meet the engi-
neering specifications and standards for a generally-accepted and similarly-
manufactured product. Beneficial uses for a soil-like product include struc-
tural or nonstructural fill, grading material, daily/intermediate landfill cover,
brownfield re-development projects, and final landfill cover. In the NY/NJ
region, earthen material used for such purposes typically sells for $5-12/ton as
delivered. In addition, quality control and quality acceptance requirements
need to be established to ensure acceptable uniform quality.
There are several ways in which the S/S technique can be applied. It can be
used with untreated sediments, or can be combined with treatment technolo-
gies that remove or destroy certain types of contaminants (such as those that
remove or destroy organics but leave metal levels unchanged).
S/S has been applied in Japan to bottom sediments containing toxic sub-
stances and in the United States to industrial wastes as well as to dredged
material from New York/New Jersey and Boston Harbors. Laboratory studies
have been performed on dredged material from Indiana Harbor, Indiana;
Everett Bay, Washington; and Buffalo River, New York.
Tests were performed by WES on untreated sediments from Newtown Creek,
NY. They measured the physical properties of the solidified and stabilized
sediments for a number of different cement/fly ash/lime mixtures. It was
shown that the physical properties were adequate to meet standards for
several beneficial uses in the construction industry. M&E produced cleaned
Figure 7-4. Solidification/
stabilization processing of
dredged material from NY/NJ
Harbor. Portland Cement
and fly ash are being added
through the chute at the left.
The column at the right is the
drive shaft for a mixer used
to homogenize the mixture.
The processing is done in the
barge used to transport the
material for placement at an
upland site.
24
-------
Harbor
views
.V
-------
ife
-------
1
-------
Port
Activities
-------
sediment using a solvent extraction technique (see below) which was then
treated by S/S. The results of these tests showed that S/S procedures formed
materials from the dredged material that had satisfactory physical and chemi-
cal properties and defined the optimum proportions of additives for use with
the dredged material found in the New York/New Jersey Harbor region. These
data, when combined with results from other projects in progress in the
region, will help in setting performance standards for the practical application
of the S/S technologies. A photograph of commercial dredged material solidifi-
cation/stabilization processing is shown in Figure 7-4. Portland cement and
other materials are being added in the foreground of the picture. A mixing
paddle (background) is used to blend them with the bulk sediment.
A summary of the results obtained by M&E for several S/S formulations are
shown in Table 7-3.
Table 7-3. Physical Characterization Data for Stabilized/Solidified Sediments
Sample, Cement/
Sediment Ratio
0.1 Cement Fixation Only
0.2 Cement Fixation Only
0.4 Cement Fixation Only
Q.15 Cement
Solvent Extraction/Fixation
0.3 Cement
Solvent Extraction/Fixation
Unconfined Compressive
Strength (pounds/square inch)
26
123
501
234
658
Particle
Specific
Gravity
2.54
2.61
2.63
2.70
2.69
Permeability
cm/sec
8.05E-06
7.05E-06
2.81 E-07
1.61E-06
5.62E-07
Bulk Dry
Density,
Ibs/cu ft
37.7
48.9
58.8
51.4
64.7
Sediment Washing: BioGenesis
Sediment washing uses a proprietary blend of surfactants (detergents), chelating
and oxidizing agents, and high pressure water jets (collisions) to remove both
organic and inorganic contaminants from the dredged material.
The BioGenesis treatment technology has blended a mechanical scouring of
the dredged material particles by a high-pressure jet of water with application
of (l)surfactants (2) chelating agents, and (3) oxidizing chemicals to clean the
particle surfaces. Chelating chemicals are used to render metals soluble so
that they are transferred from the solid to the surrounding liquid. The contami-
nants that are removed from the dredged material are treated by producing
bubbles that create a local region of high temperature that destroys the
organic compounds in the water (cavitation-oxidation). Floatable organic
material is separated by surface skimming in a flotation tank and metals are
precipitated in the form of a sludge which is disposed of at a landfill. A dia-
gram outlining the treatment process is shown in Figure 7-5.
The results obtained during the bench-scale testing showed reductions of the
organic compounds by about 90% and of inorganic compounds by about 70%.
The specific reduction efficiency varied with the particular contaminant
compound or element considered. The BioGenesis technology is simple in
concept and in the type of equipment used, but it is also one that rests on a
knowledge of sediment chemistry and particle/contaminant interactions in the
25
-------
liquid and solid phases. For this reason, the sediment washing approach has
potential for improvement as the process is gradually optimized for the
conditions found in the Harbor. The process produces an end material which
can be combined with humates, lime, and other organic materials to form a
manufactured soil. Any contaminants left in the sediments are diluted by
these additions. The overall reduction for organic compounds then becomes
about 97% and for inorganic compounds about 90%. This magnitude of decon-
tamination makes it possible to produce manufactured soil which meets the
standards for residential soil. Revenue from the sale of this topsoil can be used
to reduce the tipping fee charged for dredging and decontamination of the
dredged material.
The BioGenesis approach has been extended to a large-scale pilot demonstra-
tion. The details of the work are discussed in Section 7.32.
Solvent Extraction: Metcalf & Eddy, Inc. (M&E)
Solvent extraction is similar in concept to sediment washing. It employs solvents
(alcohols) at an elevated temperature to remove contaminants from the dredged
material.
I.I Delivery of Dredged Material by Barge
Cavrtation Unit for Destruction Sediment Washer
of Organic Contaminants
Sediment Washing & Aeration
SM> Strum
Skimming Tank
tor Floatable Organic
Contaminants
7. | Pretreatment for Metals
(Precipitation)
- Sid* Strom
Product Strum
Truttd -i«oim«nt
Recycle Water Back Through
the System or to a Publicly
Owned Water Treatment Facility
Figure 7-5. BioGenesis™ Sediment Washing Process
26
-------
Solvent extraction procedures are similar to the sediment washing process of
BioGenesis in the sense that a chemical solvent is used to remove the surface
coatings of contaminated materials. Removal of contamination depends on the
porosity of the material and the treatment time as well as on the details of the
chemical interactions of the contaminants with the bulk sediment material.
The extraction process operated at a temperature of 37.7-60.0°C and employed
isopropyl alcohol and isopropyl acetate as the solvents. These conditions
require more elaborate apparatus than the BioGenesis process and require
more attention to operating conditions because of fire/explosion hazards.
Pilot-scale tests were carried out using multiple passes through the system
and in a continuous operation mode. This demonstration did not use a chela-
tor and the metal levels are not substantially reduced. The testing included
production of stabilized materials from both untreated and treated dredged
material by M&E and the USAGE WES. Compressive strengths of over 100
lbs/in2 were achieved. These values are comparable to values reported for a
project carried out on dredged material from the Port of Boston.
Thermal Decomposition/ Desorption: Battelle Memorial Institute
The base-catalyzed decomposition (BCD) process is an enhanced thermal
desorption technology which removes organic contaminants from the dredged
material and then passes them through a second treatment stage that transforms
them into harmless compounds.
The base-catalyzed decomposition (BCD) process was developed by EPA and
other laboratories in work that began in 1978. The research effort that fol-
lowed led to the design of a two-stage process. In the first stage of the process,
materials containing halogenated contaminants (PCBs, dioxins, and furans) are
mixed with sodium bicarbonate and heated to 340 °C to vaporize and partially
decompose the contaminants. This is a modified thermal desorption process
related to the simpler version tested by the International Technology Corpora-
tion. The vaporized contaminants in the resulting small volume of water and
organic condensates then are dehalogenated using heat (340 °C), a hydrogen-
donor oil, sodium hydroxide, and a catalyst (stage 2). The volatile and semi-
volatile organic compounds present in the contaminated dredged material will
also be removed by the heat treatment as will inorganic compounds with high
vapor pressure or solubility. The main steps in the two-stage BCD process are
shown in Figure 7-6. The removal/destruction efficiency achieved for this test
of the application of BCD to estuarine dredged material is shown in Table 7-4. It
can be seen that the process has excellent success in handling chlorinated
compounds and is somewhat less successful in removing PAHs. It was found
that the metals remaining in the treated sediment were not removed during
standard leachability tests.
Because the BCD process operates at elevated temperature, the water, volatile
and semi-volatile organic compounds, and potentially volatile metals will be
evaporated and subsequently partitioned into various sidestreams (e.g.
condensates and off-gas). Therefore, complex material handling and pollution
control systems will be required to treat the various sidestreams to minimize
environmental emissions.
Battelle estimated the cost of decontaminating dredged material at a BCD
treatment facility treating 150,000 cy/y to be $108/cy. The work also shows that
there are many unknowns in the process parameters that will require further
examination before the design of a full-scale plant would be prudent. The
relatively high cost of treatment, need for further research work, and a prob-
able long time before a plant could be operational made the BCD technology
not practical for further consideration at this time.
27
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Thermal Desorption: International Technology Corporation (IT):
Thermal desorption uses heat to remove surface contaminants. The temperatures
are not high enough to destroy the organic compounds.
IT used thermal desorption to remove organic compounds from the surface of
the sediments. Their laboratory testing was carried out with a small-scale
rotary kiln. This is merely a tube containing the sediment that is rotated to mix
the sediment while the tube is raised to a high temperature. The variables in
the process are the temperature and the time the sediment spends at the
elevated temperature. The apparatus is diagrammed in Figure 7-7.
The results of the bench-scale testing showed that the intermediate treatment
temperature was effective in reducing contaminant levels. However, as a
consequence of the approach, a side stream of hazardous material was pro-
duced that would require disposal at a hazardous waste treatment facility.
