2018 SMART Ottawa

February 15, 2018

SMART Remediation talks have focused on innovative technologies for remediating contaminated sites, approaches for site characterization, project case studies, regulatory and industry perspectives, and other related topics.

The 23rd SMART Remediation conference was held in Ottawa on Thursday, February 15th, 2018. Details on the speakers and presentations are provided below.

Speakers

Marc McAree,
Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP

Mitigating Environmental Risks And Liabilities For Consultants And Contractors

Marc McAree

Marc assists clients to manage environmental risks and liabilities while limiting clients’ reputational risk. Marc brings significant environmental law expertise to: contaminated land/brownfields clean ups, environmental-aspects of transactions, environmental insurance, all manner of environmental compliance, environmental approval and order appeals, and defence of environmental prosecutions and environmental civil actions. Marc is recognized for his excellence in advocating for clients in environmental civil litigation at all levels of Ontario Courts, defence of clients against environmental regulatory prosecutions, and appearances before Ontario’s Environmental Review Tribunal and other administrative decision-makers on appeals and at hearings. Marc has particular experience prosecuting and defending contaminated land claims and nuisance impacts including odour, noise and light, and also in defending civil actions brought against environmental consultants. Marc is named in the 2021 Lexpert™®/American Lawyer Guide To The Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada. Marc was peer selected and named the Best Lawyers’® 2019 Environmental Lawyer of the Year (Toronto). He is peer selected annually for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in Canada© for environmental law. Marc is ranked “Most Frequently Recommended” by The Canadian Legal Lexpert® directory and ranked “AV® Preeminent™” by peers in Martindale-Hubbell. He is ranked as a Global Leader in Who’s Who Legal Environment and ranked as a National Leader in Who’s Who Legal Canada Environment. Marc is called to the bar in Ontario and British Columbia. He obtained a joint Bachelor of Laws/Masters in Environmental Studies at York University. Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP is named “Law Firm of the Year” for Environmental Law in the Best Lawyers in Canada, 2021 Edition!

Mitigating Environmental Risks And Liabilities For Consultants And Contractors

Environmental consultants and contractors live in a world of exposure to environmental risks and liabilities. Their highly regulated work compels their need to comply with laws, regulations and rules that define what should and should not be done. What is essential to mitigating environmental risks and liabilities is a thorough understanding of the regulatory framework and willingness to adhere, and structuring relationships among themselves and with clients to bring clarity to their work. This includes knowing who is responsible to do what and, often more importantly, who is responsible to not do what. This may sound simple. But, in practice, it is not always so. Many common consultant and contractor blunders arise from poor communication, operating outside of their area of expertise, failing to understand the requisite standard of care, missing issues altogether, underestimating resources required, exacerbating environmental issues, failing to negotiate reasonable liability limits, and misunderstanding insurance coverage. Environmental consultants and contractors get sued. They get prosecuted. Once found liable, they may have to pay damages or fines, or even go to jail. This presentation by Marc McAree draws upon years of our firm’s environmental lawyers’ dealings with consultants and contractors who, from time-to-time, find themselves ‘in hot water’.

Grant Walsom,
XCG

Slow Release Oxidants: Use of Remox SR+ Cylinders in Treatment for Chlorinated Solvents in Groundwater

Grant Walsom

A senior remediation engineer with over 24 years of experience. He is a Partner at XCG Consulting Limited and leads the Remediation and Risk Assessment Business Unit. Mr. Walsom is a Professional Engineer registered in Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Alberta, and a registered Consulting Engineer in Ontario. In addition, Mr. Walsom is a Qualified Person as defined by the Ontario Regulation 153/04. Mr. Walsom’s expertise has included Phase I and II Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs), Site Remediation, and Environmental Compliance Audits (for both external and pre-acquisition purposes). He has completed numerous Brownfield redevelopments and soil and groundwater remediation projects with virtually all contaminant sources, including metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs), chlorinated solvents and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (including coal tar). Mr. Walsom currently is the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Ontario Environment Industry Association (ONEIA) and is the co-Chair for the Excess Soils Working Group. Mr. Walsom also serves on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Brownfield Network (CBN) as President. He was proudly named the 2015 “Brownfielder of the Year” by the Canadian Urban Institute. He enjoys participating in speaking engagements and presentations regarding site remediation case-studies, Brownfield redevelopment and excess soil management. He is currently representing ONEIA in the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change Excess Soils Engagement Group for the implementation of new excess soil management rules and regulations in Ontario.

