Brandenburg Industrial Service Co., the company hired by the township to demolish 92 former North Princeton Developmental Center buildings, has requested $600,000 in change orders to its contract with the township, according to township attorney, Kris Hadinger.

The two change orders would be additions to the company’s $4.968 million contract, Ms. Hadinger said, during a phone interview Monday.

Township officials declined to provide dollar estimates of the total or either of the change orders separately at last week’s Township Committee meeting, despite residents’ inquiries about the additional money Brandenburg was requesting.

One of the change orders was requested as a result of asbestos found over the summer in a wall of one of the former NPDC buildings that has been removed. The other is due to the discovery of concrete rubble that contains a “non-hazardous contaminant,” Ms. Hadinger said, during the phone interview.

Brandenburg has yet to remove the contaminated rubble from the work site, according to township officials.

During a phone interview, Mayor Cecilia Birge said Brandenburg has verbally communicated to the township that the remaining material, located on the western side of the NPDC site, about a half mile away from Village Elementary School, cannot be brought to a recycling facility, like the other debris that has been removed from the site. Instead, she said, the concrete building rubble will have to be buried in a landfill, because initial testing revealed that floor sealant, considered a contaminant, was imbedded in it.

”To bury it in a landfill is a lot more expensive than recycling it,” Mayor Birge added.

Township residents that spoke at the Oct. 4 Township Committee meeting wanted to know just how much burying the concrete rubble would cost.

”It seems to me with an open process, we should know about this,” said township resident Dave Bekus.

Mayor Birge said during the meeting the price the township would pay to properly dispose of the rubble was “subject to negotiation.”

Whether or not the township would be required to provide Brandenburg with more money because the concrete could not be accepted by recycling facilities was questioned by township officials.

”I’d like to know what the contract says before we negotiate with them,” said Township Committeeman John Warms. “I think the point is very clear. I want to make sure we’re all on the same page.

”I don’t like the idea of giving evasive answers,” Mr. Warms added.

Ms. Hadinger, the township attorney, declined to comment on the terms of the township’s contract with Brandenburg during the meeting.

In an interview following the meeting, Mayor Birge said, “If it (disposing of the debris containing floor sealant) is not covered by the contract, the cost for the township will be subject to negotiation. If it’s covered, the bill will not be subject to negotiation.

Echoing comments of Committeeman Mark Caliguire during the meeting, the mayor said the township is not in the position to release any additional amounts of money requested by Brandenburg at this time.

A representative of Brandenburg, who would not provide his name, declined to comment on questions about the debris remaining at the former NPDC site. The company also did not respond to questions submitted to it via its Web site last week.

According to township officials, Brandenburg is still performing site restoration — topsoil grading, reseeding, and other similar work and that there is no remaining building debris containing asbestos on the site.

Mayor Birge said the company has until November to remove the remaining rubble.

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