Table 7-4. Removal/Destruction Efficiency
Parameter
2, 3, 7, 8-TCDD
OCOD
Total PCDDs
2, 3, 7, 8-TCDD
OCDD
Total PCDFs
Total 2, 3, 7, 8-TCDD Equivalent
Total PCBs
Total PAHs
Total Chlorinated Pesticides
Silver
Arsenic
Cadmium
Chromium
Copper
Mercury
Nickel
Lead
Zinc
(a) Parameter was below detection
(b) Not detected in oily residue but
(c) Not analyzed,
Stage 1 Removal/
Destruction Efficiency
(%)
>76.53(a)
99.68
>99.53
>98.00(a)
>99.76(a)
>99,88
>97.84
98.56
89.19
98.10
13.19
12.08
19.10
0.00
4.94
95.50
0.71
4.33
0.00
after treatment
of BCD
Stage 2
Destruction Efficiency
(%)
>99,19(a)
>99.39
>99.65
>99.19(a)
>96.04{a)
>99.97
>99.74
97.45 - 97.80(b)
14.73
NA(C>
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA , :
NA a:
2.2% detected in the organic rinsate from the condenser walls.
28
-------
Hydroxide
Hydrogen Donor Oil
High-Boiling Oil
Catalyst
Water
Discharge
Recycle
Figure 7-6. Overall Process Flow For BCD
Treatment of Sediment.
Oily Residue
Disposal/
Reuse
Purge Gas
1-7L/min
Purge Gas
0.3-1 L/min
To 02 Cell
Off-Gas
Clamp
Rubber
Septum
Graphite
Seal
Waste
Sample
Graphite
Seal
Graphite
Ferrule
TR1 - RTA Tube Gas Thermocouple
TR2 - Soil Thermocouple
PI - Pressure Indicator
Figure 7-7. Schematic diagram of the equipment used in the bench-scale demonstration carried out
by the International Technology Corporation.
29
-------
Proposed beneficial uses for the end product were for applications such as
construction fill and habitat restoration. Economic benefits from these applica-
tions would be low, and this fact combined with a relatively high capital cost
made it seem unlikely that a self-sustaining business could be created based
on this technology.
Therefore, it was concluded that moving to a pilot-scale test level was not
justified.
Thermal Destruction: BioSafe
This is a high-temperature treatment that destroys any organic contaminants
found in dredged material. The process is carried out using a fluidized-bed
heating technology that is widely employed in the power industry.
BioSafe used a fluidized bed treatment (FBT) to destroy the organic com-
pounds in the dredged material. Metal contaminants are either retained in the
treated material or are volatilized and removed from the gaseous side stream.
The FBT process uses fluidized bed steam cracking to totally destroy any
organic materials such as dioxins, PCB's, and petroleum products present in
the dredged material. It is a robust process, based on the application of fluid-
bed technologies that have been in practice for more than 50 years. The
process is not incineration or oxidation. It converts all organic materials to
carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and methane — a clean, fuel gas that is recycled
in the process. The remaining solids are free of organic material, and, depend-
ing on the metal content, may be disposed of without restriction.
Key to the process is the use of fluidized beds as reaction vessels. While this
particular application using dredged material as a feedstock is new, the con-
cept of using fluid beds for thermal processes began in the 1930's. Fluidized
bed operation depends on the fact that when the velocity of a gas flowing
upward through a bed of small particles is increased sufficiently, the particles
begin to float. At the threshold velocity for fluidization, the bed of material
expands upward and behaves as if it were a viscous fluid. Further increasing
the velocity of the gas causes the bed to expand by about 30 percent as
bubbles form, and the bed begins to behave like a turbulent boiling fluid.
Within this bubbling bed, the large gas bubbles that form move upward rapidly
and in doing so displace bed material above it, and some circulates downward
along the bubbles' upward path. This turbulence provides a significant agita-
tion within the bed which provides a uniform distribution of hot material and
temperature within the bed.
The most significant advantage of a fluid bed for thermal applications is the
mixing of a large mass of material that is held at a constant temperature.
Studies have shown that within fluid beds heat transfer coefficients are 5 to 25
times those for the combustion gas alone. This inherent efficiency is the basis
of selection of the FBT process.
This demonstration was conducted in a pilot-scale unit with a size sufficient to
realistically demonstrate the most critical aspects of the process. Data that
were indicative of process operation at a size sufficient to measure the effec-
tiveness of the technology for dredged material decontamination and to
identify any potential barriers to scale-up to commercial operation were
obtained.
The results of the testing procedures showed that:
» The FBT process can operate with a continuous feed of dredged material
* The FBT process can use the as-received dredged material (without
dewatering)
30
-------
4 The FBT process produces an organic contaminant-free solid product. The
destruction efficiency is >99.99% . Metals do not leach from the treated
sediment.
* Beneficial use options for the treated dredged material include use as landfill
cover material, concrete aggregate, or agricultural material.
The BioSafe FBT approach was very successful in treating the dredged mate-
rial. It was deemed worthy of continuing the demonstration at the pilot-scale
level. However, changes in the business directions of BioSafe after the conclu-
sion of the bench-scale testing made it impossible to consider them as a
candidate for a further demonstration.
Thermal Destruction: Institute of Gas Technology (IGT)/ENDESCO
This is a high-temperature treatment that destroys any organic contaminants
found in dredged material. The process is carried out using a rotary kiln heating
technology that is used for production of cement and aggregate.
The technology employed is in essence a manufacturing process, one that is
commonly in use at existing cement plants. This is encouraging since it means
that either existing or new manufacturing facilities could be devoted to pro-
cessing of dredged material. There is essentially complete destruction of
organic compounds. The metals are reduced by dilution and by loss to the
gaseous side-stream. Moreover, the metal values in the processed material are
in the range found for commercially-available cements. Strength tests have
been carried out and show that the sediment-derived product meets compres-
sive strength standards. The end product is a marketable construction grade
cement product for use in the concrete and construction industries.
Bench-scale testing was performed to demonstrate that the organic contami-
nants could be destroyed by use of high temperatures and that a useable end
product could be created. The particular aim of the demonstration was to
show that it was possible to create a cement that could be sold on the open
market. The results are shown in Table 7-5. These results verify that applica-
tion of high temperatures can remove organic contamination. Construction
grade cement was created by grinding the decontaminated material into a fine
powder and adding Portland cement. Test results for the final product are
shown in Table 7-6 where a comparison with ordinary Portland cement is
made. A photograph of the as-dredged sediment is shown in Figure 7-8. Figure
7-9 shows examples of concrete blocks and paving material produced from the
cement created from the as-dredged sediment.
Table 7-5
Containment
PAHs (SVOCs)
RGBs
2, 3, 7, 8-TCDD/TCDF
Total TCDD/F
Total TCDD/F
Total Hx/Hp/OCDD/F
Units
tig/kg
no/kg
ng/kg
ng/kg
ng/kg
ng/kg
Untreated Sediment
Bench-Scale Pilot-Scale
- 116 370
5,270 8,585
381 262
2,260 2,871
3,231 4,363
38,945 34,252
Blended Cement
Bench-Scale Pilot-Scale
0.3 0.22
0.75 99.96 >99.99
>99.99 >99.99
>99.99 >99.99
>99.99 >99.99
99.88 >99.90
Destruction and Removal efficiency.
Less than the detection limit of the analytical procedure used.
31
-------
Test
Period
3-day
28-day
Table 7-6. Comparative Strength Data
ASTM Cement Requirements
Cement-Lock C-595 C-150
Construction Grade Cement Construction Grade Portland
1950
4620
1800
3000--3500
1740
4060
Comparative Trace Metal Concentrations
Element
Mercury
Selenium
Cadmium
Lead
Silver
Arsenic
Barium
Chromium
Nickel
* Less than the
Cement-Lock
Construction Grade Cement
<0.07*
<0.94
1.59
35.8
2.66
9.22
—
196
133
detection limit of the analytical procedure
Portland Cement
nig/kg
<0.001 ,
0.62
0.03
1
6.75
..5
91
25
15
used.
0.039
2.23
1.12
75
19.9
71
1402
422
129
The bench-scale testing showed effective decontamination of the dredged
material. Creation of a high-value end product, construction grade cement, was
verified. It was also shown that the physical properties of the cement were
acceptable in comparison with industry standards. Hence, pilot-scale testing
was justified as the next step towards creation of an operational facility.
The pilot-scale testing was carried out with a small rotary kiln. In addition to
measuring destruction effectiveness under conditions more nearly equivalent
to a full-scale facility, it was also possible to assess the types of compounds
that should be emitted to the atmosphere following an exhaust gas scrubbing.
The pilot-scale test generates data to serve as the foundation for design of
larger facilities. The important results of the pilot testing were:
* Essentially all of the organic contaminants originally present in the sedi-
ments were completely destroyed (99.99% reduction efficiencies).
* The construction grade cement product readily passes TCLP test for priority
metals.
* The construction grade cement product has a compressive strength that
exceeds ASTM requirements for Portland cement.
* The flue gas was devoid of heavy metals, PCBs, chlorophenols, chloroben-
zenes, and pesticides.
32
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:TI&*&
^^' «^f
- *•%:
•**« A*- •
Figure 7-8. As-dredged Newtown Creek sediment prior Figure 7-9. Cement blocks and paving material produced
to treatment in a rotary kiln by the Institute of Gas following high temperature treatment in the pilot-scale
Technology. demonstration performed by the Institute of Gas
Technology.
* The concentration of dioxins/furans in the flue gas were below detection
limits on a TEF basis.
Thermal Destruction: Westinghouse Science and Technology Center.
This is a high temperature treatment that destroys any organic contaminants
found in dredged material The process employs a plasma torch technology that
has been used for treatment of several waste streams and in the coating industry
The Westinghouse Science and Technology Center demonstrated the use of a
plasma torch for destruction of organic contaminants and immobilization of
metals in a glassy matrix. The plasma torch is an effective method for heating
sediments to temperatures higher than can be achieved in a rotary kiln.
Plasma, a high temperature (3,000 "C), ionized, conductive gas, is created
within the plasma torch by the interaction of air with an electric arc. The
sediment is melted in the plasma melter using fluxes to produce a target glass
product. The molten glass can be quenched to produce a glass aggregate or
directly fed to glass manufacturing equipment to produce a salable commer-
cial product. In the plasma melter, all organics are dissociated into elemental
species to form clean gasses (i.e., N.,, 0,, H.,0 and CO,). The metals are incorpo-
rated into a product glass.
