Soil testing shows most excavated soil below residential exposure limits; limited material to be hauled to landfill; building permit near sign‑off

Project staff told the Middletown Building Committee on July 16 that soil removal and testing at the middle‑high school site is largely proceeding as planned.

Justin reported that about 4,500 cubic yards of soil have been moved to an offsite staging area (referred to in the meeting as Huguendorf) and tested by consultant GZA. He said the informal results show the piles are below Rhode Island residential exposure criteria; the project is awaiting final written reports. Justin said additional on‑site testing began the day of the meeting and that results for on‑site piles should start arriving the following week.

Justin said Gilbane was preparing to remove material that tested above the residential criteria and haul that material to Johnson Landfill; he said the first round of testing identified about 40 cubic yards above the threshold.

On permitting, project staff said they had responded to the town engineer’s stormwater comments and submitted the requested materials to the town planner for forwarding to the town engineer. Bridal (the Rhode Island permitting contact named in the presentation) had granted relief from a planning‑board condition at its July 9 meeting that would not be a condition of the building permit; the building permit review was described as complete and ready to issue pending final document transmittal requirements. Project staff also said they reduced the number of required mylar prints by combining four drawings per sheet, cutting printing counts substantially and lowering reimbursable printing costs.

Committee members asked about reconciliation of soil remediation costs with the budget and acknowledged the contractor’s effort to limit street tracking during excavation. The committee asked staff to provide the final GZA report and confirm landfill disposal volumes as part of the next project reconciliation.