PRINCETON: Hospital site demolition could start on Thursday

The demolition of some buildings closest to the parking garage at the former hospital site on Witherspoon Street is planned to begin as early as Thursday, Sept. 4.

Demolition work cannot begin until an internal inspection of an old incinerator drain line has been completed, said authorities. If everything goes as planned, the inspection will occur next Tuesday, said Municipal Engineer Bob Kiser.

AvalonBay, the developers who plan a 280-unit residential complex at the site, will hold a neighborhood meeting at the municipal building on Witherspoon Street on Sept. 3 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. regarding the demolition process. All neighborhood residents are invited to attend.

The Engineering Department expects Yannuzzi Corporation workers to finish removing non-asbestos materials inside the buildings for recycling and disposal sometime next week, authorities said.

The workers had removed 42-100 cubic yard dumpsters of recyclables from the site as of Aug. 25, authorities said.

Yannuzzi workers had removed 40 40-cubic-yard dumpsters of asbestos materials from the site, authorities said on Monday.

Also, Eisco Environmental workers had previously removed all six underground fuel storage tanks and piping, authorities said, and tested the soil in the area. Areas around four of the tanks were not in need of soil remediation, according to authorities.

After testing the areas surrounding the two 6,000-gallon heating oil tanks for a second time, benzo(a)pyrene at a concentration of 0.33 mg/kg was discovered in the soil, authorities said. This is above the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protections residential direct contact soil remediation standard of 0.2 mg/kg, authorities said.

Ecol-Sciences completed soil boring in the areas where the 6,000 gallon tanks had been located and determined additional soil needed to be removed from the eastern most 6,000-gallon tank, authorities said.

The removal of the soil was completed as of Aug. 18, according to authorities, and a new monitoring well was installed.

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PRINCETON: Hospital site demolition could start on Thursday