Feeding of the dredged material into the plasma system is more complex since
de-watering is necessary, and residence times in the high temperature regions
are difficult to adjust. The end goal of the processing is not only to reduce
contaminant concentrations, but also to produce a useful final product. Glass
tiles and fiberglass materials were successfully produced during the pilot-scale
test work. Glass production can, therefore, be considered as successful in
reduction of contaminant levels and production of a valuable end product.
The bench-scale testing was carried out in an oven-heated crucible. The
testing was designed to show that a useful glass product could be manufac-
tured from the Harbor sediment by addition of chemicals to optimize the
major element composition for glass production. The same approach is used
by IGT where the composition is adjusted for the manufacture of cement.
The results of the bench-scale tests in terms of decontamination efficiency and
beneficial use prospects were excellent. There was also a clear need for a
technology of this type to use for highly contaminated sediments Consider-
-------
ation of these factors led to a decision to proceed to a pilot-scale demonstra-
tion to test the operation of the plasma torch.
The pilot-scale testing was carried out an operational facility used for demon-
strations of the plasma torch. A single torch was used which operated at a
power of 2 megawatts. A photograph of the facility is shown in Figure 7-10. A
stream of molten glass exiting the test apparatus is shown in Figure 7-11. A
second test processed approximately 1000 gallons of sediments at rates up to
4 gallons per minute. The success of these runs showed that the sediment
could be vitrified reliably over hours of operation to produce tons of glass
product.
The glass produced in the bench- and pilot-scale tests showed destruction of
the organic contaminants by 99.99%. Metals were incorporated and immobi-
lized in the glass matrix and were not leached out during the TCLP tests.
Fiberglass and raw glass for glass tile production were successfully produced
showing that there was potential for manufacture of an end product with high
resale value. The fiberglass and tiles produced are shown in Figure 7-12 and
Figure 7-13, respectively. The economic benefit derived from sale of the prod-
uct can offset the cost of the energy needed to produce the glass and thus
make the overall process economically viable. This is also the case for the IGT
cement production.
Figure 7-10. Photograph of the Westinghouse Science and
Technology Research Center 2 megawatt plasma torch
facility.
34
Figure 7-11. Stream of molten glass prepared from
dredged material emerging from the Westinghouse
Science and Technology Research Center 2
megawatt plasma torch facility.
-------
A summary of the main conclusions derived from the pilot-scale data is as
follows:
» Demonstrated complete (99.9999%) destruction of organics in test sediment.
* Demonstrated metal incorporation into product glass. Leaching tests on
glass product show that the glasses passes TCLP by several orders of
magnitude.
* Confirmed pre-treatment system design and the filtrate water stream compo-
sition. Sediment was successfully dewatered to 58% solids; the filtrate water
composition meets discharge criteria for publicly owned treatment works.
» Established off-gas compositions, providing the basis for a commercial off-
gas treatment system design for S0x, N0x, particulate, organic, and metal
compositions.
» 3,500 pounds of quenched glass products were produced. The glass product
allowed an assessment of some glass product options.
Figure 7-12. Photograph of fiberglass
fabricated from the glassy material
produced with the Westinghouse plasma
torch. This is a possible beneficial use
for the treated dredged material.
Dewatered Sediment
Glass Aggregate
. - . -
•
,
Raw Sediment
Tile Product
Figure 7-13. Photograph of raw and dewatered sediment, glass aggregate and glass tile
manufactured from the glassy material produced with the Westinghouse plasma torch. This is a
possible beneficial use for the treated dredged material.
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7.23 Summary of
Bench- and Pilot-scale
Testing Results
High-temperature treatments were all successful in producing reductions in
organic contaminant levels on the order of three or more orders of magnitude.
Some reduction of metal concentrations occurred through emission into
gaseous side streams and through dilution by additives used to produce
cement or glass.
The main drawback of the high-temperature methods rests in the costs associ-
ated with the energy required for heating the dredged material to the tempera-
tures above 1000 °C used for the treatment. The advantages are the destruc-
tion of organics and incorporation of the inorganics in a glassy or cementitious
matrix so that they are not likely to leach from the product material. The
manufacture of end products that have the potential for high-return beneficial
use is essential to the economics of these high-temperature processes.
Per cent contaminant reductions obtained are summarized in Figure 7-14. The
values are based on the contaminant concentrations found in the end product,
including the effect of any addition of uncontaminated materials. The collec-
tion of samples, quality assurance, and quality control were supervised by the
consortium of federal agencies and four university groups.
It can be seen that the high-temperature thermal technologies using tempera-
tures higher than 750°C are extremely effective in destroying organic contami-
Technology
PAH
Dioxins/Furans
Metals
RGB's
Figure 7-14. Summary of technology effectiveness in reduction of contaminants found in dredged
material. The technologies were provided by: 1) BioGenesis, 2) IT, 3) Marcor, 4) Metcalf& Eddy, 5)
BioSafe, 6)IGT, and 7) Westinghouse.
-------
nation. The lower temperature thermal desorption process is also effective,
but has the disadvantage of creating a sidestream of materials which must
then be treated or disposed of in a separate step.
Solidification/stabilization and sediment washing were found to have less of an
effect on the sediments. Analysis of the results suggests that the treatments
may, in some cases, change the chemistry of the contaminants and render
them more susceptible to leaching. This could affect the contaminant analy-
ses. It also suggests the need for further experimentation with the specific
chemicals used for the treatments to improve performance, and for consider-
ation of the testing procedures themselves. The separations technologies used
can also lead to recontamination of the material in the final stages of the
process.
The overall conclusions of the work are that it is possible to assemble a
complete treatment train that can be used to process dredged material with a
wide range of contaminant concentrations.
7.3 Phase 3. Full-Scale
Dredged-Material
Decontamination
Demonstration
(WRDA 1996)
The tests carried out during Phase 2 of the demonstration were successful in
defining the major elements of a sediment decontamination treatment train.
The goal of the full-scale decontamination demonstration is the construction
of one or more facilities capable of treating 500,000 cy/y of dredged material
with end disposal through beneficial use. The facility itself is thus part of the
overall treatment train.
7.31 Design of Treatment
Train for Sediment
Decontamination
Technologies tested during the bench- and pilot-scale phases of the WRDA
Decontamination Program can be classified according to the temperature at
which they operate:
» ambient or low temperatures (<200 °C),
* intermediate temperatures (-300 °C) that do not destroy the organic con-
stituents, and
* high temperatures above the decomposition point of the organic compounds
(>1200 °C).
The wide variety of contaminants and differing concentration levels make it
plausible to search for technologies that can be applied to specific concentra-
tion levels. In addition, the low-temperature technologies may be more accept-
able to the local and regulatory communities and may be easier to permit. The
higher temperature technologies may be more applicable to the most contami-
nated sediments that are found outside of navigational channel and deposi-
tional areas. These areas may lend themselves to "hot spot" remediation. High
temperature technologies will produce beneficial use products that have
higher resale values. Examples of the previously tested technologies that fit
each sediment contamination category are:
* Low contamination. Solidification/stabilization, manufactured soil, and
phytoremediation. USAGE, Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., International Technology
Corporation, Marcor
* Low to medium contamination. Sediment washing and chemical extrac-
tion. BioGenesis Enterprises Inc.
* Medium contamination. Solvent extraction. Metcalf & Eddy, Inc.
* High contamination. High-temperature thermo-chemical / rotary kiln.
Institute of Gas Technology
* High contamination. High-temperature plasma-arc torch. Westinghouse
Science & Technology Center
37
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7.32 Low Temperature
Approach:
Taken together, these technologies form the basis of an integrated treatment
train for the management of contaminated dredged material from the Port of
NY/NJ or other locations nationally (see Figures 7-1 and 7-2) that includes the
BioGenesis low-temperature sediment washing method and the IGT/ENDESCO
and Westinghouse high temperature methods.
Sediment Washing of untreated sediment. A pilot-scale treatment train demon-
stration at a level of 700 cy was conducted starting in the fall of 1998 by a
consortium of BioGenesis Enterprises, and Roy F. Weston, Inc. Under the
guidance of EPA, BNL, WES, and RPI, BioGenesis conducted several treatability
studies during 1997/8 demonstrating a "proof-of-concept" with encouraging
results for continuation to the pilot-scale and full-scale/commercialization
phases. They are now demonstrating an integrated treatment train that in-
cludes the following: physical separation of the sediments to remove oversize
materials, sediment washing, liquid-solid separation, and beneficial use of the
post-treated material. This pilot test is conducted first to determine design
engineering parameters, mass balance, economic costing analysis, and benefi-
cial use of making a manufactured topsoil prior to moving to a commercial-
scale demonstration.
If the pilot test is successful, BioGenesis plans to scale up in 1999 to process a
minimum of 30,000 cy of NY/NJ harbor dredged material. The sediment wash-
ing treatment process shall be capable of handling a high processing rate
(250,000 cy/y system) of varying grain sizes at varying concentrations of a
wide variety of chemical contaminants. The treatment process shall be per-
formed in a cost-effective manner in attempts to identify public-private part-
nerships situations for funding of a commercial-scale treatment facility
(250,000 cy/y) in order to fulfill the WRDA mandate.
7.33 High Temperature
Approach:
7.331 IGT/ENDESCO
Rotary Kiln with cement-lock technology with beneficial use of post-treated
sediment as blended cement. IGT/ENDESCO will carry out a final design study
for a blended-cement manufacturing facility capable of processing 100,000
cy/y of dredged material. A 30,000 cy dredged material decontamination and
construction grade cement manufacturing demonstration is planned for the
winter of 1999. The intention is to operate the facility at a profit through
revenues derived from a reasonable tipping fee and sale of the construction
grade cement.
