Special Projects

Athenica recently completed a comprehensive environmental assessment of a structure located on a portion of the Rockefeller Estate owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Our environmental assessment was performed to support plans for renovation of the structure for more productive use and included lead and asbestos sampling, evaluation of mold, and a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (Phase I ESA) in accordance with the current industry standard of care (i.e. ASTM E1527-13).

Based on the findings of our environmental assessment, a detailed cost estimate for remediation of environmental hazards, such as asbestos and/or lead, was prepared to ensure regulatory compliance and the protection of human health.

On September 13, 2001, two days after the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, the NYC Department of Health hired Athenica to mobilize at “Ground Zero” to monitor the air. A team of Athenica’s Industrial Hygienists immediately responded and worked alongside the first responders collecting air samples both from the air in the area at Ground Zero and from the breathing zone of the NYC fire and police department (FDNY and NYPD) personnel involved in the rescue and recovery efforts.

The following year, under a contract with the NYC Department of Environmental Protection under the auspices of the US Environmental Protection Agency, Athenica oversaw the cleanup of more than 1,200 apartments in Battery Park City, an area of the City of New York that was most severely affected by the contaminants released after the collapse of the Twin Towers. Our detailed, well-organized and managed efforts paid off; after less than a year we were the first among the four teams to fully complete our part of the work.

Athenica was retained by CDM Smith, an environmental consulting firm working for the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), to investigate one of the three remaining Superfund sites in NYC (Gowanus Canal and Newtown Creek being the other two). The scope of work consisted of the investigation of a series of buildings located at the former site where Wolff Alport Chemical Company was located. Over a period of more than 30 years (1920’s through 1954), the Wolff-Alport Chemical Company buried on-site and disposed of in the sewer system a large amount of radioactive wastes, including thorium and uranium along with their decay products such as radium. In 2013, an investigation performed on behalf of the NYC Department of Environmental Protection detected radiological constituents above background concentrations in the sewer system at least ¼ mile away from the Site.

This forced the USEPA to include the Wolff-Alport site on the National Priorities List (NPL) on May 12th, 2014. Since then, lead shielding has been installed below the concrete slab and adjacent sidewalks of the buildings as an interim remedial measure which has successfully reduced exposure rates by between 69 to 94%, while radon concentrations have decreased by more than half. Athenica’s investigation included testing for asbestos, lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and mercury containing building materials at this superfund site.