Fast-Tracking Under Complex Restraints
2011-12-02
Impact Environmental Corporation (IEC) is setting a record pace in the backfill of Hudson County's Lincoln Park Landfill. As environmental compliance engineer, IEC reviews analytical data and site background information, to ensure acceptance of materials into the facility in compliance with the facility permit. The completion of the restoration project, part of the County’s Lincoln Park, will set the stage for a new golf course and walking trail near the Hackensack River.
“We are replacing a polluted landfill with a
beautiful public amenity.” – Jim Kennelly
The Lincoln Park Brownfields project is quickly headed towards its final stage - the capping of the former dumping-ground/landfill over which the golf course will be built. Anthony Grano of Persistent Construction, partnering with IEC in the backfill operation, reports that these infill activities are well on their way to completion by the end of 2012, including the final impervious cap over which topsoil and plantings for the recreational course will be placed.??
After the environmental project is completed, the County can finish building the course, all on County parkland.?
Grano notes that financing for the Greenfields project comes from a mix of County and state funding. When completed, the County's profits from the course will be reinvested in golf course operations. Overseen by the Hudson County Improvement Authority (HCIA), the project involves a complex comingling of various agency interests; public and private objectives; restoration and new construction methods; and these complexities all create a difficult setting that works against the fast-tracking of any project. In this case however, IEC has successfully navigated these waters to ultimately accelerate the process since their engagement began in April of 2011. As of this writing, more than 415,000 tons of fill material have been imported. IEC's dedication to customer satisfaction, along with their mission-driven staff, are expediting this great asset for the County.
The highly-degraded Lincoln Park Brownfields site was once used by the public to dump tires and other trash. The course, when it is completed in 2012, will bring that area back to one of its previous uses as former home of the Lincoln Park Driving Range. One 18-hole course now exists in town, but it is the Liberty National Golf Course, a private membership club located near Liberty State Park, which cannot serve the broader needs of the County's diverse population.
"We are replacing a polluted landfill with a beautiful public amenity – a golf course that all our residents can enjoy,” said Jim Kennelly, spokesperson for the County. “This project is an outstanding example of...a near decade-long push to expand parks and open space in Hudson County.”