In 1997-1998 IGT/ENDESCO started work on designing for commercial scale-up
operations. The following tasks were completed:
* preliminary design and cost estimation for a 100,000 cy/y plant
* piping and instrumentation drawings
* equipment lists and descriptions, quotes, and total equipment costs
* cost estimates for utilities and raw materials costs
The next step, the purchase and installation of equipment for a demonstration
plant that will process in excess of 30,000 cy/y is now in progress. Purchase
orders for a rotary kiln and ancillary equipment have been placed. Delivery
and assembly of the plant by mid-year 1999 is anticipated. The exact location
of the demonstration is now being negotiated with the expectation that a
decision will be made during the first quarter of 1999. Initial discussions with
the State of New Jersey on the necessary permits have been held, and permit
38
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7.332 Westinghouse
7.34 Treatment
Train
Commercialization
applications are being prepared following the guidelines received from the
state officials.
Plasma-Arc Vitrification of untreated sediment. A design study for a vitrification
facility capable of treating 100,000 cy/y has been carried out by the
Westinghouse Science and Technology Center. The design basis for this facility
includes the following:
» process flow diagrams for 100,000 cy/y plant
* piping and instrumentation drawings
» material and energy balance showing the detail for all major process
streams
» stream flow rates and enthalpies
» flow rates of individual solid, liquid and gas compounds
» utility infrastructure
» sediment delivery systems, and
* environmental requirements (emission controls)
Westinghouse performed a demonstration of the manufacturability of glass tile
from the glass produced from the dredged material. Approximately 4,000
pounds of glass produced from treatment of dredged material has been con-
verted to high-value glass tile by Futuristic Tile in Allenton, Wisconsin. The
production test was completed in February 1999.
The project was also organized so that it could serve as a general technical
resource for the technology firms interested in commercialization of decon-
tamination processes. Efforts have been made to provide assistance both to
the firms funded through the project, and also to add firms so as to stimulate a
wider technology base and to share knowledge gained with public agencies
and the wider general public in the region. The WRDA Decontamination
Program Team routinely collected large volumes of sediments not only for the
firms working on the WRDA Decontamination Program but for other firms that
requested samples to do their own treatability analyses at their own cost.
This has been very rewarding, since there have been several instances where
contributions have been made to technical aspects of the tests and to the
many questions involved in site selection and acquisition. In addition, efforts
to expand the technology base by working with additional firms who could
provide existing infrastructure have been successful.
At all times it has been recognized that economics is a major driving force in
the effort to find solutions for sediment treatment. A technically-elegant
solution is needed, but overall operational costs must be competitive. Funding
for the work must be obtained from several sources. While federal and state
funds will be available, they will not be sufficient for construction and opera-
tion of major facilities. Therefore, private investments must be applied in a
major way in the commercialization process.
Public-Private Partnerships
At the inception of the project, the WRDA Decontamination Program Team
introduced the concept of public-private partnerships for the decontamination
program. It was evident from the beginning that this was a desirable approach
because of the need to gain community support for siting of the decontamina-
tion facilities and because public funds were not intended by themselves to
construct and operate a facility. This approach would interest private capital
in providing funds for the creation of a new type of environmental business
39
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sector. The public sector's contribution would be "seeding" applied technol-
ogy development combined with a corporate commitment for developing a
long-term, sustainable, profitable enterprise.
We have explored this approach with a number of technology developers and
site owners both within and outside the WRDA Decontamination Program. An
illustration of how such an enterprise could be structured is given in Figure
7-15. The shaping of the partnership could be undertaken in ways that there is
a commitment and level of contribution from all sectors involved.
Preliminary Estimates for Decontamination Costs
Technologies that are environmentally safe and that effectively decontaminate
dredged material are not enough. They must also be economically viable.
A major mode of placement of dredged material is now stabilization with
cement and fly ash. The beneficial use is construction material and brownfield
cover at several locations in NJ. Currently, the total cost for dredging, treat-
ment (solidification/stabilization), and disposal ranges from $45 to $50/cy.
Another avenue is placement in an aquatic confined disposal facility in Newark
Bay. The current total disposal costs in Newark Bay are approximately $32/cy
including dredging.
We anticipate that the costs for sediment washing, cement production, and
glass production will be competitive when commercial-scale (500,000 cy/y)
operation is achieved and when the economic benefits of beneficial uses are
considered. Preliminary estimates for the demonstration-scale level for pro-
cessing costs range from $50 to $70/cy. Larger scale demonstrations planned in
1998/9 (minimum of 15,000 cy each) will provide economic information for
scale-up volumes as well as information on potential return for beneficial use.
The target range of costs for full-scale/commercial-scale operations is to be at
or below $35/cy.
There is good reason to believe from the WRDA Decontamination Program that
lower costs for decontamination can be achieved to help the Port of NY/NJ
remain competitive. Competition from other East Coast ports also needs to be
considered, in that environmental regulations from different states for han-
dling of dredged material are not uniform and can be more or less stringent
than the NY/NJ Harbor benchmark. If other ports attract deep water shipping
away from the NY/NJ Harbor, then the entire transportation pattern in the
region could change and completely alter the current needs for dredged
material management in the Port. From an examination of two technologies
undergoing the next phase of commercial scale-up potential, it is believed that
preliminary decontamination costs may be low enough to meet the market
cost as it is currently projected for other dregdged material placement op-
tions. The actual costs for decontamination in the future will be determined by
cost-competitive responses to requests for proposals from the USAGE, the Port
Authority of NY/NJ, private dredging clients, and environmental restoration
projects. In the final analysis, decontamination as with any dredged material
management option will be evaluated for its costs with respect to its benefit to
the environment and public health of the region.
Beneficial Use
To be used beneficially, decontaminated material must meet applicable state
environmental and health and safety guidelines as well as engineering specifi-
cations for its proposed end-use. Since the states, and not the federal govern-
ment, have jurisdiction of upland management of dredged material, the presid-
ing state determines the end-use testing criteria and issues the acceptable/
beneficial-use determination for the end product of any treatment process. In
October 1997, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
40
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Grants From
Govt. Sector
Community
Participation
Community
Participation
Sediment Processing Co.
(A Public/Private Partnership)
Operating
Facility
Revenues and
Profits
Trade Association
Grants
Industry/Private
Financing
Taxes
Loan
Paybacks
R.O.I. To
Industry
Potential Owners of The Sediment Processing Company
Sediment Processing Co.
(A Public/Private Partnership)
Permits
Sites
Monitoring/Oversight
Sediment Supply
Product Support
R&D
EA
Financial Support
Regulations/Enactments
Community Concerns
Education/Outreach
Process Validation/
Verification
Technical Training
Financial Participation
Process Development
Financing
Site Selection
Construction
Plant Operation
Figure 7-15. Conceptual plan for organization of a public-private consortium for
operation of a dredged-material decontamination facility. Two schematic diagrams are
given that show the consortium organization and the potential owners of the company.
41
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(NJDEP) issued its guidance manual on dredging activities and dredged mate-
rial. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC)
is currently in the process of finalizing its guidance manual. The acceptability,
and therefore the success, of decontaminated dredged material will be based
on the ability of a given process to meet these standards at an affordable price.
Discussions have been held with the NJDEP and NYSDEC on whether pro-
cessed dredged material will qualify for an alternate use determination (AUD)
in New Jersey or a beneficial use determination (BUD) in New York. Informal
reactions in both states have been positive for production and use of topsoil,
cement, and glass. Formal applications will be submitted in 1999, when both
BioGenesis and IGT move to the commercial phase of the project.
8. Supporting Activities
This demonstration project has carried out a number of activities that are
necessary to support the implementation of a dredged material decontamina-
tion facility in the Port of New York/New Jersey. The WRDA Decontamination
Program Group has found it necessary to consider questions ranging from
locating dredged material projects for processing to finding markets and
private funding for starting private businesses devoted to dredged material
decontamination.
8.1 Risk Assessment
Risk assessment must be considered from a number of different perspectives
including: (1) risks to the environment from placement of the treated materials
and from side/waste streams produced in the processing (residual manage-
ment), (2) risks to human health including occupational exposures, and (3)
risks from failures of components of the processing equipment. Evaluations of
the first two risk categories indicate that it is feasible to define an overall
approach which will be acceptable from the environmental and human health
perspectives. Equipment-dependent risk will be considered during the large-
scale facility design process so as to make sure problems are addressed during
the design process.
As an example, a concern for local government and community groups is
volatilization of PCBs from dredging, processing for disposal or shipment, and
finally possible emissions if the materials are used for applications in
brownfields or construction. This is an important issue that strongly impacts
the decontamination project. For that reason, an effort has been made to
evaluate the transport of PCBs from sediments to water or atmospheric
interfaces and then to estimate the actual concentrations in air as a function of
distance from the source. It is then possible to calculate the dose to workers
and nearby residents and to assess the magnitude of any human health prob-
lems caused by this exposure. In addition to the theoretical calculations, an
interchange of information has been made with other interested parties so that
the calculations can be placed in the perspective of existing experimental
measurements. This is a continuing effort, and it is expected that further
efforts will be made to see if additional experimental work is needed and, very
importantly, to convey an accurate evaluation of the magnitude of effects to
the local communities.
8.2 Sediment Toxicity
Evaluations
42
The placement of dredged material in the ocean is governed by tests that
measure the sediment toxicity and bioaccumulation of contaminants in se-
lected marine organisms. It is unlikely that decontaminated dredged material
will be sent to the ocean or find beneficial use that requires this type of testing.
One compelling justification for this statement is based on the economics. A
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remunerative beneficial use is generally needed to bring processing fees to an
affordable level for the Port.
However, a limited amount of testing has been carried out at the U. S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency Region 2 Biomonitoring Laboratory at Edison, NJ
and by the IT group. It was found that materials subjected to a high-tempera-
ture process demonstrated less toxicity to testing organisms than those
materials subjected to lower temperatures. Figure 8-1 shows the sediment
toxicity results obtained for some of these materials.
Solid and liquid phase sediment toxicity testing were conducted on post-
treated material from the bench-scale studies. These are some of the same
tests that are used to regulate disposal of dredged material in the ocean.
