Influence of Potential Soil Contamination on Construction Projects

Construction projects on active plant sites have too commonly been disrupted by surprise encounters with contaminated soil and/or water. Even “small” projects are not immune. Improper management of this issue has caused project delays of months, and incurred out-of-scope costs in the millions of dollars.

Planning and implementation of projects must consider possible encounters with contaminated soil or water, and the project team must assume responsibility for such encounters early in project development. Project managers are frequently ill-prepared to deal with this non-construction responsibility, and the technology and regulatory framework in which the work is performed is complex and continually changing.

The central purpose of this document is to provide the project team with a basic knowledge of this complex problem so that they can:

• Incorporate the necessary planning into the project schedule
• Assemble the requisite team of technical specialists, and understand their responsibilities sufficiently to effectively manage them
• Assure that appropriate site studies and soil testing (if needed) are conducted
• Incorporate appropriate evaluation, response and reporting procedures into the contractors’ scope of work
• Sufficiently understand the basic technologies and regulatory issues involved to appreciate their potential impact on project cost and schedule
• Be prepared to respond appropriately should a “surprise” occur