ARM Holds the Keys to Unlocking North America’s Largest Brownfield
In support of the redevelopment of North America’s Largest Brownfield Site, ARM designed and built a Geographic Information System (GIS), which has been
integral to the investigation and remediation of a 3,000-acre former steel plant property in Sparrows Point, MD.
ARM’s GIS was initially set up to geo-reference dozens of historical aerial photographs, old plant drawings, and data from past investigations. These historical references aided in the identification of historical features of potential concern (tanks, processing areas, waste storage areas, etc.) and allowed ARM to accurately target these features with soil, groundwater, and/or sub-slab soil gas sampling locations to guide the investigations.
A GIS shapefile with parcel boundaries, which broke the site into smaller investigation parcels between roughly 10 and 300 acres in size, was created to indicate possible areas of future development, and to allow ARM to organize large amounts of spatial and analytical information for each parcel in a short period of time.
As the investigation of each individual parcel was completed, the GIS has allowed for the management, analysis, interpretation, and visualization of information. This has enabled ARM’s clients to understand the requirements for remediation and the effects on potential development plans with an efficiency that is unmatched.