Percent survival of the amphipod Ampelisca abdita in the solid phase and the
grass shrimp Mysidopsis bahia in the solid and liquid phases showed the
highest survival in materials from two thermal processes. The physical charac-
teristics of the final decontaminated product may have played a role in the
survival of these testing organisms as it relates to a particular habitat that the
organisms can live in. The Westinghouse sample was a crushed glass product;
the organics were destroyed and the metals immobilized in a glassy matrix. It
provided a stbstrate that the amphipods wer e well able to survive in. BioSafe's
final product resembled dredged material and most closely provided sediment
habitable substrate after processing. Even though other processes demon-
strated high contaminant removal efficiencies such as IGT, their final product,
which resembled a cementious product, had an alkaline pH which probably
caused the high mortality to the testing organisms. In general the following
conclusions can be made from this preliminary round of testing:
* Artifacts from chemical manipulations may render a sample more toxic
than baseline.
» Solvents/added treatment chemicals to extract target contaminants may
cause toxicity.
* Toxicity may be caused from changes in chemical oxidation states from
drying or dewatering processes.
Figure 8-1. Percent survival
of Ampelisca abdita in 100%
solid phase samples
(February 1996). Data
obtained for processed
dredged material samples
produced by Metcalf& Eddy
(ME12), Westinghouse
Science and Technology
Center (West-3), BioSafe (BS-
3) and Marcor (KB3). The
data shows that there are
large variations in survival
rates between the different
treatment technologies.
Percent survival is zero for
samples where no bars are
shown.
Percent Survival of Ampelisca abdita in 100% Solid
Phase Samples (February 1996)
Baseline ME-12 ME-20
ME-03 West-3 BS-3
Sample ID
IGT-5 KB-3 BG-52-4
43
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8.3 Public Outreach
Activities
» Changes in textural or physical characteristics as they relate to the
organisms' habitat.
» Significant removal of total organic carbon which may affect metal mobil-
ity/availability.
Public outreach is an essential component of the project. Communities in the
Harbor region are highly aware of the impact of activities that relate to munici-
pal waste, sewage sludge, incineration, and topics of that nature. The matter of
dredged material is therefore one that needs to be explained in as much detail
as possible to all the various stakeholders in the region. These stakeholders
include citizens, elected officials, federal and state agency officials, technology
development firms, university and other research scientists, and shipping
interests. A listing of public outreach activities is provided in Appendix 3.
A WRDA Sediment Decontamination Citizens' Advisory Committee (CAC) was
set up to serve as one focal point in outreach activities. The CAC has been put
together by EPA, USACE, and BNL in conjunction with the Rutgers University
Institute of Coastal Marine Sciences. Communication goals of the CAC are to:
* Engage the public in a variety of forums to discuss the decontamination
technologies
» Identify and address key public concerns associated with sediment
decontamination technologies and siting of future decontamination
facilities
» Explore beneficial use of post-treated sediments
* Develop evaluation criteria that address key public concerns
* Provide outreach and access to information for citizens in the NY-NJ
Harbor community
The CAC was developed to ensure public participation and access to project
information. It is composed of interested citizens solicited from questionnaires
distributed at public meetings as well as to community leaders and organiza-
tions with an interest in sediment decontamination and dredged material
management. Routine CAC meetings are held in both NY and NJ.
Project information is also made available via the Internet. An e-mail listserve
is in operation to permit circulation of announcements and to give a forum for
discussion of contaminated-sediment-related issues. This has been quite
successful. For example, a very spirited discussion related to PCBs has taken
place with participation across the United States. A WRDA Decontamination
Program web page is now "under construction" (http://
www.wrdadcon.bnl.gov). This site is still at a draft stage, but does present the
Congressional charges, information on the distribution of contamination in the
harbor, and the complete text of several publications.
8.4 Companion Technology
Efforts
Technology assistance and cooperation is extremely important for the WRDA
Program. It is essential to work with the states of New York and New Jersey
and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANY/NJ). This is particu-
larly true for PANY/NJ and the State of New Jersey since they are currently
conducting sediment-treatment demonstration projects. It is also true for the
State of New York which is still formulating policies for handling non-HARS
material. Of equal importance is the need to work with as wide a grouping of
technology development firms as possible to attempt to facilitate the creation
of new private enterprise solutions and to ensure that the best available
technical solutions are implemented.
44
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8.41 Port Authority of
New York and New
Jersey (PANY/NJ)
The PANY/NJ began its Matrix Evaluation Project in 1997. Six technology firms
have conducted treatability studies of their processes, all of which produce
construction materials such as aggregate, concrete, or soil. Treatability
studies were completed in summer 1998. The objective is to evaluate whether
the selected processes can economically produce construction material from
Harbor dredged material that meets ASTM and other applicable standards
without any significant adverse environmental impacts. These end products
could potentially be used for future PANY/NJ construction projects.
8.42 The Office of
New Jersey Maritime
Resources (ONJMR)
In March 1998, the Office of New Jersey Maritime Resources (ONJMR) issued a
Request for Proposals (RFP) for pilot testing (200 gallons) and large-scale
demonstration (30,000-150,000 cy) of sediment decontamination technologies.
Those processes found to be successful in pilot testing in decontaminating the
material to meet project specific requirements as stated in the proposals will
be recommended for further funding for large-scale demonstration. Pilot scale
projects are expected to be initiated in late 1999. ONJMR's goal is to assess the
feasibility of technologies that can provide long-term decontamination ser-
vices for the Port at full-scale costs of no more than $35/cy exclusive of
dredging.
The Web Consortium (Roy F. Weston, Safety Kleen Services, and BioGenesis)
and IGT were selected by ONJMR in November 1998 to receive funding for
demonstration testing.
The WRDA group is working closely with ONJMR in technology transfer to
speed implementation.
8.43 State of Michigan
and EPA-Region 5.
The State of Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality working with
EPA Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) in Chicago, has been
investigating the application of decontamination technologies for treatment of
contaminated sediments in the Trenton Channel of the Detroit River. The
WRDA Decontamination Program Group has advised on lessons learned from
the demonstration in the Port of NY/NJ. The results of the first round of
bench-scale testing of Detroit River sediment showed favorable reviews for the
WRDA technologies demonstrated by BioGenesis, Institute of Gas Technology,
and Westinghouse. It is possible that one or more of the groups will respond
for proposals to test on a larger scale.
The test in Michigan is certainly of interest since it indicates that the work in
NY/NJ can be used effectively in a fresh-water environment. Hence, the WRDA
decontamination demonstrations and experiences can be exported around the
country to wherever there is a problem with sediment contamination. The
WRDA decontamination demonstration is also leading the way to show that
decontamination can be executed at costs that are much lower than previ-
ously thought possible.
8.44 Technology Firms
There are many technology firms providing promising treatment processes
that could make contributions to the challenges of dredged material place-
ment. We have worked closely with several groups and made them aware of
regional issues and technical problems.
One example is JCI/Upcycle Associates. They are pursuing manufacturing
light-weight aggregate from the dredged material at an existing aggregate plant
in NY. They have carried out a number of geotechnical tests and have devel-
45
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oped a complete treatment train which includes dredging, de-watering and
pelletizing, transport of the sediment, aggregate production, and transport and
sale of the product material. The processing fee should be competitive with
the methods now in use in the region. It is hoped that it will be possible to
continue to work with JCI/Upcycle to assist them in commercializing their
approach.
In addition, the WRDA Decontamination Program has met with other technol-
ogy development firms and potential demonstration-site owners. The hope has
been that it would be possible to provide additional technical advice that
would stimulate the development of their business efforts.
9. Interim Findings and Recommendations
9.1 Interim Findings The WRDA Decontamination Program to date has reached several interim
findings on development of treatment trains that have potential for operation
on a commercial scale. The findings include those related to technical merit of
the technologies, preliminary treatment costs, public acceptance, and corpo-
rate commitment to move into commercial scale operations. The major
conclusions are:
» Dredged material is a useful natural resource. Its mineralogy and
geotechnical properties qualify it for use in the manufacturer of high value
beneficial use products.
* Decontamination technologies have a favorable public approval rating
because of the general perception that placement of materials containing
contaminants such as those that are found in the Harbor on upland sites
where gaseous, liquid, or solid effluents could adversely affect either the
environment or human health. The potential beneficial use of decontami-
nated dredged material is attractive as compared to upland placement of
untreated material.
* Technologies that use chemical extraction or separation processes (solvent
extraction and sediment washing) can be used to treat dredged materials
that are not heavily contaminated by reducing contaminant levels to about
one tenth of the original value. Beneficial use possibilities include manufac-
tured topsoil and construction fill.
* Treatments that use high temperatures (e.g. thermo-chemical and plasma-
arc vitrification) to destroy the organic contaminants are the most effective
and can reduce the content by at least 99.99%. Beneficial use products
include construction grade cement, glass fiber products, and lightweight
construction-grade aggregate.
* Preliminary cost estimates for application of the technologies for commer-
cial-scale operations have been developed. In all cases they appear to be
competitive with current costs for handling (non-HARS)dredged material in
the Harbor region when running at commercial-scale capacities of 500,000
cy/y. Estimates of treatment costs using high-temperature technologies are
made competitive by the production of high-value beneficial use products.
This conclusion of the WRDA decontamination testing comes as a major
advance beyond previous concepts, in which costs for decontamination
were estimated in the hundreds of dollars per cubic yard range.
A general method for commercialization of dredged material decontamination
technologies has been developed in the context of procurements conforming
to federal acquisition regulations. Technology demonstrations were observed
by project members and by participating scientists from regional universities.
46
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A new approach to proceeding from the laboratory-scale to commercial-scale
treatment plants was developed based on the use of public-private partner-
ships. Limited federal funding is being used to supplement major contributions
from private sources to enter into the construction phase.
It can be concluded that decontamination technologies provide a useful
method for the environmental and economic challenges associated with the
handling of dredged material in the Port of New York and New Jersey. A flexible
and innovative approach to the problem is needed on the part of both public
and private interests for the prompt creation of this new type of business
enterprise.
Detailed design plans for commercial-scale treatment facilities have now been
completed that will meet the WRDA decontamination goal of achieving opera-
tion at 500,000 cy/y by 2001. One of the major hurdles in placing any facility
into an operational condition will be the issuance of permits from state and
local authorities.
