Aman Environmental Clears Ford Motor Land
January 27, 2026
This article originally appeared in the June 1996 issue of DEMOLITION magazine, then called Demolition Age.
NDA member Aman Environmental Construction Inc., an independent, wholly owned subsidiary of Dames & Moore, headquartered in Covina, California, is a full-service demolition, environmental and construction contracting firm specializing in all phases of hazardous waste management, facility demolition and site/plant cleanup and closure.
Through its parent company, Aman offers its clients access to the broad-based technical staff and services of an organization with over 115 offices worldwide.
Back in 1957, Ford Motor Company leased land in Newport Beach, California, to construct and house its aerospace division. For nearly 40 years, the plant was involved in NASA projects and also constructed products to be used in the Persian Gulf War. In the early 1990s, the facility was closed and Ford owned a prime piece of Newport Beach ocean view property, 100 acres worth.
Considerable development has taken place since the facility was originally constructed. A multimillion-dollar shopping facility was constructed a few miles away, and million-dollar homes have been built adjacent to the property.
In order to prepare the 100-acre parcel for the development of 500 luxury homes, the 1.2 million square feet of building space and approximately 60,000 tons of concrete and asphalt had to be demolished and removed from the site within a vigorous 12-month schedule.
The work had to be conducted in a manner that minimized disruption to existing residential areas that bordered the site. All the above was completed through the careful planning and scheduling of project manager Ron Spencer III and project general superintendent Rick Mott. At 28, Ron Spencer III has over nine years of experience in the construction and demolition field. Mott has over 20 years of experience.
Many of the 15 buildings were steel-framed and approximately 100,000 square feet in size. Others were manufacturing, assembly and product testing buildings. Before demolition of the structures could begin, Aman had to complete a massive asbestos abatement and regulated building materials removal project. The regulated building materials consisted of PCD ballasts, mercury switches, smoke detectors, transformers and utilities.
Next came the interior soft demolition operations. Aman removed approximately 13,000 tons of general demolition debris that was hauled to a local landfill for separation and recycling. Aman used a fleet of Melroe Bobcats, Komatsu PC300s, CAT 969s and CAT 245s. The above excavators used a number of attachments, including 7,000-pound breakers, crusher-cutters, grapples and buckets.
Due to the sensitivity of the surrounding neighbors, Ron Spencer III had to construct a perimeter monitoring system to control noise, dust and vibration eight hours a day, five days a week for the duration of the project.
Aman maintained excellent communication with the various government agencies involved with the project. The city of Newport Beach, Orange County and the local and federal agencies proved very easy to work with. On several occasions, Aman had to work with federal, state and local regulatory agencies ,including the USEPA, OSHA, the California Department of Health Services, the Regional Water Quality Control Board and Newport Beach’s Industrial Waste Department.
The work was completed in a systematic manner, with the Aman crew moving from building to building as various phases were completed. The work was aided by a “crusher-cutter,” A versatile demolition tool with the capacity to crush concrete, sever steel beams, and lift and move heavy objects. This attachment was able to pull down beams at point that cause the building to sag rather than fully collapse. The crusher-cutter eliminated the need for a large crew on the ground and reduced the potential for health and safety hazards due to personnel working around heavy equipment.
Waste minimization was achieved by salvaging an unusually high percentage of the building materials for recycling. Approximately 10,000 tons of steel and tin were recycled from the site. All of the electrical components were recycled and approximately 60,000 tons of asphalt and concrete were recycled to a spec. base material and reused on a local corridor project. Some trees on the site were boxed to be reused on the future development project, and the remaining trees were broken down and salvaged as firewood or mulch.
Aman’s contract with Ford Motor Land Service Corporation included the entire demolition of the facility, transportation and disposal of all general demolition, asbestos abatement and regulated building material debris. Despite the size and complexity of the remediation and demolition work, the project was completed in the planned 12 months with all the major objectives successfully achieved.
Ford Motor Land was especially pleased with the favorable response from the surrounding neighbors, who indicated that the activities and equipment on the site were carefully managed.
Ron Spencer III is currently working on negotiations for another multimillion-dollar demolition and remediation project in Southern California, while Rick Mott is managing a multimillion-dollar demolition project of approximately 60 acres for Industrial Light Metals in Torrance, California.
