Project Description:

ESI provided technical services to residents who had settled a lawsuit with the South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA) regarding the civil rights concerns of potential impacts from a tunnel project on an exclusively African-American community. The plaintiffs settled the lawsuit only after SJTA made a specific commitment to address all issues of potential impacts within project plans to the residents.

ESI's role was to analyze all aspects of the project to identify all areas of potential impacts to the residents.

ESI's analysis identified several potential impacts to the residents. These impacts included airborne migration of contaminants in the soils (e.g., lead, cadmium) that were to be excavated and reused on site, the health impacts from the potential migration of such contaminants to adjacent residents, flooding due to the tunnel cutting off stormwater, and the potential for violating air quality standards (i.e., carbon monoxide) after the project was completed.

ESI issued a recommendation report to SJTA for plan modifications that would address the communities concerns. The recommendation included the incorporation of engineering techniques to prevent migration of contaminants to residential areas and a comprehensive air-monitoring program to assess the effectiveness of these techniques. Other components of the proposal included analysis procedures to substantiate the project sponsor's claim that the stormwater flow cut-off by the tunnel project will not result in flooding.

ESI also assisted the community residents in presentations to USEPA's National Environmental Justice Advisory Council for the purpose of securing the intervention of USEPA in the project.

ESI participated in media events such as press conference and radio programs to explain the project and the technical basis for the recommendations to modify the project.