Expert: ShopRite Construction Would Not Slow Environmental Remediation

The remediation of environmental concerns at the Greenwood Avenue shopping center poses no threat to public safety, and the possible construction of a ShopRite at the site would only help the ongoing cleanup, a licensed site remediation expert testified Wednesday night.

William Parry of the Parsippany-based H2M Group Inc. informed the Wyckoff Planning Board of efforts his firm has taken over the past decade to clean up the property, which was most recently a supermarket but had served as a petroleum facility for decades. His testimony was the latest submission before the board on Inserra Supermarkets' application to raze the existing buildings on-site and construct a 62,174-square-foot ShopRite.

H2M has been working on behalf of the property owner, the Grossman family, and under the direction of the Department of Environmental Protection to remove petroleum and chlorine contaminants found on the site. Those efforts are ongoing although soil quality now meets DEP standards, Parry testified. The remediation expert said public safety is "not a concern" going forward, and that the removal of the existing strip mall would only speed up the efforts.

The Greenwood site stood as a petroleum distribution facility from the 1930s until the late 1960s, when the property was purchased by the Grossmans and later converted for commercial use. A series of supermarkets occupied the space until the main building was vacated in 1994. The building stands empty today, with the strip mall across the parking lot occupied by several stores.

The site's original use left behind petroleum contaminants that caused groundwater contamination, Parry said. A probe of the damage started in 1995, and a soil vapor extraction system was utilized to remediate the contamination until 2008, when it was "no longer cost-effective," Parry said. H2M instead turned to several rounds of chemical oxidation, which he said "successfully remediated the soil contamination."

However, H2M hasn't yet finished the post-remediation sampling of groundwater, which they aim to complete this year.

The existence of a dry cleaner in the strip mall also likely contributed to environmental damage, Parry testified, with chlorine contamination found at the footprint of that building. Source area removal and natural attenuation of groundwater is needed, he said, although efforts cannot be fully realized until the strip mall is demolished.

"The environmental issues will not have an impact" on construction, Parry said. 

Site contamination also had an effect on the adjacent Stop & Shop property, owned by Munico Associates. Parry said H2M has had problems gaining access to the site, although Munico has been informed of all cleanup efforts.

Munico and Stop & Shop stand as objectors to the ShopRite hearings, with attorney Gail Price charged with cross-examining each Inserra witness. Her questioning of Parry on Wednesday revealed some confusion over the actual property owners (Inserra holds a long-term lease on the land).

Parry testified that the "Grossman Partnership" holds the title to the land, but Price pointed out that Inserra's filing with the township refers to Wyckoff-Grossman LLC as the owners. The remediation expert said he couldn't testify to the Grossman's corporate structure.

He also told Price that he didn't believe the DEP would place any restrictions on construction activity, assuming the Planning Board approves Inserra's application.

Inserra attorney James Jaworski also introduced land surveyor Jeff Kleine of Lapatka Associates, who testified on an ongoing dispute over the property's boundary lines and the need for a major subdivision, as Inserra would be appropriating railroad property to construct its ShopRite.

Kleine said he referred to maps dating to the 19th century to prepare his report for the board and testified that it's common for different surveyors to have different opinions on boundary lines over time.

However, under questioning by Price, Kleine said he could not envision another surveyor forming an opinion that differed from his findings on the parcel's boundaries with its neighbors.

Jaworski expects to introduce traffic expert Jay Troutman of McDonough & Rea Associates Inc. at the next Planning Board hearing on Inserra, scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 9 at Town Hall.