Slow Release Oxidants: Use of Remox SR+ Cylinders in Treatment for Chlorinated Solvents in Groundwater

Historical industrial activities using solvents for metal degreasing as well as dry-cleaning operations have created many remediation challenges. Innovative and cost effective methods for treatment of chlorinated VOCs (typically PCE, TCE, C-DCE, and vinyl chloride) in soil and groundwater continue to evolve with new products and applications. Carus has developed a solid form of permanganate and persulphate encased in a paraffin wax that slowly releases the oxidants into the subsurface for a prolonged treatment of the chlorinated VOCs. The solid form is easy and safe to install, while the prolonged treatment ability provides the ability to continue to treat the VOCs long after installation. XCG Consulting Limited has successfully employed the Carus Remox SR+ product at four different sites in Ontario with varied geological settings. One of the sites was the first Remox SR application in Canada. This presentation will briefly describe the product and advantages of its use, while exploring case studies and their successes through sharing site-specific data.

Mike Mazzarese,
AST Environmental, Inc.

Combining Remedial Technologies and Implementation Methods to Address Chlorinated Solvent Impacts at Complex Sites

Mike Mazzarese

Mike Mazzarese is a Senior Remediation Engineer at AST Environmental and has been involved with in-situ remediation for 17 years. His responsibilities include project management, research and development, remedial assessment and design, field implementation oversight, and post project data analysis. Mike is a graduate of Penn State University holding a Master of Science degree in Environmental Engineering. He has previously worked for Vironex, Regenesis, and URS and is currently based in the Denver, CO area.

Combining Remedial Technologies and Implementation Methods to Address Chlorinated Solvent Impacts at Complex Sites

Complex sites require complex solutions. Challenges typically include heterogeneous geology and contaminant mass distribution, vadose and/or saturated contaminant mass, and concentrations that span several orders of magnitude. These require us as practitioners to often consider multiple remedial technologies and approaches to reach the site specific goals within the desired timeframes. Often technologies are inefficiently implemented sequentially; this extends the remediation timeframe and requires re-characterization between remedial phases. This presentation will highlight several projects where multiple technologies were successfully implemented in concert. Technologies to be discussed include abiotic chemical reduction, enhanced reductive dechlorination, and in situ chemical oxidation. Application methods to be covered include injection via direct push, injection via permanent wells, and in situ soil blending. The strategies for each site included different approaches for source (e.g. soil blending) and plume (e.g. permeable reactive barrier) remediation. The first step to any successful remediation project is to develop a thorough high density conceptual site model (CSM). This was achieved at each subject site using a combination of high density soil sampling, discrete groundwater sampling, high resolution site characterization (HRSC), and modeling. Once complete, the remedial approaches were surgically applied to leverage the individual strengths of each technology. Site #1: A large manufacturing facility used vapor degreasing in the 1970s and 1980s that resulted in chlorinated volatile organic compound contamination in soil and groundwater. In the source areas, Trichloroethene (TCE) concentrations in groundwater exceeded 50 mg/L. BOS 100®, a specialized catalyst manufactured by Remediation Products Inc., was used in the source areas. Enhanced reductive dechlorination was selected for treatment of the plume areas and involved injection of an electron donor and a dechlorinating culture. All amendments were injected via a combination of direct push and permanent wells in both grid and barrier configurations. Site #2: An industrial property utilized chlorinated solvents for equipment maintenance from the 1950’s to 1970’s. Past operations resulted in multiple source areas and it is suspected that chlorinated solvents were discharged to drain pipes into a former settling pond. TCE concentrations have been detected in groundwater at a maximum concentration of 730 mg/L and in soils up to 6,800 ug/g. Soil blending was performed utilizing chemical oxidation (sodium permanganate) to treat the unsaturated TCE impacts exceeding an average 1,100 ug/g. BOS 100® was injected into the saturated zone in a barrier configuration to limit the mass flux from the source area and prevent contamination from leaving the subject property. Site #3: A buried drum of TCE was discovered during site redevelopment. In situ chemical oxidation via potassium permanganate was used to successfully treat the source area. Downgradient of the source a permeable reactive barrier was installed via direct push injection in order to decrease the mass flux of the plume encroaching into a wetlands. Data will be presented from the source remediation as well as from the monitoring wells up and downgradient of the barrier.

Charles Lamontagne,
Chemco, Inc.

