COURTHOUSE BACK ON TRACK.

Byline: JULIE ANN GRIMM

New work plan for contaminated soil allows construction to restart

By Julie Ann Grimm

The New Mexican 

Work will resume at the downtown site of Santa Fe County's new courthouse next month while two separate crews of contractors clear underground contamination.

The state Environment Department and the county have outlined a work plan that they say will remove soil and water polluted by old gasoline storage tanks in the area and allow construction of a new district court building to move ahead.

The project stalled this spring after major hydrocarbon pollution was found on the southeast corner of the county's property near the intersection of Sandoval Street and Montezuma Avenue. A timeline released Tuesday by county officials now puts completion of the judicial complex between February and April of 2012.

"We have the schedule down to the day and the week for the next four to five months," explained Joseph Gutierrez, head of the county's Community Services Department, who called the projected completion a rough estimate.

The state-led cleanup work will occur outside of the county's project area, allowing county contractors at the same time to undertake a separate effort inside the project boundaries before getting back to the business of erecting the new facility.

Gutierrez told county commissioners that he expects to present a change in the construction contract and other details about money for a board vote in two weeks, but preliminary estimates indicate contingency funds will cover the estimated $3.17 million in unanticipated costs associated with the contamination.

Another chunk of money was required to comply with contracts regarding the sudden work stoppage, he said, but those charges will be included in a separate budget adjustment.

Project changes are aimed at keeping the new $58 million building contamination-free, Gutierrez said.

The courthouse site will eventually have three layers of protection, explained Joseph Tracy, a county consultant who is geologist with the Intera firm.

First, he said, as soon as next month contractors will install an injected grout barrier wall around the periphery of the construction site. This will be about 2 feet thick and extend 20 feet below the water table. Then, an estimated 8,500 cubic yards of contaminated soil will be removed over a period of about 40 days. Next, a textile vapor barrier will be installed. Then, a final 12-inch-thick steel and concrete "bathtub" containment structure goes in around the first of the year.

An Intera model estimated that about 29,000 gallons of gasoline leaked into the soil and hovers near the top of the water table. Tracy said most of the contamination can be removed.

The New Mexico Environment Department expects to spend about $2.9 million on the state's part of the effort following the governor's September authorization to treat the area as a "state lead site," said Jim Davis, who noted that the courthouse area will join hundreds of other active cleanup projects overseen by the department's Petroleum Storage Tank Bureau, which he directs.

"We do this -- I hate to use the word -- 'routinely,' but quite frankly we do," said Davis. "We perform cleanups like this all over the state."

Money for the Santa Fe project that affects several parcels of privately owned land will come from the bureau's Corrective Action Fund, which gets revenue from a fee collected from wholesale petroleum sales.

Engineers from Daniel B. Stephens & Associates Inc. are on contract to head the state remediation effort, which will last two to three years and include horizontal and vertical soil vapor extraction wells, consultant Mike McVey said. Some wells create a vacuum that allows suction of contaminated vapors while others inject hot air into the subsurface. A thermal oxidizer burns off the vapor from inside the self-contained system, McVey explained.

Even though some of the wells will run beneath the District Attorney's Office building on the county's property, work at that facility or surrounding buildings should not be affected, he said.

Chief District Judge Stephen Pfeffer attended the county presentation and afterward said that on behalf of the courts he was pleased to hear that county and state had found a solution that both protects the safety of the site and allows for an appropriate amount of underground parking. One rejected idea regarding how to deal with the contamination had been elimination of a lower level of parking.

Judges have been seeking an improved facility for years and have worked closely with the county. The planned courthouse includes about 103,000 square feet of offices, courtrooms, hearing rooms and common space and two levels of parking.

"I really appreciate that we have a plan and that we are moving ahead," County Commissioner Liz Stefanics said. "I know the taxpayers are concerned not just about the money but also about protecting the employees and the public and making it a safe environment."

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or [e-mail].