Innovative thinking and multi-party collaboration were the key to the $912 million redevelopment of a former abandoned industrial brownfield—contaminated with lead, arsenic, polychlorinated biphenyls, and petroleum hydrocarbons—into the state-of-the-art, highly sophisticated U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
CDM's creative and proactive soil and waste management approach utilized in situ characterization and pre-excavation disposal classification and excavation planning to expedite the removal of material—up to 600 tandem truck loads of soil and waste a day, totaling an estimated 450,000 cubic yards in 6 months. Cost and environmental liability concerns were managed through a combination of a negotiated cost-sharing arrangement and a cooperative environmental management approach, while the aggressive schedule was met by allowing soil and landfill material remediation activities to occur concurrent with development foundation excavation.
Instrumental to the project's success was an integrated environmental management plan that met the needs of the General Services Administration, USPTO, the city of Alexandria, environmental regulators, and adjacent neighborhoods. The plan required the complex coordination of numerous business and engineering parties, and presented significant foundation and utility engineering, short- and long-term environmental management challenges, and stringent schedule and budget constraints.
Residual risks were managed using a combination of deed restrictions and engineering controls, including prohibitions on new potable water wells, restrictions on water use, installation of vapor barriers and sub-slab gas ventilation systems, and the placement of 2 feet of clean soil over all existing soil that was not covered by pavement or buildings. CDM's fast-track remediation and redevelopment process culminated with the issuance of a certificate of completion by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality 5 years after the project's start.
Creative approaches to sharing environmental costs and responsibilities, as well as multi-party collaboration in the planning and implementation of concurrent remediation and building construction, is helping the project achieve financial, environmental, and aesthetic success, and has set the groundwork for future development in the area. Today, the newly consolidated headquarters campus includes five interconnected buildings totaling more than 2 million square feet, parking garages, and ancilliary office buildings.