Northland Avenue Sites – Phase I and Phase II

Project Story

Fisher Associates provided Empire State Development (ESD) with services for conducting Phase I and Phase II Environmental Assessments (ESAs) of the properties located at 631, 683, 741, and 777 Northland Avenue (“Site”) in the City of Buffalo. The objectives of the ESAs were to: determine potential environmental issues associated with the site; assess the potential eligibility of the Site for funding under New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) redevelopment programs, and; characterize the soils across the Site to a depth of 16 feet below ground surface (bgs). This information was included in the Phase I and Phase II Reports completed for the Site and provided a characterization of the properties for re-use and redevelopment.

The Phase II services included the advancement of 20 soil borings via direct push (i.e., Geoprobe® ) to a depth of 16 feet below ground surface (bgs) with continuous monitoring and screening (visual, olfactory, PID); the geologic classification of soils encountered; the collection of representative soil samples from across the site for possible laboratory analysis; the laboratory analysis of six (6) soil samples for TCL plus CP-51 volatile organic compounds (VOCs), CP-51 semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), RCRA metals, pesticides, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

In addition to the collection and analysis of soil samples, Fisher Associates installed three (3) two-inch PVC ground water monitoring wells at the site. The wells were installed to a depth of 20 feet and have 10 feet of well screen with sand pack and a flush-mount curb box well cover. The wells were developed and sampled with one sample being collected from each well (three total) using low-flow technique that were submitted for laboratory analysis for TCL CP-51 list VOCs via United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Method 8260, SVOCs, PCBs, pesticides, and metals.

The results of the subsurface investigation, the soil analysis, and the ground water analysis were summarized in our report and compared to NYSDEC soil cleanup objectives (SCOs) and ground water quality standards (GWQS) and a recommendation were made for the proposed Site redevelopment and the required remedial activities.