Environmentally Complex Projects

Academy Golf

Dominion Brayton Point

New Bedford - Keith Middle School

Sconset Beach Nourishment

Swansea Desalination Facility

TF Green Airport

Wetlands Banking

Academy Golf

SouthField Links will be a full-length, 18-hole championship-quality public golf course in South Weymouth, Massa-chusetts. It is a key part of the master plan to redevelop the 1,400-acre former South Weymouth Naval Air Station into a large-scale, mixed-use, transit oriented community. The course developer, Team G, LLC (a subsidiary of Lisciotti Development Corporation), is making every effort to ensure that SouthField Links is compatible with and enhances the site's natural environment. For example, wetlands and wooded areas within the course will be preserved as natural habitats for protected wildlife; walking trails will be located in and around the golf course, and, during the winter, the course will serve as a winter park for cross-country skiing and snowshoe hiking. The course will also feature a clubhouse with banquet and conference facilities, a pro shop, and a driving range.

BlueWave is providing sustainability counsel to the project team for the design and construction of the SouthField Links golf course and facilities, particularly in the areas of environmental permitting and environmentally sustainable design. For permitting, BlueWave evaluated the proposed design and presented strategies for avoiding environmental impacts and for minimizing and mitigating those that are unavoidable. BlueWave also executed a development analysis, a memorandum for agency review, and related materials in support of an environmentally preferable course re-design, and participated in advocacy efforts with state and local regulators.

For sustainable design, BlueWave has developed a sustainability strategy that is in alignment with the interests of the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. BlueWave will also develop a preliminary feasibility study identifying cost-effective sustainable development-related measures that Team G can undertake to "green" the project. The sustainability strategy will carefully consider environmental opportunities and constraints that are specific to the site and propose cost effective options in the areas of energy management, water conservation, irrigation, integrated pest management, waste management and green-building design.

Dominion Brayton Point

Dominion Resources is a power company with energy generation and distribution assets in more than 20 states. In 2005, Dominion acquired the Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset, Massachusetts, which at 1,611 MW, is the largest power generation facility in New England, supplying approximately 4% of the peak energy load for the region. Since its NPDES discharge permit expired in 1998, Brayton Point has been the subject of a contentious permitting process whereby U.S. EPA has sought to convert the plant to a closed-loop cooling system and reduce its cooling water use by 95%. Plant operators including USGEN (1998-2002) and PG&E (2002-2005) have argued that closed-loop cooling is not economical and could trigger the shut-down of the facility. U.S. EPA and advocacy groups contend that the current once-through-cooling system, which draws in water and marine organisms and discharges heated water, is significantly contributing to a decrease in fish populations in Mount Hope Bay. Since 2005 when Dominion acquired Brayton Point, it has committed to spending over $250 million over a two year period to install state-of-the-art environmental controls. Dominion concurs with previous owners of Brayton Point that it is not economical to reduce water use by 95%, but it does believe that an amicable solution can be obtained that will not only greatly reduce the impacts of once-through-cooling, but, through additional efforts, lead to increasing fish populations and diversity in the Bay.

BlueWave is serving as a strategic advisor to Dominion to help develop a credible and measurable alternative to comprehensive closed cycle cooling. BlueWave is helping Dominion communicate the benefits of the alternative to environmental advocacy groups, U.S. EPA, and other state and federal agencies. Specifically, BlueWave has helped Dominion prepare a menu of actions including capital upgrades, operational modifications, and habitat restoration and research commitments that together meet the requirements of the Clean Water Act and will result in an immediate and positive change on Mount Hope Bay. BlueWave has also utilized its strong relationships with the environmental community to open a dialogue to discuss alternatives where, in the past, communication has been confined to the legal process.

Keith Middle School - PCB Contamination

In 2000, the City of New Bedford selected a site for a new middle school that had considerable environmental issues, including the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls ("PCBs") in the soil. The PCB contamination is the result of ash fill that originated at the former City burn dump that was located across the street from middle school site. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MADEP) approved a "capping" remedy for the site; however, the fact that contaminants would be left on site raised concerns among local residents, teachers, parents and the City's new Mayor.

The City retained BlueWave to perform an independent, critical review of the risk characterization and remedy for the Keith Middle School site.

BlueWave worked with engineers from TRC Environmental to perform the review. The objective was to determine whether the middle school could be safely opened to students and staff in the fall of 2006 or anytime in the future, and if so, to recommend any additional mitigation and monitoring measures necessary to ensure the complete safety of New Bedford's students and their teachers. BlueWave had six weeks to complete the assignment. In conducting the assessment, BlueWave and TRC reviewed extensive documentation provided by the City, U.S. EPA, MADEP, and local "watchdog" groups; toured and observed work at the site; attended and participated in numerous public meetings; and interviewed concerned residents and all of the professional engineers and regulatory officials who had been involved in the project. During the course of the review, new problems arose with the remedy that further heightened concerns among City officials and the public about its safety. Because of the trust BlueWave and TRC had already built among community leaders and project officials, the City asked BlueWave and TRC to oversee the efforts to fix these problems and to effectively communicate the process and results to the public.

BlueWave and TRC raised concerns about the site selection process, remedy construction and implementation, and monitoring protocols and provided recommendations for addressing these issues, all of which have been implemented by the City. In the final report, BlueWave and TRC concluded that once the approved remedy was fully in place and the recommended mechanisms had been established to ensure appropriate long-term monitoring and care, the middle school could be safely occupied. The City opened the middle school in December 2006.