Treatment technologies have not been widely applied in full-scale projects for
soils or sediments anywhere in the U.S. Historical cost data on the pretreat-
ment and treatment components are very limited, and in many cases, the only
data available are projections made by technology firms based on bench-scale
or pilot-scale applications. Therefore, cost projections for technologies that
do not already have full-scale equipment with some operating history (includ-
ing all the WRDA decontamination technology developers) should be carefully
considered.
9.2 Recommendations The present results of the WRDA Decontamination Program indicate that there
is good reason to believe that a self-sustaining long-term profitable enterprise
in developing a decontamination industry can be created in the Port of New
York/New Jersey. The major needs are to develop means for providing stable
long-term supplies of dredged material to the technology companies, and to
find ways to encourage beneficial use of the processed materials through
permitting procedures tailored to the dredged materials encountered. Creation
of joint public-private enterprise is thought to be one way to accomplish these
ends.
Rapid commercialization of decontamination technologies can be helped and
expedited by appropriate public policy actions on all levels of government.
The major need is to devise ways in which the decontamination companies are
assisted in raising private capital to pay for facility infrastructure develop-
ment. At the present time, major dredging contracts are let to the lowest
qualified bidder on a project-by-preject basis. This is not an adequate basis for
justifying business venture capital loans for construction of facilities that must
run over the long term (10-30 years) in order to amortize the capital costs.
Consideration should be given to the development of mechanisms that could
make long-term commitments for provision of sufficient volumes of dredged
material. This would encourage the private sector to apply their own re-
sources to the development of new decontamination businesses through the
use of private funds. Retention of competitive bidding would ensure that the
lowest possible prices are obtained. However, recognition should be given to
optimal disposal practices for the dredged material so that environmental
questions are properly taken into account. This supply could come, at least in
part, by requiring application of decontamination technologies to a defined
fraction of federal navigational channel dredging projects.
Government can also assist in development of markets for processed dredged
material by mandating beneficial use of decontaminated material in federal
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and state construction projects. The use of cement, aggregate, glass, and
manufactured topsoil proposed for beneficial use in the present project would
all be candidates for participation in this type of program.
It can be seen that commercialization of decontamination technologies is a
complex process. The need for development of public-private partnerships as
a general approach to construction of a facility because of the large costs is
emphasized. The formal authorization of a limited liability corporation to
operate a public-private partnership with the responsibility of creating and
operating a dredged material decontamination demonstration facility(ies)
could be an effective approach in the Port of New York and New Jersey.
48
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1O. Appendices
APPENDIX 1
Summary of the Relevant Sections of the
Water Resources Development Acts of 1990, 1992, and 1996.
Work performed on this project has been authorized by Congress
under the Water Resources Development Acts (WRDA) of 1990, 1992, and 1996
• Water Resources Development Act of 1990. Public Law
101-640, Title IV, sec. 412, Nov. 28,1990, 104 Stat. 4650.
(b) .. .a plan for the long-term management of dredged mate-
rial from the NY/NJ Harbor region.
The plan shall include-
(b.4) ...measures to reduce the amount of contaminants in
materials proposed to be dredged from the Harbor through
source controls and decontamination technology.
(c) Demonstration project. "....Implement a demonstration
project for disposing on an annual basis up to 10 per cent of
the material dredged from the NY/NJ Harbor region in an
environmentally sound manner other than by ocean disposal.
Environmentally sound alternatives may include, among oth-
ers, capping of borrow pits, construction of a containment
island, application for landfill cover, habitat restoration, and
use of decontamination technology.
• Water Resources Development Act of 1992. Public Law
No. 102-580, Title IV, sec. 405, 106 Stat. 4683.
(a) Decontamination project.
(1) Selection of technologies. Based upon a review of de-
contamination technologies identified pursuant to section
412 (c) of the Water Resources Development Act of 1990, the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and
the Secretary shall, within 1 year after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, jointly select removal, pre-treatment, post-
treatment, and decontamination technologies for contami-
nated marine sediments for a decontamination project in the
NY/NJ Harbor.
(2) Recommended program. Upon selection of technolo-
gies, the Administrator and the Secretary shall jointly rec-
ommend a program of selected technologies to assess their
effectiveness in rendering sediments acceptable for unre-
stricted ocean disposal or beneficial reuse, or both.
(b) Decontamination defined.
For purposes of this section, "decontamination" may include
local or remote prototype or production and laboratory de-
contamination technologies, sediment pre-treatment and
post-treatment processes, and siting, economic, or other
measures necessary to develop a matrix for selection of in-
terim prototypes of long-term processes. Decontamination
techniques need not be preproven in terms of likely success.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations - There is authorized to
be appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for fis-
cal years beginning after September 30, 1992. Such sums
shall remain available until expended.
• Water Resources Development Act of 1996. Public Law
No. 104-303, Title II, sec. 226, 110 Stat. 3697.
(a) Decontamination project.
(1) Selection of technologies. Based upon a review of de-
contamination technologies identified pursuant to section
412(c) of the Water Resources Development Act of 1990, the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and
the Secretary shall, within 1 year after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, jointly select removal, pre-treatment, post-
treatment, and decontamination technologies for contami-
nated marine sediments for a decontamination project in the
New York/New Jersey Harbor.
(2) Recommended program. Upon selection of technolo-
gies, the Administrator and the Secretary shall jointly rec-
ommend a program for selected technologies to assess their
effectiveness in rendering sediments acceptable for unre-
stricted ocean disposal or beneficial reuse, or both.
(3) Project purpose. The purpose of the project to be car-
ried out under this section is to provide for the development
of 1 or more sediment decontamination technologies on a
pilot scale demonstrating a capacity of at least 500,000 cu-
bic yards per year.
(b) Authorization of Appropriation - The 1st sentence of sec-
tion 405(c) of such Act is amended to read as follows: "There
is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section
$10,000,000."
(c) Reports - Section 405 of such Act is amended by adding
the end of the following:
(d) Reports - No later than September 30,1998, and periodi-
cally thereafter, the Administrator and the Secretary shall
transmit to Congress a report on the results of the project to
be carried out under this section, including an assessment
of the program made in achieving the purpose of the project
set forth in subsection (a)(3).
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APPENDIX 2
WRDA Publications and Reports
Lebo, J. A., Huckins, J. N., Petty, J. D., Ho, K. T., and Stern, E.
A. 1999. Selective Removal of Organic Contaminants from
Sediments: A Methodology for Toxicity Identification Evalu-
ations (TIEs). Chemosphere, accepted.
Jones, K. W., Stern, E. A., Feng, H., Ma, H., and Clesceri, N. L.
1999. Removing Organic Pollutants from the NY/NJ Harbor.
To be presented at 20th Annual Meeting of the Society of En-
vironmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Philadelphia, Penn-
sylvania, November 14-18, 1999.
Stern, E. A., Feng, H., and Jones, K. W. 1999. Source, Trans-
port and Environmental Ecological Effects of Contaminated
Sediments in the NY/NJ Harbor. To be presented at 20th An-
nual Meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and
Chemistry, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 14-18,1999.
Stern, E. A., Donate, K. R., Jones, K. W., and Clesceri, N. L.
1999. Sediment Decontamination Treatment Train: Commer-
cial-scale Demonstration for the Port of New York/New Jer-
sey. In R. E. Randall (ed.), Proceedings of Western Dredging
Association Nineteenth Technical Conference and 31st Texas
A&M Dredging Seminar, R. E. Randall, Louisville, Kentucky,
May 16-18,1999, Texas A&M University, Center for Dredging
Studies, College Station, Texas, CDS Report No. 371, 597 pp.,
in press.
Jones, K. W., Stern, E. A., Donato, K. R., and Clesceri, N. L.
1999. Decontamination of Dredged Material from the Port of
New York and New Jersey. Northeastern Geology and Envi-
ronmental Sciences, submitted.
Jones, K. W., Stern, E. A., Donate, K. R., Clesceri, N. L. 1999.
Decontamination of Dredged Material from the Port of New
York and New Jersey, pp. 225-239. In K. L. Sublette (ed.), Pro-
ceedings of 5th Intern. Petroleum Environmental Conf., Albu-
querque, New Mexico, October 20-23, 1998, The Integrated
Petroleum Environmental Consortium, Albuquerque, New
Mexico.
Stern, E. A., Donato, K., Jones, K. W, and Clesceri, N. L. 1998.
Processing Contaminated Dredged Material from the Port of
New York/New Jersey. Estuaries. Vol. 21, No. 4A:646-651
Ma, Hong, Jones, Keith W, and Stern, Eric A. 1998. Scientific
Visualization and Data Modeling of Scattered Sediment Con-
taminant Data in New York/New Jersey Estuaries, pp. 467-
470. In D. Ebert, H. Hagen, and H. Rushmeier (eds.). Pro-
ceedings of Vis98 GEEE Visualization 1998), Research Tri-
angle Park, North Carolina, October 18-23, 1998, IEEE com-
puter society, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics En-
gineers, Inc., ACM Press, New York, New York, 1998.
Stern, E. A., Donato, K. R., Clesceri, N. L., and Jones, K. W.
1998. Integrated Sediment Decontamination for the New
York/New Jersey Harbor, pp. 71-81. In Proceedings of the US
EPA National Conference on Management and Treatment of
Contaminated Sediments, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 13-14,1997.
EPA/625/R-98/001, August 1998.
Stern, E. A., Jones, K., Donato, K., Pauling, J. D., Sontag, J. G.,
Clesceri, N. L., Mensinger, M. C., and Wilde, C. L. 1998. Main-
taining Access to America's Intermodal Ports/Technologies
for Decontamination of Dredged Sediment: New York/New
Jersey Harbor. In Proceedings of The Society of American
Military Engineers 1998 National Conference "Renewing
America Through Engineering." New York, May 19-23, 1998,
Technical Paper #8007.
Stern, E. A. 1998. Sediment Decontamination Program for
the Port of New York and New Jersey, pp. 1-2. 1998. EPA
Tech Trends Issue No. 30, August 1998.
