Test Pit and Soil Borings

INTRODUCTION: Under an Interagency Agreement, the U.S. Department of Transportation John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe) is providing support to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Targeted Brownfields Assessments (TBA) Program. As part of this effort, a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) that includes a requirement for the advancement of test pits and soil borings will be conducted at the Royal Electric Yard (the Site) located at 7512 Main St, Sykesville, Maryland 21784.

A 2026 Phase I ESA conducted at the Site identified historic automotive junking activities and small, partially buried piles of automotive debris in the northern, wooded portion of the property. It was determined that there is a likely presence of hazardous substances or petroleum products associated with former automotive operations including used oils, brake and hydraulic fluids, gasoline and diesel fuels, mercury switches, asbestos brake parts, refrigerants, metals, batteries, and antifreezes. A Phase II ESA was recommended to determine if these historical activities have impacted the Site.

As part of this Phase II ESA, test pits and soil borings will be collected to assess any impacts from potential contaminants of concern.

The property is an approximately 4.1-acre parcel (Maryland Tax Account Number #05- 072190) located adjacent to Sykesville’s historic main street district. Sykesville is located within Carroll County. Major features at the property include a warehouse, gravel parking lot, and access road in the southern portion, and an unmaintained wooded area in the northern portion. Due to a pending sale of the Site, the primary area of interest is limited to the northern half of the property. The site generally slopes to the south, with the wooded area alternating between relatively flat terraces and steeper slopes. A review of the Natural Resources Conservation Service National Cooperative Soil Survey shows that the Site’s soil primarily consists of silt-loam, loam, and complexes. The area just south of the warehouse is underlain by Glenville-urban land-Udorthents complex, which indicates possible presence of fill.

The Site location and the boundaries of the investigation are included in the Field Sampling Plan, provided as SOW Attachment 1.

TASKS TO BE PERFORMED: The Contractor must be a Maryland licensed driller and shall conduct all work in accordance with Federal, State and local requirements as well as applicable Volpe Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs, see SOW Attachment VII).  Where inconsistencies exist, the Contractor shall follow the most stringent requirement. A schedule for these tasks is provided in Section 4.

a) Work Plan

The Contractor shall attend a kickoff meeting with Volpe Center representatives within five (5) business days of the contract award. During the meeting, Contractor tasks and schedules will be discussed. Prior to the meeting, the contractor shall thoroughly review any Government-furnished information provided to them.

Within ten (10) business days of the kickoff meeting, the Contractor shall submit the following in writing to the Volpe Center as part of a brief Work Plan:

1. A description of Contractor’s approach to the tasks as outlined in the following subsections, including the personnel, machinery, and other equipment that is planned to be used. Due to terrain and vegetation conditions at the site, the government prefers that the smallest equipment capable of completing the tasks be used. The Contractor is responsible for the security of equipment staged onsite, if applicable.
2. A proposed schedule of the remaining Contractor tasks as outlined in the following subsections.
3. A description of any required permits needed to perform the work. The Contractor shall be responsible for identifying and obtaining those permits. Copies of the permits shall be submitted to the Volpe Center prior to the start of Site work. If no permits are required, justification for this should be cited.
4. Site Safety and Health Plan, which shall include personnel health and safety precautions to be followed and a Risk Management Plan that identifies major risks and hazards the site and discusses ways to minimize these risks.

The Volpe Center will review the Work Plan within five (5) business days of receipt and submit any necessary revisions before approving. If revisions are needed, a revised Work Plan should be returned to the Volpe Center within five (5 business days) of receiving comments.

​​​​​​​b) Sample Location Access and Vegetation Clearing

Some sample (test pit or soil boring) locations are in a wooded area where vegetation and uneven terrain need to be navigated. The Contractor shall clear vegetation and be prepared to access all proposed locations for the geophysical survey, test pitting, and/or soil boring activities described in the following tasks. Volpe visited all sample locations in August 2026 to assess vegetation conditions. At some locations, weeds and grasses up to approximately knee-height, fallen logs up 6 to 12 inches in diameter, and overhead vines and branches were encountered. The contractor shall be prepared to clear vegetation to the extent that equipment can access each sample location from the parking lot and that there is sufficient space to operate the equipment. Based on the conditions observed by Volpe at the site, vegetation is anticipated to be able to be removed by suggested methods such as chainsaw, clippers, weed trimmer, mini-excavator, and hand-removal. No removal of established trees or grading is expected to be needed. Cut materials may be left onsite. Photos of the vegetation conditions observed in August 2026 are included as SOW Attachment 3. During this visit, sample locations were marked with GPS (and may vary from the Field Sampling Plan figures). A PDF file of these field-marked locations is included as SOW Attachment X.

