EnCap Meadowlands

“Miracle in the Meadowlands” Landfills Closure and Brownfield Redevelopment (2001 – Ongoing)

EnCap Golf Holdings, LLC, a Cherokee Investment Partners company, has begun one of the largest brownfield redevelopment projects in the US . The company recently broke ground on the first phase of the project, which will transform nearly 800 acres of landfills, brownfields, and wetlands in New Jersey ’s Meadowlands District into a $1 billion, mixed-use community and world-class destination. Upon completion, planned features of the development will include…

• Two first-class, 18-hole public golf courses and related amenities
• Several miles of walking, running and biking trails
• Over 20 acres of public parks
• Of the total 785 acres, 685 acres will be remediated and preserved as greenfields, wetlands, and open space; constructed developments will be limited to only 13 percent of the total area
• A first-class hotel and a luxury resort with 750 rooms total
• 1,130 active-adult town homes and condominiums
• 850 open-market town homes and condominiums
• 750,000 square feet of office space
• 100,000 square feet of retail space
• A public recreation complex in Lyndhurst that will include 3 baseball diamonds, a soccer/football field, and an indoor facility
• A new train stop on the NJ Transit Bergen rail line

The project is anticipated to include more than five miles of pipe to collect more than six billion gallons of leachate over the next 30 years. In all, the project will protect and enhance the wetlands environment and significantly improve the air, water and soil quality of the region.

In addition to many environmental benefits, the project will bring many economic benefits to the region and state. The initial phase is expected to generate 2,400 full-time and 500 construction jobs, and the completed development is expected to generate over $19 million in local tax revenues and $40 million in state revenues annually.

MACTEC’s services on the project include the following:

• Placing over six million cubic yards of fill for shaping and cover systems
• Closure design and construction for all landfills using several capping systems, including a multi-layer cap with a geocomposite drainage layer and geomembrane liner, a processed dredge material cover system, and a clean soil cover system
• Installing monitoring wells and groundwater level monitoring during construction
• Installing vertical barrier walls to mitigate groundwater and tidal influences from adjacent water bodies and marshland
• Constructing a leachate management system, including leachate collection trenches around the landfill perimeters, pump stations, and force mains, to direct collected leachate to two publicly-owned treatment works
• Mitigating 30 acres of wetlands
• Relocating an existing tidal stream
• Infrastructure improvements to support both capping and future development, including design and construction of new utilities, relocation of existing utilities, three miles of roadway improvements, replacement of existing culverts, and a new 220-linear-foot roadway bridge
• Constructing a community sports complex including baseball fields, soccer fields and related infrastructure

Completion of the landfill closure and remediation phase of the project is expected to take four years, while the construction phase is anticipated at seven to ten years. A second phase is being planned in North Arlington and Kearny , New Jersey .

“We’re making the right smart-growth decisions and sound investments in the future of the Meadowlands District,” notes EnCap President, Bill Gauger. “This project is the perfect example of how public-private partnerships can succeed in protecting our natural resources, while building neighborhoods and creating economic opportunities.”

For more information about the Meadowlands project, please visit: www.meadowlandsmiracle.com, or review the Project Background (74k pdf).