Powering Infrastructure to Powering Community
Redeveloping Fossil Fuel Power Plants into Community-Activating Developments
As demands for natural gas and renewable energies soar, fossil fuel-fired power plants are facing increasing economic struggles—and increasing retirement. From 2010 to 2020, at least 290 coal-fired power plants were decommissioned in the United States, with roughly 40% of the remaining coal-fired plants set to retire by 2030.
Fossil fuel power plants typically occupy land near downtown areas or along waterways, with access to railways, roadways, and other infrastructure. Decommissioning, remediating, and redeveloping a power plant is a multi-year, daunting process that often results in defunct power plants remaining as abandoned relics in increasingly crowded urban areas. Emerging power generation technologies typically require substantial investment capital and much less space than their predecessors, while continued industrial use in desirable locations is unwelcome.
As more power plants are retired, community activists and developers are exploring opportunities to redevelop them into community-friendly developments, and Langan’s integrated team enables the successful execution of these complex, visionary projects. Langan recently supported the redevelopment of a retired coal- and natural gas/fuel oil-fired power plant in the heart of a historic neighborhood in the Northeast. As a key member of the project team for close to a decade prior to the start of demolition, Langan navigated complex engineering issues related to industrial stormwater discharge permit modifications and renewals, flood studies and a successful FEMA flood zone map revision request, tax lot consolidations, and sewer main diversions.
Preparing the site for its desired end use—a $300 million luxury condominium development with a public park—required significant remediation within and outside of the building. The team navigated “typical” environmental issues, including petroleum-containing storage tank demolition, asbestos-containing material and lead-based paint abatement, and petroleum-impacted material characterization and disposal. However, some issues were much less familiar to the developer, which is where the team’s expertise proved vital. This included the remediation of polychlorinated biphenyl-impacted concrete in numerous areas throughout the former plant building, an issue that is not typically encountered outside of power plants and requires involvement from state and federal agencies. Langan developed a unique remediation plan that combined delineation and confirmatory sampling upfront to minimize construction schedule delays. Additionally, the plan segregated the concrete into three waste streams to provide the developer with disposal option flexibility, a major cost driver, while complying with the requirements of the Toxic Substances Control Act.
As a beacon to the importance of our past, the condominium building incorporates a façade from the retired plant, immortalizing its significance to the community, and provides the entire community with access to a new park near the waterfront.
Tess Reardon is a Senior Staff Geologist with seven years of experience in environmental consulting. Her experience includes environmental due diligence, site investigation, regulated building materials assessment and abatement, and remediation design and implementation.