Dredged material decontamination demonstration for the port of New York/New Jersey

Management of contaminated dredged material is a significant challenge in the Port of New York and New Jersey as a result of more stringent regional ocean placement regulations with escalating costs for upland placement. One component of an overall management plan can be the application of a decontamination technology followed by creation of a product suitable for beneficial use. This concept is the focus of a project now being carried out by the US Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, the US Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, the US Department of Energy, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and regional university groups that have included Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rutgers University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Stevens Institute of Technology. The project has progressed through phased testing of commercial technologies at the bench scale (15 liters) (Marcor, Metcalf & Eddy, Gas Technology Institute, Westinghouse Science & Technology, BioGenesis, International Technology, and BioSafe) and pilot-scale (1.5–500 m 3) (BioGenesis, Gas Technology Institute, and Westinghouse Science & Technology) levels. The technologies developed by Gas Technology Institute and BioGenesis are now going forward to commercial demonstration facilities that are intended to treat from 23 000 to 60 000 m 3 of dredged material during their first operational period in 2001–2002. Beneficial use products are soils and cement. Treatment costs for the final commercial facilities are estimated at US$ 39 per m 3. Selection of the technologies was made based on the effectiveness of the treatment process, evaluation of the possible beneficial use of the treated materials, and other factors. Major elements of the project are summarized here.