Enhanced Bio-Remediation of Heavy Petroleum Hydrocarbons and PAHs Through Dedicated Endogenous Micro-organisms Biostimulation

Charles Lamontagne

Charles Lamontagne, has a PhD degree in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Sherbrooke University. For more than a decade, he was dedicated on several projects based on the control of cell physiology over specific environmental conditions. Aside from his academic involvement, he also assisted specialized mushroom growers in the optimization and industrialization of their production methods. These experiences have brought interest in soil bio-remediation and allow him to develop different bacterial consortium and method of mass production before converging on the stimulation of specific indigenous cells in soils. He recently joined Chemco Inc as an Application Specialist in Bio-remediation where he continues his researches in soil decontamination. His responsibilities include remediation design, technico-economical analysis and technology supply for chemical oxidation/reduction and enhanced bio-remediation of organic and inorganic contaminants in soil and groundwater.

Enhanced Bio-Remediation of Heavy Petroleum Hydrocarbons and PAHs Through Dedicated Endogenous Micro-organisms Biostimulation

Soils contain a high diversity of different micro-organisms and among these populations, some possess the capabilities for the degradation of petrogenic contaminants. From this perspective, Enhanced Bio-Remediation proposes the stimulation of these specific species to optimize the contaminant degradation effort This presentation will explain how targeted bio-remediation through the uses of some specific growth booster can achieve rapid decontamination of soils containing long chain alkyls and persistent PAHs. The use of specific growth boosters allows for a much faster and broader degradation of the targeted contaminant versus traditional biostimulation techniques. Proper design, appropriate amendments, and monitoring will be discussed as these are the critical key factors for successful management of ex situ or in situ bio-stimulation. Results from field treatments will also be presented along with examples of routine evaluation of indigenous bacteria to evaluate the biodegradation potential of given soils.

Grant R. Carey,
Porewater Solutions

Innovative Visualization Method For Demonstrating Natural And Enchanced Attenuation

Grant R. Carey

Dr. Grant Carey is President of Porewater Solutions, and is expert in mathematical modeling, NAPL characterization, and environmental forensics, with a focus on both litigation and regulatory projects. Grant has a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Guelph, and has developed industry-leading modeling and visualization software including In-Situ Remediation MT3DMS (ISR-MT3DMS) for optimizing remediation and modeling diffusion-dominated transport, as well as Visual Bio, the NAPL Depletion Model, Vapor-2D, BioRedox-MT3DMS, and the Remediation ToolKit which includes SEQUENCE, BioTrends, and BioTracker. Grant is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto, where he is collaborating on research related to back-diffusion, long-term strategies for remediating complex sites, and remediation of PFAS and 1,4-dioxane. Grant has published or delivered more than 90 technical papers and short courses, and was previously a trainer for ITRC web seminars on Mass Flux/Mass Discharge, and Remediation of Contaminated Sediments.

Innovative Visualization Method For Demonstrating Natural And Enchanced Attenuation

Overview. Evaluation and monitoring of Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA) or enhanced in-situ biodegradation (EISB) typically requires complex spatial and temporal trend analysis for multiple chemicals of concern, their daughter products, and a suite of redox indicators. It is imperative that the results of these scientific analyses be clearly illustrated so that the processes and efficacy of attenuation are readily understood. A modified radial diagram method has been employed in a public domain software tool (Visual BioTM) to simplify this analysis, so that visual aids may be prepared which clearly demonstrate MNA / EISB trends for VOC parent species, daughter products, and redox indicators using only two figures. This modified radial diagram method improves the clarity of MNA and EISB analyses, and substantially reduces the number of figures needed to review chemical trends. (Free software download at www.porewater.com) The benefits of this visualization program are demonstrated for a Superfund Landfill Site in Michigan (MNA), Plattsburgh Air Force Base (MNA), Wurtsmith Air Force Base (MNA), and Charleston Naval Weapons Station (EISB). The visual aids prepared using this method improve the ability of non-technical audiences to see the effects of naturally-occurring attenuation in groundwater. Fewer figures are needed than a typical MNA demonstration using this modified radial diagram method. Figures are relatively quick and easy to prepare.

Tauhid-Brian Thomas,
Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada

Giant Mine Northwest Territories: Containment of Arsenic Trioxide Using Freeze Techniques

Tauhid-Brian Thomas

Tauhid-Brian Thomas is a Senior Engineer in the Giant Mine Remediation Project Directorate with Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. The Giant Mine Remediation Project aims to minimize the release of contaminants from the site to the surrounding environment and implement an approach that is cost-effective and robust over the long term. In addition to his work on the Giant Mine Remediation Project, previous work has involved work with the Department of National Defense on the remediation of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line.