Program Evaluates Technologies to Treat Contaminated Sedi-
ments from New York/New Jersey Harbor, pp. 5-7. EPA Con-
taminated Sediments News Number 22, Summer 1998.
Jones, K. W., Guadagni, A. J., Stern, E. A., Donato, K. R., and
Clesceri, N. L. 1998. Commercialization of Dredged-Material
Decontamination Technologies. Remediation. Special Issue:
Innovative Remediation Technology 8:43-54.
Jones, K. W, Stern, E. A., Donato, K., and Clesceri, N. L. 1997.
Processing of NY/NJ Harbor Estuarine Dredged Material, p.
49-66. In J. N. Meegoda, T. H. Wakeman III, A. K. Arulmoli, and
W. J. Librizzi (eds.), Proceedings of Session on Dredging
and Management of Dredged Material, Geo-Logan '97, Logan,
Utah, July 16-19, 1997, Geotechnical Special Publication No.
65, American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, New York.
Massa, A. A., Del Vicario, M., Pabst, D., Pechko, P., Lechich,
A., Stern, E. A., Dieterich, R., and May B. 1996. Disposal of
Wastes and Dredged Sediments in the New York Bight. Pub-
lished with papers for the American Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science (AAAS) Symposium "Dredged Mate-
rial Disposal and Waste Management in the Nearshore Envi-
ronment. Northeastern Geology and Environmental Sciences
18:265-285.
Waisel, Laurie B. 1996. Three-Dimensional Visualization of
Sediment Chemistry in the New York Harbor. Communique
Data Explorer Newsletter 4:1-3.
Krishna, C. R., Klein, R. C., Jones, K. W, Clesceri, N. L., and
Stern. E. 1995. Human Exposure to Toxic Materials. Mount
Sinai Journal of Medicine 62:375-9.
Goswami, A., Clesceri, N., Preiss, I., Stern, E., Jones, K., and
Donato, K. Evaluation of Treatment, Disposal, and Manage-
rial Options for Dredged Sediments from Newark Bay, Arthur
Kill, and Newtown Creek of New York/New Jersey Harbor and
Proposed Design. 1995. In Proceedings of the 50th Annual
Purdue University Industrial Waste Conference, Lafayette,
Indiana, May 8-12, 1995, Lewis Publishers.
McManus, M., Jones, K. W, Clesceri, N. L., and Preiss, I. L.
1995. Renewal of Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal area. The Jour-
nal of Urban Technology 2:51-64.
Stern, E. A., Olha, J., Wisemiller, B., and Massa, A. 1994. Re-
cent Assessment and Decontamination Studies of Contami-
nated Sediments in the New York and New Jersey Harbor, p.
458-467. In E. Clark McNair, Jr. (ed), Dredging '94. Proceed-
ings of the Second International Conference on Dredging and
Dredged Material Placement, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, No-
vember 13-16, 1994.
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APPENDIX 3
Public Outreach Presentations
Sediment Decontamination Advisory Committee (Citizens Advisory Committee) Meetings
Harrison Community Center, Harrison, NJ, December 1,1998
Bayonne High School, Bayonne, NJ, February 23, 1998
Harrison Community Center, Harrison, NJ, August 21, 1997
Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, June 11, 1997
Staten Island College of CUNY, Staten Island, NY, February
25,1997
Harrison Community Center, Harrison, NJ, January 21, 1997
Staten Island College of CUNY, Staten Island, NY, November
19, 1996
Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, October 15,
1996
Staten Island College of CUNY, Staten Island, NY, September
24,1996
Bayonne High School, Bayonne, NJ, July 9, 1996
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, May 8,1996
Stern, E. A., Donato, K. R., Jones, K. W., and Clesceri, N. L.
1998. Sediment Decontamination Treatment Train: Commer-
cial-Scale Demonstration for the Port of New York/New Jer-
sey. To be presented at the Nineteenth Western Dredging
Association (WEDA XIX) Annual Meeting and Conference and
Thirty-first Texas A&M University Dredging Seminar (TAMU
31). Louisville, Kentucky, May 15-20, 1999.
Rehmat, A., Lee, A., Goyal, A., and Mensinger, M. Construc-
tion-Grade Cement Production from Contaminated Sediments
Using Cement-Lock™ Technology. To be presented at the
Nineteenth Western Dredging Association (WEDA XIX) An-
nual Meeting and Conference and Thirty-first Texas A&M
University Dredging Seminar (TAMU 31). Louisville, Kentucky,
May 15-20, 1999.
McLaughlin, D. F, Ulerich, N. H., and Dighe, S. V. Decontami-
nation of Harbor Sediments by Plasma Vitrification. To be
presented at the Nineteenth Western Dredging Association
(WEDA XIX) Annual Meeting and Conference and Thirty-first
Texas A&M University Dredging Seminar (TAMU 31). Louis-
ville, Kentucky, May 15-20, 1999.
Amiran, M., Wilde, C. L., Haltmeier, R. L., Pauling, J. D., and
Sontag, J. G., Jr. Advanced Sediment Washing for Decontami-
nation of New York/New Jersey Harbor Dredged Materials.
To be presented at the Nineteenth Western Dredging Asso-
ciation (WEDA XIX) Annual Meeting and Conference and
Thirty-first Texas A&M University Dredging Seminar (TAMU
31). Louisville, Kentucky, May 15-20, 1999.
Sediment Decontamination of New York/New Jersey Harbor
Sediments. Conference on Environmental Decision-Making:
Strategies for Cost-effective Compliance and Quality Manage-
ment," IBM, Yorktown Heights, New York, November 19,1998.
New York Harbor Remediation. BNL Environmental Show-
case and Environmental Business Association of New York
State. Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York.
October 23, 1998.
Decontamination of Dredged Material from the Port of New
York and New Jersey. 5th International Petroleum Environ-
mental Conference. Albuquerque, New Mexico. October 20-
23, 1998.
Dredged Material Management in the Port of New York/New
Jersey: Sediment Decontamination and Lessons Learned. US
Navy Workshop on Contaminated Sediments. Office of Na-
val Research, Division of Environmental Services - Space and
Warfare Systems. San Diego, California. October 14-16,1998.
Pollutants of Concern. Understanding Contaminated Sedi-
ments - Analysis, Interpretation and Remediation. Short
Course Sponsored by Department of Engineering, University
of Wisconsin, Madison, in cooperation with the NY State De-
partment of Environmental Conservation and the Empire
State Development Corporation. Albany, New York. Octo-
ber 6-8, 1998.
Cleaning up the NY Harbor. Environmental Fair. Brookhaven
National Laboratory, Upton, New York. September 19, 1998.
Contaminated Sediments in the NY/NJ Harbor: Effects, Man-
agement, and Toxics Reduction. The Society of Environmen-
tal Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) - Hudson Delaware
Chapter and New Jersey Maritime Resources Fall Workshop.
Eatontown, New Jersey. September 18, 1998.
Reviving Gowanus - Meeting to Discuss Improvements of the
Gowanus Canal to Support the Merging Gowanus Neighbor-
hood. Gowanus Canal Community Development Corpora-
tion, Brooklyn, New York. July 2, 1998.
Integrated Sediment Decontamination for the New York/New
Jersey Harbor. National Symposium on Contaminated Sedi-
ments (National Research Council Transportation Research
Board). Washington, DC. May 27-29, 1998.
Ma, Hong, Jones, K. W, Stern, E. A., and Richman, L. R. 1998.
Scientific Visualization and Scattered Data Modeling of Sedi-
ment Contaminant Concentration in the Lower Passaic River,
Newark, New Jersey. Presented at 1998 Spring Meeting of
the American Geophysical Union. Boston, Massachusetts,
May 26-29, 1998.
Overview of Sediment Treatment - New York/New Jersey Har-
bor. American Association of Port Authorities Harbors Navi-
gation and Environmental Seminar. Urban Ports: Catalysts
for Environmental Enhancement and Economic Development.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. May 13, 1998.
Dredged Material Decontamination Demonstration Project.
Seminar presented at Columbia University, New York, New
York. April 7, 1998.
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Commercialization of Sediment Decontamination Technolo-
gies. Fourth Marine and Estuarine Shallow Water Science
and Management Conference, Dredged Material Management
Options Platform Session. Atlantic City, New Jersey. March
1998.
The Treatment of Contaminated Sediment in New York-New
Jersey Harbor. American Association for the Advancement
of Science (AAAS) Meeting, Platform Session on Coastal Habi-
tat and Contaminated Sediment. Philadelphia, Pennsylva-
nia. February 1998.
Environmentally Sound Disposal and Decontamination. 1997
National Dredging Conference. Our Vision of the Port: Mak-
ing Needed Dredging Happen. The Maritime Association of
the Port of New York and New Jersey. New York, New York.
November 18, 1997.
Jones, K. W., and Song, S.-R. 1997. Elemental Analysis of Con-
taminated Sediments from NY/NJ and Hamburg Harbors Us-
ing Synchrotron Radiation-Induced X-Ray Emission (SRIXE).
Presented at 1997 Denver X-Ray Conference. Steamboat
Springs, Colorado, August 4-8, 1997.
Results and Status of Congressionally-Mandated Research
and Development Technologies for Decontamination of
Dredged Material. Texas A&M Twenty-Eighth Annual Dredg-
ing Seminar and Western Dredged Association (WEDA) Na-
tional Annual Conference. Charleston, South Carolina. July
1997.
Processing of NY/NJ Harbor Estuarine Dredged Material. Geo-
Logan'97. Logan, Utah. July 16-19, 1997.
Decontamination of Dredged Material from the Port of NY/
NJ. Seminar presented at Columbia University, New York,
New York. May 28, 1997.
Jones, K. W, Song, S.-R., Klein, R. C., and Shea-McCarthy, G.
1997. Elemental Analysis of Contaminated Sediments from
Harbor of NY/NJ and Hamburg Using Synchrotron Radiation-
Induced X-Ray Emission (SRIXE). Presented at 1997 Spring
Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, Baltimore, Mary-
land, May 27-30, 1997.
