GEI Captures ACEC Award for New York City’s Clean Soil Bank

NEW YORK (May 8, 2024) — The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) New York Honored GEI Consultants with a Gold Award for the firm’s support of the Clean Soil Bank (Stockpile) in Brooklyn, New York.

The award was issued in the category of Studies, Research, and Consulting Engineering Services.

In partnership with the New York City Mayors Office of Environmental Remediation (OER), GEI operates the Clean Soil Bank, a soil processing facility providing clean soil deliveries to projects across the city.

The Stockpile is the first and only municipally-owned and operated free, clean soil recycling facility in the country, with a staging capacity of 18,000 cubic yards.

Through the Clean Soil Bank, New York City maintains and reuses clean, native soil within city limits, which allows for a reduction in costs associated with soil purchase and disposal for construction projects. Additional benefits include:

• lowering the truck miles driven and diesel fuel consumption
• lessening traffic and congestion
• cutting down greenhouse gas emissions generated from the construction industry, and
• minimizing the impact of waste transfer stations on neighborhoods.

Since operations began in September 2020, the New York City Clean Soil Bank has exchanged more than 117,000 tons of clean native soil between NYC construction sites and is operationally in the ‘black’ meaning the savings to the City have surpassed the operational costs of the facility.

GEI works hand-in-hand with OER to review all technical documentation, testing data and material descriptions, and our environmental team provides on-site coordination of clean soil deliveries, including:

• Evaluating all geotechnical and environmental boring data
• Reviewing analytical testing data in order to vet material with regard to reuse options
• Managing the processing of all material and maintaining the supply of organized and itemized material
• Supervising the loading and unloading of all material coming in and out of the stockpile, and
• Maintaining all data and documentation for managing incoming and outgoing material

Additional efforts include screening material to various sieve sizes and the production of analytically tested topsoil blends to create a local supply of growing media for clients.

“Our team takes a lot of pride in our work supporting this OER facility, not just for the city but for all New Yorkers,” said GEI Senior Consultant Kevin McCarty. “The soil received at the site and distributed is put to work throughout New York including elevating properties, building wetlands, supporting community gardens, and strengthening shorelines against coastal flooding.”

A full list of winning projects is available on the ACEC New York website.

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About GEI: GEI Consultants, Inc. is a consulting engineering firm that delivers professional services that improve our world’s built environment. With 1,400 staff and 54 offices in North America, GEI is a leader in providing multi-disciplined engineering and environmental services to a range of private and public sector clients, both domestically and abroad.

As a member of the employee-owned GISI family of companies, we foster personal relationships with our clients and support our staff in a partnership model, which is underpinned by continuous learning and sharing of knowledge. We retain proven, recognized experts and attract the best minds to deliver to our clients a refreshing blend of technical expertise, collaborative spirit, and innovation that is rare in our profession. We engineer solutions in five primary end markets: Water Resources, Energy, Buildings, Infrastructure, and Industrial. For more information on GEI, please visit www.geiconsultants.com.