The grounds of a mixed-use project just north of the Washington Nationals’ ballpark will be cleansed of potentially hazardous contaminants before it is redeveloped — a sign of things to come as once-industrial land is recast into a new community.
McLean-based developer JPI submitted notice earlier this month that it would coordinate with the District to voluntarily remediate its property at 23 I St. SE, roughly three blocks north of the South Capitol Street stadium. JPI is planning a 12-story residential tower there with retail and underground parking, but first it must clear the land and groundwater of identified contaminants.
The stadium area is slated for more than 8,000 new residential units and millions of square feet of office and retail space through 2011. Much of what has yet to be developed remains a cluster of junkyards, garages and repair shops — locations where any number of chemicals could have leaked into the ground.
All project sites will be reviewed for soil and water pollution, said George Hawkins, director of the D.C. Department of the Environment. It is “very likely there are residual contaminants from past uses down in the groundwater,” he said, though remediation plans will depend on the development: For a new parking lot the focus is stormwater runoff, while a project involving a deep dig might demand soil replacement.
The challenge, Hawkins said, is “to clean it up but not push so much that the economic resurgence doesn’t happen.” A developer will only pay so much to purify its property, he said.
The notice from JPI for 23 I St. identifies petroleum hydrocarbons and benzene in soil and petroleum hydrocarbons, benzene and methyl tertiary-butyl ether in groundwater. Benzene is a carcinogen. MTBE is a potential health hazard.
Through the District’s voluntary program, the developer cleans up its property in return for a “no further action” letter from the D.C. government. That letter is considered critical to shore up investments.
“It really sets the stage to control our destiny,” said Greg Lamb, JPI’s regional executive vice president and managing partner.
This is the second JPI project on I Street necessitating remediation. The ballpark site, a project of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, demanded an environmental clean up costing roughly $14 million.
