The Clean Soil Bank
As part of our strategic plan, we are committed to resource recovery. An example of how we are putting this into practice is using recovered soil from construction projects in NYC. Almost every week, one or two of our dump trucks arrive at the Clean Soil Bank (CSB) in East New York for soil stockpile loads that we use to backfill utility trenches after repairing water and sewer mains. Stockpile soil replaces previous supplies that came from contractors at a cost to the City. The CSB stockpile is a reliable source of this needed soil, as other supplies can be subject to disruptions in availability. The recovered soil at the stockpile has been granted NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) pre-approval for reuse. With thousands of jobs to complete every year, soil is an important ingredient to these vital infrastructure projects. Utilizing the CSB stockpile not only saves on disposal/fill costs; it also saves time and money for soil sampling and regulatory compliance.
The CSB stockpile, which opened September 2020, is a novel initiative run by the Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation (OER). Almost two acres in size, it holds up to 12,000 cubic yards of soil and offers private and city construction projects across the five boroughs no cost, in-city reuse options for their non-hazardous soil. Stockpile soil is primarily glacial sediment from deep excavations at construction sites. The stockpile exchanges are free (both drop off and pickup), offering significant savings than the alternative of trucking long distances, often out of state.
When one of our trucks is loaded with stockpile soil, we save the cost for purchased fill. Since fall 2020, the we have picked up more than 2,400 cubic yards of soil on 40 different days. Besides excavation projects, our Green Infrastructure team is also using stockpile soil blends to include in new rain gardens.
The stockpile is popular with other city agencies as well; the NYC Department of Transportation uses stockpile soil to fill sand bags and plastic orange sand barrels, otherwise known as impact attenuators, which greet motorists when they navigate certain highway exit ramps across the city. The Department of Parks and Recreation uses stockpile soil for small construction projects and to refurbish pitchers’ mounds and the infields of baseball diamonds in Prospect Park.
OER has authority from DEC to declare specific soil in New York City unregulated material under state solid waste rules, provided it meets the requirements for reuse. This allows multiple types of urban soils to move freely in commerce between generating and receiving sites including the CSB stockpile.
The stockpile is a resource for all city agencies and we are proud to be one of the first and most regular customers of this great example of circular economy right here in NYC.
