Lone Pine Landfill Wetland Restoration

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

Case Name:

Lone Pine Landfill NPL Site

Country:

United States of America

Restoration Types:

Habitat Creation

State:

New Jersey

Affected DOI Resources:

Migratory Birds

City:

Freehold Township

Phase:

Monitoring / Completed

Project Description

On-site remedial activities at the Lone Pine Landfill included the construction of a slurry wall, capping the landfill, and the installation of a groundwater treatment system. As a result, approximately 34 acres of wetlands were either temporarily or permanently altered. To compensate for injuries to natural resources as a result of the release of hazardous materials and subsequent remedial activities, over 13 acres of wetlands were created or enhanced at Lone Pine Landfill. Before the remediation of the landfill began, improvements were made to the Burke Road Bridge to accommodate for increased truck traffic, resulting in the disturbance of a forested wetland edge along the Manasquan River. The edge habitat was enhanced by restoring the river bank and planting red maples. In two borrow areas on the site, poor quality emergent wetlands with patchy areas of open water and shrubs were restored, and additional emergent, scrub-shrub and forested wetlands were created. This included excavating barren upland areas to an elevation below the water table to create more extensive and functional wetlands. In addition to planting native vegetation in the wetlands, transitional and upland areas were also revegetated to reduce erosion and runoff. Approximately two acres of emergent wetlands were created around several retention basins and swales along the perimeter of the landfill to manage surface water flowing from the cap. During construction of the landfill cap, sediments were deposited by runoff in a 1.28 acre wetland area to the northeast of the landfill. The sediment was removed and native vegetation was planted to restore the impacted emergent and forested wetlands. North of the landfill, about 2.5 acres of scrub-shrub and forested wetlands were disturbed by the construction of the drain trench, access road, and spoil area. These wetlands were restored by grading the impacted area, removing riprap and planting native vegetation.