Ridgewood officials present excavation plan for Schedler property after tests find PAHs, lead and mercury

Consultants for the Village of Ridgewood told residents Wednesday that a remediation plan to remove contaminated fill from the Schedler property has been submitted to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and could move to bids this winter.

Matrix New World Engineering environmental scientist Melissa Fiore said the team’s initial work included 14 samples from the berm and a grid sampling program across the site that identified benzopyrene and benzo[a]anthracene (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), mercury and lead in exceedance of DEP screening levels. "We collected 14 soil samples throughout the berm on the interior at varying depths," Fiore said during the meeting, and then used grid sampling to locate areas requiring further delineation.

The work Pitterisi described as overseen by NJDEP’s Bureau of Solid Waste Management: LSRP Chris Pitterisi told the meeting that the project has been presented to Tom Farrell, the bureau chief, and is under review. "We're hoping to get something back from him hopefully by the end of the month," Pitterisi said. The consultant team said DEP has generally been satisfied with the approach but may request refinements before the plan is finalized.

The removal approach includes excavation of the berm in its entirety and targeted removals across the mapped polygon where contaminated fill was identified. Fiore said the main removal areas will generally require excavation between about 2.5 and 4 feet and that small hot‑spot excavations were typically about 14 by 14 feet and roughly 2.5 feet deep; crews will also scrape roughly 6 inches into native material beyond the contaminated boundary to ensure a clean interface. Fiore gave rough volume estimates: the berm is about 10,000 cubic yards (roughly 14,000 tons), the large removal area about 7,400 cubic yards (about 10,360 tons), and the team anticipates approximately 24,405 total tons of material associated with the mapped areas.

Matrix and the village are preparing bid documents now, Fiore said, and aim to advertise the contract in December and, weather permitting, "get shovels in the ground in January." The village said it will require remediation contractors with experience handling non‑hazardous contaminated soils and OSHA HAZWOPER training.

Air monitoring and waste handling are integral to the plan: Fiore said a perimeter air‑monitoring program will use dust monitors and weather gauges, and the team will deploy water suppression (and foam as a backup in freezing conditions) and action levels that can prompt immediate stop‑work. Trucking will be limited to a Route 17 entrance and exit; Captain Glenn Ender of the Ridgewood Police Department said trucks will enter directly from the highway to the site driveway and return the same way.

The plan shared at the meeting remains subject to NJDEP review and finalization. The village said it will post the finalized report and any substantive DEP-directed changes on the municipality website and will inform residents through the outreach channels used during the review process.

Next steps: the consultants expect to post final reports to the DEP portal once edits are incorporated, advertise remediation bids in December, and hold a preconstruction meeting with the awarded contractor to confirm traffic control, monitoring locations and community notifications before work begins.