By Joshua Burd
A Hoboken-based firm is nearing a milestone in the state’s Licensed Site Remediation Professional program, having closed nearly 150 cases under the six-year-old guidelines.
Atlantic Environmental Solutions Inc., a remediation and consulting practice, announced that its team has closed 147 matters to date under the LSRP program. Overseen by the Department of Environmental Protection, the program placed many of New Jersey’s cleanup projects in the hands of private-sector experts, allowing the state to ease its backlog of contaminated sites.
“Since the LSRP program was fully launched in May 2012, more contaminated sites across the state are being cleaned up and returned to quality, productive use faster than ever before,” said Michael Novak, an LSRP and president of Atlantic Environmental Solutions, or AESI.
The state and its consultants use a document known as a Response Action Outcome to signify that a cleanup has been completed to the DEP’s satisfaction. AESI said it has multiple LSRPs on staff, allowing it to achieve 147 RAO letters to date.
The firm has 327 LSRP projects in total, ranking it high among other environmental consulting practices statewide.
“As transaction-based environmental consultants, our firm was accustomed to performing remediation and consulting services on a rapid basis to facilitate a deal, and we had success interacting with the NJDEP on fast-turnaround projects,” said Novak, one of the first individuals to be issued an LSRP license in New Jersey.
The LSRP program, created by the Site Remediation Reform Act of 2009, has streamlined many environmental cleanups. AESI noted that, from the time the program was fully implemented in 2012 to the end of 2015, the DEP reported that the number of cases closed rose from 1,200 to 7,500.
That number surpassed 10,000 in 2017 and is on pace to reach 12,000 this year.
About 60 percent of AESI’s workload is generated by environmental due diligence and soil and groundwater remediation services, the firm said. Novak added that transaction speed is a key consideration while remaining mindful of the DEP’s technical requirements.
“Helping our customers rapidly attain full compliance is our top priority,” said Novak, whose firm draws a large volume of business from industrial and other commercial transactions. Those include warehouse or distribution center developments, but also redevelopment that will result in residential buildings, parks, schools and day care facilities.
“Remediation of these sites is heavily regulated and the work must meet an extremely high standard,” Novak said.
