Role of the Environmental Professional

1. Role of the Environmental Professional GFOA PS3260 Contaminated Sites Workshop Thursday, November 14, 2013 Whitehorse, YT

2. Outline Role of the Environmental Professional Process – from screening to determining financial liability Page 2

3. Role – To Participate in All Or Part Of: • Screening of sites • Initial Assessment • Ranking? • Confirming contamination • Determining extent • Evaluating remediation strategies • Opinion of cost of remediation

4. Screening of Sites • Inventory all properties • By government body • Screen to select sites that are no longer productive • Non-productive property list • Is it, or might it, be contaminated? • Initial screening to select potential contaminated sites • Owner knowledge of site and adjacent sites

5. Phase I Investigation • An assessment of current and historic site uses and conditions • Historic records: • Air photographs • City directories • Land use maps • Fire insurance maps • Topographic & geological maps • MOE records (Site Registry) • Local government archives • Fire department records • Newspapers

6. Phase I Investigation • Interviews: • Persons knowledgeable about current and past property uses and activities • Current and former employees • Site reconnaissance: • Visual or olfactory evidence of possible contamination: • Staining • Distressed vegetation • Aboveground storage tanks • Underground storage tanks - fill or vent pipes • “Patches” in pavement • Oil water separators • Waste material or other storage or disposal • Soil disposal • Etc.

7. Phase 1 Investigation– Internal or External Process or Split Can you do part or all of the assessment? Can the Environmental Professional provide a template that can be used to enable staff to undertake? How much does it cost?

8. Phase I Investigation – What Do You Do With The Results? • If a large number, may rank for further action: • By potential risk: • Known contamination • Type of contaminant • What “media” is suspect to be contaminated • Potential consequence • Financial constraints

9. Phase II Site Assessment Phase I identifies onlypotential for contamination Phase II includes collection and analysis of samples (soil, groundwater, and/or surface water) Results compared to standards Contaminated if exceed standards

10. What Standards Should You Use? • Soil: • Land use dependent • Current land use or future land use • Groundwater: • What is current and expected future use • Surface Water – aquatic and other uses

11. Phase II Assessment Complete – Now What? • Create a risk profile? • Set priority for further assessment • Consider: • Likelihood of adverse effect • Consequence of adverse effect • Receptors affected (human vs. ecological) • Duty to Act – imminent threat

12. Phase II Assessment continued • To determine the extent of contamination in all affected media • Vertical and horizontal extent (three dimensions) • Conceptual Site Model (CSM) • Shows conceptually where contamination may be

13. Soil and Groundwater Investigation

14. Rank Sites Following Phase II Remediation can be an expensive process and where there are multiple properties, there may be a need to rank them • Is there an imminent threat to human health or the environment? • Is there current or likely contamination migration to other properties or sensitive environments? • Is there a “business” priority?

15. Remediation Methods (Plan of Restoration) There are dozens of ways to remediate a site As a rule of thumb, the faster the process, the more expensive it will be Costs tend to be higher if the Phase II is not rigorous

16. Remediation Planning • Client considerations: • Schedule • Cost – capital vs. operating and maintenance or long timeframe • Public considerations – transparency • Future land use • Technical considerations: • Contaminant type: • Metals • Organic • Easy to treat/difficult to treat • Mobility • Media contaminated • Geology and hydrogeology • Access constraints

17. Remediation Options SOIL GROUNDWATER SEDIMENT • Pump and treat • Pump, treat and reinject • Natural attenuation • Modify groundwater movement characteristics • In-situ biological treatment • In-situ chemical treatment (oxidize, reduce, immobilize) • Dredge and dispose • Dredge and cap • Cap Remove and dispose Excavate and treat onsite Excavate and treat offsite Treat in-situ Manage in-situ

18. In-Situ Remediation Options Physical Biological Chemical • Biological • Amendment with nutrients • Amendment with new carbon source (food) • Modify groundwater flow conditions (direction, mounding) • Oxidizing chemicals • Reducing chemicals • Oxygen enhancing • Chemicals to immobilize metals Soil vapour extraction Sparging

19. Remediation by Risk Management Does the contamination present an unacceptable risk to human health and/or the environment Can that risk be reduced by engineered controls or administrative controls Contamination remains Conditions on use based on controls/assumptions about use in risk assessment

20. Costs - Investigations • Preliminary Site Investigations • Stage 1 about $2,500 or lower when multiple sites • Stage 2 Minimum $10,000 for simple site. Complex sites can reach many tens of thousands • Detail Site Investigation • Suggest budget minimum $25,000 per site if simple • Can be several hundreds of thousands of dollars for complex multiple contaminant sources and multiple media

21. Remediation Planning Simple site budget $10,000 Complex sites with multiple contaminants and media – planning a preliminary engineering can be several hundred thousand dollars Required to determine opinion of cost of remediation

22. Remediation Costs • Underground Storage Tank - $10,000 - $50,000 • Works Yard • Vehicle maintenance - $25,000 - >$100,000 • Fueling station $50,000 - >$250,000 • Depends on complexity, extent and media affected

23. Thank You For further information contact