Dewatering and Coal Tar Removal
A critical part of managing the ebb and flow of the Confluence Park project included the addition of Earth Services & Abatement, Inc. (ESA) to the construction team. ESA has a long history of working with the City and County of Denver, dating back 19 years, and is known for handling complicated remediation projects. ESA was hired to dewater the site and, once dry, remove the coal tar contamination, taking on the added risk of the environmental impacts of the project. “There is always a concern when de-watering a project, especially with high levels of contamination. We took a conservative approach at Confluence Park with three water treatment trailers on-site at one point, running an elaborate dewatering and contamination removal system,” commented Kory Mitchell, President of ESA.
The approach paid off, in that out of the 50 million gallons of water treated, none of the water samples were above the regulatory limits for water discharge, according to Mr. Mitchell. He explained that ESA engaged in a value-engineering process with the City as well as the State health department to develop an agreement for discharging the water. He goes on to say that “Discharging water is a sensitive issue because no one wants to take on the responsibility of possibly discharging contaminants back into the river, which is why we put together a top notch team and worked closely with regulators to stay ahead of any complications.”
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