​​​​​​​c) Geophysical Survey

The Contractor shall conduct a geophysical survey to identify potential buried debris stemming from historical automotive junking operations at the Site. The geophysical survey shall be completed by a person qualified and experienced in geophysical surveying and shall incorporate the use of appropriate geophysical sensing equipment (e.g., electromagnetic conductivity, ground penetrating radar, and/or magnetometry) to detect potential buried debris and identify its anticipated depth and extent. The survey will be conducted in approximately 25 ft. x 25 ft. areas centered around each of the six proposed test pit areas, which are targeted to areas with observed surface and/or partially buried debris. These areas are subject to relocation based on site conditions.

Within 10 days of completing the survey, the Contractor shall prepare and submit a brief geophysical survey report that shall include a summary of the work performed and equipment used, a description of the findings, a map of surveyed areas and identified anomalies, and photographs of the surveyed areas.

​​​​​​​d) Utility Clearance

The Contractor shall notify Call-Before-You-Dig (811) services in sufficient time before the commencement of soil boring or test pitting activities. The Contractor shall follow all applicable laws to complete this notification. A copy of the notification ticket shall be submitted to the Volpe Center prior to beginning the following tasks.

In addition to Call-Before-You-Dig notification, the Contractor shall utilize ground penetrating radar and electromagnetic technologies (or equivalent equipment) to verify Call-Before-You-Dig markings and to complete a private utility locate to clear each of the six proposed test pit locations and ten proposed soil boring locations. If obstructions are present that require a proposed test pit or soil boring to be moved, the Volpe Center will work with a Contractor to identify and clear an alternate location. This task should coincide with the geophysical survey.

The locations of the proposed test pits and soil borings are included in SOW Attachment X. Utility clearance shall be conducted in accordance with Volpe SOP-002 Site Access and Utility Clearance.

​​​​​​​e) Test Pitting

The Contractor shall excavate six test pits to identify the extent of potential buried debris. Test pits will be excavated in accordance with Volpe SOP-007 Test Pit Exploration. Test pits will be 3 feet wide by 5 feet long at the bottom and advanced to the bottom of any identified buried debris in order to determine the extent of the debris pile. If no debris is encountered, the test pit will be completed at a depth of 5 feet below ground surface (ft. bgs). Depending on the depth of the test pit, sloping and widening of the top of the excavation may be required to provide safe access for sampling in accordance with OSHA requirements. The Contractor shall place all excavated material onto plastic sheeting. The Contractor must provide and dispose of the plastic sheeting. Ordinary investigation derived waste generated by Volpe such as gloves and paper towels will be managed and disposed by Volpe.

Once completed, the Volpe Center will record test pit measurements and observations and collect environmental samples from a safe location within the test pit.

The Contractor shall return excavated material back to the test pit from which it originated, compacting the area as it is backfilled. No imported backfill material is anticipated. Excavated materials determined by the Volpe Center to be potentially hazardous debris or grossly contaminated soil will not be placed back into the pit; they will be segregated and placed into drums as described in Task 3.7. Bare soil from the extent of the test pit shall be covered in seed and straw (or equivalent) to mitigate erosion.

f) Soil Boring Advancement

The Contractor shall advance soil borings at 10 locations with 2-inch cores to a depth of 10 ft. bgs or to the top of the water table (whichever is shallower) unless refusal is encountered. If refusal that is not believed to be bedrock is encountered or if insufficient sampling material volume is recovered, a second attempt will be made to advance an offset boring. The borings will be drilled in accordance with Volpe SOP-010 Direct Push Technique Drilling. As soil borings are advanced, the Contractor shall lay plastic soil sleeves out for logging, volatile screening, and sampling by Volpe personnel.

Completed borings shall be backfilled by the Contractor to surface grade using remaining drill cuttings from that borehole and additional clean sand or similar material as needed. Any drill cuttings determined by the Volpe Center to be grossly contaminated will not be placed back into the boring; they will be placed into drums as described in Task 3.7. The Contractor shall dispose of the plastic sleeves. Ordinary investigation derived waste generated by Volpe such as gloves and paper towels will be managed and disposed by Volpe.

​​​​​​​g) Drums for Disposal of Grossly Contaminated Soil

The Contractor shall have three (3) 55-gallon, open head steel drums and blank labels made available for disposing of grossly contaminated soil or potentially hazardous excavated materials. The Volpe Center shall make this determination based on visual, olfactory, or volatile screening results.

The Contractor shall place grossly contaminated soil or potentially hazardous excavated materials into the drums, seal the drums, and stage them in an area of the Site designated by the Volpe Center.

The Contractor will not be responsible for handling, labeling, or disposing these drums once they are closed and staged. The Volpe Center will conduct any further characterization and disposal of the drums as needed.

Empty, unused drums shall be removed from the Site by the Contractor at the end of onsite activities.