Giant Mine Northwest Territories: Containment of Arsenic Trioxide Using Freeze Techniques

Giant Mine is located in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories (NWT) approximately five kilometres north of the city centre. The mine produced gold from 1948 until 1999, and ore for off-site processing from 2000 until 2004. After the owner of the mine went into receivership in 1999, Giant Mine was transferred to Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC). AANDC and the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) continue to be responsible for the management of the site, including a variety of environmental concerns that need to be addressed. One of those concerns is how to manage approximately 237,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide dust waste currently stored underground. Gold in Giant Mine ore was associated with an arsenic-bearing mineral known as arsenopyrite. The process used to release the gold from the arsenopyrite led to the production of arsenic-rich gas as a by-product. From 1951 to 1999, operators of the mine captured this gas in the form of arsenic trioxide dust which was transferred to underground storage areas at the mine site. The dust is approximately 60% arsenic, which is hazardous to both people and the environment. Furthermore, the form of arsenic present in the dust is soluble, meaning that it could dissolve in any water that contacts the dust and could then be transported to nearby water bodies such as Baker Creek or Great Slave Lake. To address the environmental concerns at the site, a proposal to protect human health, public safety and the environment was developed for the mine site. One of the specific objectives within the Giant Mine Remediation Plan is to manage the underground arsenic trioxide dust in a manner that will prevent the release of arsenic to the surrounding environment, minimize public and worker health and safety risks during implementation, and be cost effective and robust over the long-term. This issue has been evaluated through many technical studies and consultation with the public. Several options have been considered; the preferred option is to maintain the arsenic dust and the rock around each underground storage area completely frozen. The techniques for accomplishing this were examined through a detailed technical study known as the Freeze Optimization Study (FOS). The FOS was constructed around one of the arsenic dust containing storage areas starting in 2009. The study includes tests of various types of design considerations including freezing systems, installation methods, hardware options, and other design options. Results of the FOS have now been finalized and the next step in the freeze program will be to construct a detailed design for all the underground arsenic containing areas.

Katrina Zwambag,
ALS Environmental

Total Oxidisable Precursor Assay: Exposing the Potential for Ongoing Contamination by PFAS Compounds Through Biotic and Abiotic Weathering Process

Katrina Zwambag

Katrina Zwambag is the Manager of the LCMS department at the ALS Waterloo laboratory. Her department is responsible for the analysis of PFAS, pharmaceuticals, steroids and pesticides. Katrina’s responsibilities are focused on coordination of the LCMS department, method validations, quality control and maintenance of instrumentation. In her 10 year laboratory career Katrina has held a variety of positions, including analyst, instrument operator, supervisor, team lead and manager, providing her with a well-rounded skillset which she has utilized to find improvements and efficiencies throughout the lab. Katrina has a certificate in Biotechnology from Mohawk College and has completed the ALS iLEAD leadership and Management designation.

Total Oxidisable Precursor Assay: Exposing the Potential for Ongoing Contamination by PFAS Compounds Through Biotic and Abiotic Weathering Process

There are hundreds of chemicals that can be classed as PFAS (Per and poly-fluorinated Alkyl Substances). Accredited laboratories typically determine approximately 30 of these specific chemicals. In many fire-fighting foams and other products containing PFAS, the bulk of these chemicals may be tied up in more complex molecules including polymeric compounds. Traditional PFAS analysis only targets the key analytes and therefore may or may not greatly underestimate the presence of PFAS in the environment. The Total Oxidisable Precursor Assay and the determination Total Organic Fluorine have been suggested as means of exposing the presence of these underlying cryptic PFAS compounds. TOPA is an empirical test run under fixed conditions of reagents and temperature through strong oxidation. Without measuring the hidden PFAS compounds the potential for ongoing contamination as these compounds go through weathering processes breaking down to common PFAS compounds is a large liability. ALS has performed numerous oxidation trials in order to obtain a deeper knowledge of the Total Oxidisable Precursor Assay. This includes the impact of concentration plus the differences between first generation and modern foams. A large discussion point in support of TOPA is the mobility of PFAS compounds and therefore the ongoing contamination. Potentially re-applications of AFFF and even fluorine free training foams may contribute to remobilizing existing PFAS compounds due to the affinity for organic matter and the re-introduction of solvents in the contamination site. Our evaluation concludes with the case to expand analytical suites to cover other PFAS that may arise from weathering that might include some oxidation and hydrolysis and, ideally, to have better models for predicting environmental endpoints of AFFF degradation.

Jeff Roberts,
SiREM

Passive Sampling Approaches and Tools for Sediment Pore Water and Soil Gas Surveys

Jeff Roberts

Jeff Roberts, M.Sc. Earth Sciences, University of Waterloo. Jeff is a Senior Manager at SiREM with extensive technical experience in the laboratory assessment and field implementation of soil, sediment and groundwater remediation technologies at sites containing contaminants including chlorinated solvents, petroleum hydrocarbons and other recalcitrant compounds. Over the past fifteen years he has conducted and managed hundreds of bench-scale batch and column treatability studies and also has technical experience in the growth, scale up and field implementation of several anaerobic microbial cultures for bioremediation remedies.