Sconset Beach Nourishment

The Siasconset Beach Preservation Fund (SBPF) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to protecting and preserving the shoreline of Sconset Beach on the east side of Nantucket. SBPF is proposing a beach nourishment project that will dredge 2.6 million cubic yards of sand from a borrow site 2.5 miles from shore and place it along the beach to protect three miles of shoreline. The project is privately funded and will generate numerous public benefits that include protection of town infrastructures such as sewer beds and emergency access roadways, preservation of sensitive wildlife habitat (including habitat for endangered species of shorebirds) and the safeguarding of dozens of historic homes and landmarks, including the Sankaty Lighthouse.

BlueWave has served as both a project manager, regulatory advisor, and marine resource specialist on the SBPF beach nourishment project. Working with the SBPF Board and staff, coastal engineers and scientists, BlueWave is advising on the preparation of the draft and final Environmental Impact Report and other regulatory filings. BlueWave holds the lead responsibility for developing the project's regulatory strategy and ensuring its effective and timely implementation. This involves coordinating with regulators and other key stakeholders including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), the Nantucket Conservation Commission, the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management, and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. BlueWave is also coordinating all aspects of the marine resource assessment program including developing fisheries sampling studies, protected marine species consultation, and habitat mitigation and monitoring program. In addition, BlueWave is collaborating with its legislative agent, William Delaney, to build legislative support for the Sconset Beach nourishment project.

Swansea Desalination Facility

The Swansea Water District is developing a $20 million state-of-the-art desalination facility that will withdraw brackish water from the Palmer River to generate 2.2 million gallons of potable drinking water per day. Desalination of brackish sea-water has become the Town's most cost-effective alternative for securing future water supplies, as Swansea has exhausted its indigenous surface and groundwater resources. The project includes intake and discharge structures in the Palmer River, a two mile dual pipeline route for conveying raw water to the water treatment plant and treated "reject" water back to the river, and the treatment plant and associated tanks where reverse osmosis membranes will convert the salty brackish water to potable drinking water. The water treatment facility will also provide enhanced treatment for the existing Vinnicum Wellfield which supplies 40% of the town's existing water supply. As potentially the first desalination water treatment plant in Massachusetts, the Swansea desalination project has received approval under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) environmental review process and all its individual permit approvals from local, state, and federal authorities and the project is under construction.

BlueWave has led the regulatory strategy and environmental approval process for the project. BlueWave has worked with the Swansea project team to establish an effective executive branch advocacy strategy, including preparation and contribution to technical and project summary reports. BlueWave arranged and led meetings with legislators and senior officials at the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, MEPA, the Division of Marine Fisheries, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and other agency offices to better inform regulatory decision-making on the project's environmental review and permitting. BlueWave has also prepared all regulatory permit applications and coordinated with agency technical review staff. The permits include those issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. EPA, and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection as authorized by the Federal Clean Water Act and local and state approvals under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act. BlueWave has also directing the work of fishermen and water quality sub-consultants to assess impacts. The project is expected to come online in the summer of 2009.

T.F. Green Airport

T.F. Green Airport is a medium hub commercial service airport currently serving five million passengers with more than 250 daily operations. By 2020, T.F. Green intends to serve 11 million passengers annually with 630 daily operations. In 2001, the Rhode Island Airport Corporation (RIAC) began to update its Master Plan for T.F. Green to identify improvements that would be needed to accommodate this growth. Potential improvements include extending two runways, terminal and concourse expansions, and parking and roadway improvements. RIAC must prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to address the environmental impacts associated with these improvements, which may include aircraft noise, community disruption, and loss of wetlands. In addition, RIAC faces a challenging and complex state and local permitting process.

RIAC retained BlueWave to help craft an EIS approach that is built on sound technical analysis and early and effective communication with state and federal regulators and key stakeholder groups.

• Permitting Strategy: BlueWave is providing senior-level strategic counsel to RIAC's EIS consulting team. Specifically, BlueWave is helping to identify and reach out to key stakeholders, provide input on the alternatives analysis, and identify innovative and effective mitigation strategies.
• Benchmarking Study: BlueWave researched environmental practices at other national airports, including "best in class" approaches, against which to benchmark T.F. Green's performance. BlueWave is now using this information to help RIAC's consultants develop an environmental stewardship plan for T.F. Green that will demonstrate RIAC's commitment to protecting natural resources and to reducing the environmental impacts of existing and expanded operations at the airport.

Wetlands Banking

Massachusetts Acts Chapter 291, enacted on August 10, 2004, directed the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs to establish a pilot wetlands mitigation bank in the Taunton River watershed for the purpose of mitigating the wetlands impacts of transportation, other public works projects and projects requiring wetlands variances and orders of conditions within the Taunton River watershed. The wetlands mitigation bank will have numerous benefits including: substantially improved wetlands restoration quality; accelerated public infrastructure improvements in Southeastern Massachusetts; significant contribution to meeting wetlands permitting requirements for large, public purpose infrastructure projects; enhanced wetlands enforcement activity; and more certain, cost-effective and timely wetlands permitting.

In spring of 2005, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts selected BlueWave Capital, LLC as the sponsor of the first Wetlands Bank in Massachusetts. As bank sponsor, BlueWave is assisting in the implementation of the enabling legislation, specifically to identify a wetlands banking site within the watershed and to undertake the design, permitting, restoration, credit trading, operations, management, and long-term monitoring of the wetlands restoration bank. Burrage Pond, a 1,700 acre state wildlife refuge, was selected as the site of the wetlands bank. The proposed bank design will restore 16 acres of existing cranberry bog to natural wetlands, and convert an additional 9 acres of upland area to wetland. BlueWave has been working with a diverse and broad coalition of government agencies, non-profit organizations, and private partners to achieve the bank's objectives.