Park Nicollet Medical Center retained Braun Intertec to assist with expansion of its existing facility on an adjacent closed municipal landfill.

Challenges

The project included construction of a large parking lot, a multi-story parking ramp and a multi-story medical building. The structural support for the ramp and building was on Frankhe piles and involved extensive excavation of the municipal waste deposit for construction of pile caps, grace beams, retaining walls, basement equipment rooms and utilities. The waste deposit was known to contain hazardous substances and was the source of local groundwater contamination.

This was a high-profile urban redevelopment project, with construction happening adjacent to an active, large medical facility in a very visible area. Therefore, community relations were very sensitive.

Solutions

In compliance with OSHA regulations, we prepared a Site Safety Plan in for protection of the construction workers who would be working in the exposed waste and could potentially be exposed to the hazardous substances. Biohazard in the form of I.V. bottles and tubes, syringes and tissue sample bottles were encountered, and a Biohazard Addendum to the Site Safety Plan was prepared and implemented.

We staffed a full-time onsite Site Safety Officer for approximately 15 months to enforce provisions of the Site Safety Plan and to monitor excavations and work areas for organic vapors, explosive gases and oxygen levels.

An unannounced OSHA inspection of the construction site was conducted during the project, and no citations were issued indicating the effectiveness of the Site Safety Plan. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) also conducted numerous inspections, and no problems were observed.

We also prepared and implemented the Excavation, Disposal/Contingency Plan. Approvals were obtained for offsite disposal of excavated waste and negotiated disposal fees. We implemented the hazardous waste contingency plan when PCB-containing electrical capacitors were unearthed within the parking ramp construction footprint. Subsequently, we sampled and analyzed the soil and made arrangements for excavation and containerization of the capacitors and underlying PCB-contaminated soil. Construction resumed in the affected area within one week of initial discovery of the capacitors.