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A FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENT OF MANY REMEDIAL ACTIONS OFTEN INCLUDES EXCAVATION TO REMOVE IMPACTED SOIL AND WASTE.  It is a very effective tool to immediately eliminate environmental risk to human health and the environment. Generally, excavation is not a stand-alone remedy and is most often combined with disposal in a Corrective Action Management Unit (CAMU), landfill, or in conjunction with in-situ stabilization or in-situ remediation as part of a combined remedy. Landfills can be constructed on-site to manage the waste in accordance with regulatory requirements, but most often the waste is disposed off site in a permitted landfill. Prior to disposal in a Subtitle D (non-hazardous) landfill, biological, chemical, or thermal pretreatment may be required.

AST has excavated and managed more than a million cubic yards of soil and waste from impacted properties and active industrial facilities across the United States and overseas. These projects have ranged from small (100 cubic yard) pit excavations to a 100,000 cubic yard excavation associated with the cleanup of a former fertilizer plant. 

AST has managed waste and soils containing petroleum hydrocarbons, chlorinated solvents, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), metals, and other environmental contaminants.

Excavations have been completed in challenging settings at depths of 35 feet below ground surface, inside buildings, within active streams, and have included: 

  • Shoring using sheet piling or trench boxes
  • Dewatering using physical or chemical drying
  • Waste segregation and stockpiling
  • Pretreatment to reduce contaminant concentrations
  • Level B and C personal protective equipment (PPE)