Passive Sampling Approaches and Tools for Sediment Pore Water and Soil Gas Surveys

Passive sampling technologies are increasingly being used for environmental monitoring. Passive sampling provides several advantages over traditional active or grab sampling techniques including: providing results as a time weighted average, discrete location sampling, ease of use and lower cost. This presentation will discuss passive sampling approaches and tools for both sediment pore water and vapour (soil gas and indoor air). In sediment pore water, passive sampling devices (PSDs) such as the SP3™ provide data to estimate contaminant bioavailability and toxicity to environmental receptors that is more accurate than conventional grab or mechanically-extracted samples. The reason for this is that PSDs quantify only freely-dissolved contaminants, not sorbed mass. PSDs have been used in the laboratory and in the field to focus site investigation and make remediation decisions. In terms of site investigation, a rapid (2-week) passive sampling deployment was used to evaluate PCB and PAH availability, and exposure risk, in sediments at an active shipyard. A PCB treatability case study will highlight the use of PSDs to evaluate the effectiveness of sediment caps. The study examined using varying levels of activated carbon to optimize the remedy and reduce costs. Additionally, the presentation will review recent advances in deploying samplers without scuba divers, optimizing ex situ passive sampling in small sediment and soil samples, and the evaluation of new analytes. In soil gas surveys passive sampling of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with the Waterloo Membrane Sampler™ (WMS) has been demonstrated to provide concentration data of similar accuracy and precision compared to conventional active methods. In indoor air, passive sampling can provide accurate concentrations over a longer time period (up to several months) compared to traditional sampling methods with Summa canisters; providing data that is more applicable to long-term human health exposure assessments. Furthermore, passive sampling protocols are faster and simpler, and cheaper, than traditional methods, particularly for soil vapor and sub-slab vapor sampling where the complex procedures for leak prevention and tracer testing are not necessary with passive sampling. Overall, the ease, cost and unobtrusiveness of passive samplers make them a valuable tool when evaluating soil gas and indoor air.

Patrick O’Neill,
Vertex Environmental Inc.

Three Case Studies: Using High Resolution Site Characterization

Patrick O’Neill

Mr. O’Neill is a project manager at Vertex Environmental Inc., manages the high resolution site characterization division, and has years of experience designing and implementing high resolution site characterization programs targeting chlorinated solvents and petroleum hydrocarbons. Mr. O’Neill holds a Master’s degree from the University of Waterloo where he studied groundwater modeling of the Grand River watershed and how climate change scenarios will affect the watershed.

Three Case Studies: Using High Resolution Site Characterization

Good decisions can be made with good data. Remediation programs that fail usually cite a lack of thorough understanding of the subsurface. Contaminant distribution can be complex and traditional sampling techniques may result in data gaps. In-situ high resolution site characterization (HRSC) is becoming a key component of site understanding and subsequent remediation. HRSC, as part of a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment (ESA), can greatly enhance the understanding of the presence, concentration and distribution of contaminants in the subsurface. Three high-resolution characterization technologies commonly used to enhance Phase II ESAs include the Membrane Interface Probe (MIP) for dissolved phase contamination, the Laser-Induced Fluorescence (LIF) probe for free-phase petroleum hydrocarbon (PHC) contamination, and the Hydraulic Profiling Tool (HPT) for measuring the subsurface permeability and ultimately estimating the hydraulic conductivity of the subsurface. All three probes are advanced to depth by direct push methods (i.e. Geoprobe). These technologies can significantly enhance the understanding of the subsurface and associated impacts. Gathering thousands of points of data on a centimeter scale in a day, the HRSC tools can rapidly horizontally and vertically delineate environmental impacts. And the data can be rendered in 3D to visualize and optimize remedial designs for each individual site. This talk will showcase the various HRSC tools and how they helped facilitate remediation programs at different sites that Vertex has worked on in Canada. The first site utilized the LIF to better understand residual LNAPL on an active remediation site utilizing multi-phase extraction and in-situ chemical oxidation technologies. The second site utilized the MIP to delineate a large and complex dissolved phase plume and optimize an in-situ chemical oxidation program. The final site utilized the HPT to estimate hydraulic conductivity in the overburden for a funnel and gate permeable reactive barrier (PRB) design, installation and follow up analytical monitoring.