Cleaner Bottoms: the NY/NJ Harbor Sediment Decontamina-
tion Story. US EPA National Conference on Management and
Treatment of Contaminated Sediments. Cincinnati, Ohio.
May 13-14, 1997.
Dredged Material Decontamination Technologies. Long Is-
land Sound Dredged Sediment Management Study "Alterna-
tives Workshop." Milford, Connecticut. April 24, 1997.
Use of Decontaminated Dredge Materials. Fresh Kills Land-
fill Conference: Closure and Beyond. Willowbrook, Staten
Island, New York. March 14, 1997.
Panel - Seminar in Environmental Problem Solving: Creative
Solutions of the Dredging Issues for the Port Authority of
New York and New Jersey. New Jersey Institute of Technol-
ogy, Newark, New Jersey. February 25, 1997.
Sediment Processing/Decontamination Project Goals.
Hudson River Environmental Society - Partnerships for Re-
search and Monitoring: Meeting the Goals of the Hudson River
Estuary Management Plan. Marist College, New York. No-
vember 21, 1996.
Sediment Processing/Decontamination Project Goals. Third
Annual Dredging and Trade Show. New York, New York. No-
vember 18-20, 1996.
Stern, E. A., Donato, K., Jones, K. W, and Clesceri, N. L. 1996.
Decontamination of Dredged Material from the Port of New
York/New Jersey. Presented at Estuarine and Coastal Sci-
ences Association (ECSA)/Estuarine Research Federation
(ERF) 96 Symposium, Middelburg, The Netherlands, Septem-
ber 16-20, 1996, Book of Abstracts of Oral Presentations, p.
57.
Decontamination Technology for Treating Sediments for the
Gowanus Canal. Gowanus Canal Community Task Force Meet-
ing. Gowanus Canal Community Development Corporation,
Brooklyn, New York. July 2, 1996.
Possible Solutions for Dredging and Processing Contaminated
Sediments. The Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition
Congressional Briefing on Treatment Technologies and Ben-
eficial Uses of Dredged Materials. Washington, DC. June 26,
1996.
Management of Dredged Material - EPA and the Corps - The
Harbor Estuary Program, the CCMP and the DMMP. The
Business of Dredging Conference. Somerset, New Jersey.
June 20, 1996.
NY/NJ Harbor Sediment Decontamination Technology Dem-
onstration Project. Exhibit at the Great Greenpoint Regatta
and Street Fair. Brooklyn, New York. June 1, 1996.
Public Information Meeting - NY/NJ Harbor Sediment Decon-
tamination Technology Demonstration Project. Polish-Slavic
Center, Brooklyn, New York. May 18, 1996.
Solution Options/Model Programs - Decontamination. The
Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition Meeting on
America's Ports: Enhancing the Nation's Economy and Envi-
ronmental Quality. Washington, DC. April 23, 1996.
Meet the Technologies - NY/NJ Harbor Sediment Decontami-
nation Technology Demonstration Project. New York Tech-
nical College, Brooklyn, New York, April 16,1996.
NY/NY Harbor - Project Update. Lecture - Rensselaer Poly-
technic Institute Department of Environmental & Energy En-
gineering, Environmental Process Design II. Troy, New Yorki
April 10, 1996.
Meet the Technologies Forum - NY/NJ Harbor Sediment De-
contamination Technology Demonstration Project. City Hall,
Bayonne, New Jersey. March 6,1996.
Meet the Technologies - NY/NJ Harbor Sediment Decontami-
nation Technology Demonstration Project. Ironbound Com-
munity School, Newark, New Jersey. January 25, 1996.
NY/NJ Harbor Sediment Decontamination Demonstration.
Dredging '95. Dredging Conference and Trade Show. New
York, New York. November 30,1995.
Sediment Decontamination Activities for Newark Bay. EPA
Public Meeting for the Diamond Alkali Superfund Site and
Passaic River Study Area. Harrison, New Jersey. November
14, 1995.
Demonstration Project: Technologies for Decontamination
of NY/NJ Harbor Sediments. Gowanus Canal Community De-
velopment Corporation, Brooklyn, New York. November 6
1995.
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NY-NJ Harbor Cleanup. New York School of Journalism (Sci-
ence & Environmental Journalism). Brookhaven National
Laboratory, Upton, New York. November 2, 1995.
Meeting on Action Initiative on Industrial Applications of
Decontamination of Dredged Materials. Governor's Office,
Newark, New Jersey. November 1995.
Demonstration Project: Technologies for Decontamination of
NY/NJ Harbor Sediments. Lecture - Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute Department of Environmental & Energy Engineer-
ing, Environmental Process Design Class. Troy, New York.
October 18, 1995.
NY-NJ Harbor Project Overview. Concerned Citizens of
Bensonhurst. Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York. Septem-
ber 19, 1995.
Status of Pilot Decontamination Projects-Brookhaven Na-
tional Laboratory. Governor Whitman's Dredged Materials
Management Team Meeting. Governor's Office, Newark, New
Jersey. August 3, 1995.
Technologies for Decontaminating Dredged Estuarine Sedi-
ments from NY/NJ Harbor. Summer Meeting of Society of
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Plymouth, Mas-
sachusetts. July 15-16, 1995.
Overview of NY/NJ Harbor Dredging Project. New Jersey
Transportation Planning Authority, Inc. Newark, New Jer-
sey. May 24,1995.
Risk Assessments. Concerned Citizens of Bensonhurst.
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York. April 18, 1995.
Contaminated Sediments in the NY-NJ Harbor. Nassau Com-
munity College, Physical Sciences Department (Tour of
Brookhaven National Laboratory). Upton, New York. March
6, 1995.
NY/NJ Harbor Fast Tract Sediment Decontamination Demon-
stration. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Environmental En-
gineering Seminar Series. Troy, New York. February 3,1995.
Department of Energy/Brookhaven National Laboratory Role
in Partnerships of Public and Private Groups Concerned with
Sediments and Soils in the New York/New Jersey Region.
Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey. Octo-
ber 13, 1994.
Urban Problems: The Gowanus Canal and Surrounding Ar-
eas. US Department of Energy. Washington, DC. July 28,
1994.
The New York, New Jersey Harbor Decontamination Tech-
nology Assessment Opportunities. Staten Island Chamber
of Commerce. Staten Island, New York. May 26, 1994.
Workshop on K-Ph.D. Environmental Education. New York
City Technical College, Brooklyn, New York. April 9, 1994.
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APPENDIX 4
Participating Technology Development Firms
Bench-Scale Testing
Battelle Memorial Institute
Environmental Technology
505 King Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43201-2693
BioGenesis Enterprises Inc.
Suite B-208
7420 Alban Station Boulevard
Springfield, Virginia 22150-2320
BioSafe Inc.
Fresh Pond Square
10 Fawcett Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
Institute of Gas Technology (IGT)
1700 South Mt. Prospect Road
Des Plaines, Illinois 60018
International Technology Corporation (IT)
312 Directors Drive
Knoxville, Tennessee 37923-4700
Marcor Environmental of Pennsylvania, Inc.
540 Trestle Place
Downingtown, Pennsylvania 19335
Metcalf & Eddy Inc.
30 Harvard Mill Square
Post Office Box 4071
Wakefield, Massachusetts 01888^1043
US Army Corps of Engineers
Waterways Experiment Station
3909 Halls Ferry Road
Vicksburg, Mississippi 39180-6199
Westinghouse Science & Technology Center
1310 Beulah Road
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1235-5098
Full-Scale Dredged-Material
Demonstration Planning
BioGenesis Enterprises Inc.
Suite B-208
7420 Alban Station Boulevard
Springfield, Virginia 22150-2320
Institute of Gas Technology (IGT)/ENDESCO
1700 South Mt. Prospect Road
Des Plaines, Illinois 60018
Westinghouse Electric Corporation
Science & Technology Center
1310 Beulah Road
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1235-5098
Pilot-Scale Testing
BioGenesis Enterprises Inc.
Suite B-208
7420 Alban Station Boulevard
Springfield, Virginia 22150-2320
Institute of Gas Technology (IGT)/ENDESCO
1700 South Mt. Prospect Road
Des Plaines, Illinois 60018
Metcalf & Eddy Inc.
30 Harvard Mill Square
Post Office Box 4071
Wakefield, Massachusetts 01888^043
US Army Corps of Engineers
Waterways Experiment Station
3909 Halls Ferry Road
Vicksburg, Mississippi 39180-6199
Westinghouse Electric Corporation
Science & Technology Center
1310 Beulah Road
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1235-5098
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APPENDIX
Acronyms
ARCS
ASTM
AUD
BCD
BNL
BUD
CAC
CDF
cy/y
cy
DMMP
FARs
FBI
HARS
IGT
IT
M&E
MDS
MPRSA
MSA
NJ
NJDEP
NOAA
Assessment and Remediation of Contami-
nated Sediments
American Society for Testing and Materials
Alternate Use Determination
Base-catalyzed decomposition
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Beneficial Use Determination
Citizens Advisory Committee
Confined disposal facility
cubic yards per year
cubic yard
Dredged Material Management Plan
Federal Acquisition Regulations
Fluidized bed treatment
Historic Area Remediation Site
Institute of Gas Technology
International Technology Corporation
Metcalf & Eddy Inc.
Mud Dump Site
Marine Protection Research and
Sanctuaries Act
Multi-State Alliance
New Jersey
New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
NY New York
NYSDEC New York State Department
of Environmental Conservation
ONJMR Office of New Jersey Maritime Resources
PAHs Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons
PANYNJ Port Authority of New York & New Jersey
PCBs Polychlorinated biphenyls
ppb parts per billion
ppm parts per million
PRA Priority Remediation Area
RFP Request for Proposals
S/S Solidification/stabilization
SEIS Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement
SITE Superfund Innovative Technology Evalua-
tion
TCLP Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure
TEF Toxicity Equivalent Factor
TEU Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit
TOC Total organic content
USEPA US Environmental Protection Agency
USDOE US Department of Energy
USACE-NYD US Army Corps of Engineers-
New York District
WES Waterways Experiment Station
WRDA Water Resources Development Act
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