land remediation section - british columbia · director’s roster of approved professionals and...

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LAND REMEDIATION SECTION2006–2007 ANNUAL REPORT

Environmental Management Branch

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MESSAgE fROM ThE ASSISTANT DEPUTy MINISTER .......................................... 3

hIghLIghTS Of ThE yEAR ................................................................................... 4Site Remediation ....................................................................................................... 4

Bamberton, Rock Bay, Southeast False Creek, Trail 4

BRownfieldS and BRownfield Redevelopment ................................................. 5

StakeholdeR outReach and paRtneRShipS .......................................................... 5

SETTINg ThE STAgE ............................................................................................. 6ouR team .................................................................................................................... 6

legiSlative fRamewoRk ........................................................................................... 7

linkS to miniStRy SeRvice plan ............................................................................... 8

pRogRam accompliShmentS ................................................................................... 8

ThE yEAR IN DETAIL ........................................................................................... 11identification of SiteS .......................................................................................... 11

cleanup accompliShmentS ................................................................................... 11

exteRnal Review ..................................................................................................... 11

Director’s Roster of Approved Professionals and the CSAP Society 11

Site Remediation ..................................................................................................... 13

High Profile Sites 13

Bamberton: Former Cement Plant Remediation Project 14

Rock Bay: Former Coal Gasification Plant Remediation Project 14

Southeast False Creek: Remediation to Accommodate 2010 Athlete’s Village and Sustainable Community in Vancouver 15

Trail: Teck Cominco Lead-Zinc Smelter Site Remediation 15

majoR pRojectS undeR the enviRonmental aSSeSSment pRoceSS ................ 16

BRownfieldS and BRownfield Redevelopment ............................................... 17

outReach and infoRmation ................................................................................. 18

Stakeholder Outreach and Partnerships 18

Policy, Protocol and Guidance 19

Access to Information 20

INDEx

financial matteRS .................................................................................................. 20

Expenditures 20

Revenue 20

Contracts and Grants 20

LOOkINg AhEAD ................................................................................................ 22

fOR fURThER INfORMATION ............................................................................ 23

APPENDIx: IMAgES ............................................................................................ 24

Cover photo: Bamberton, Vancouver Island

Inset photos (L to R): Bayside Lands, Victoria (photo courtesy Thurber Engineering Ltd.); 9250 Oak Street, Vancouver; Washer Creek, Union Bay (photo courtesy Seacor Environmental Inc.)

3MESSAgE fROM ThE ASSISTANT DEPUTy MINISTER

I am pleased to present the first Annual Report of the provincial Land Remediation Section of the Ministry of Environment.

The work of the Land Remediation Section protects public health and the environment in a variety of ways. Through regulation, innovation, education, and outreach, section staff focus their efforts on eliminating toxins and waste that contaminate the land, air, and water. As well, section staff are involved in the remediation of complex, high profile contaminated sites, and manage the remediation of low and moderate risk sites to facilitate redevelop-ment opportunities for local communities. Through innovation and risk management, section staff also work with communities, public organizations, other government agencies, and private parties to support the sustainable redevelopment of sites by protecting and restoring environmental attributes.

The remediation of contaminated sites and the re-use of brownfields are particularly important initiatives. (Brownfields are abandoned, vacant, derelict or underutilized commercial or industrial properties where past actions have resulted in actual or perceived contamination, and where the potential for site redevelopment is good.) Such sites, if not reclaimed, usually end up as eyesores in communities. Remediating these properties and re-establishing them as productive assets not only contributes to community beautification, but also supports the protection of health and safety and revitalization of the economy. Furthermore, by restoring existing sites to a community’s “land bank”, remediation alleviates pressures to develop relatively untouched lands within and surrounding communities. Those

properties can then be maintained as green space and used by local citizens and visitors for recreation or the enjoyment of the natural environment.

These initiatives are integrally bound to the ministry’s mandate of enhancing and protecting the province’s collective environmental assets and of promoting sustainability that will provide ongoing benefits to all British Columbians. This work is also intrinsically tied to the provincial government’s vision of a clean, healthy, and naturally diverse environment, and supports the province’s “Great Goal” to “lead the world in sustainable environmental management, with the best air and water quality, and the best fisheries management, bar none.”

I fully support the work being done by the dedicated staff in the Land Remediation Section , under the leadership of Jim Hofweber, Director of the Environmental Management Branch. I am confident that all their efforts will continue to rejuvenate our environment, resulting in strengthened and healthy communities across our beautiful province.

Lynn Bailey Assistant Deputy Minister, Environmental Protection Division, Ministry of Environment

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Im age I-01398 co ur tesy of Royal BC Museum

, BC Archives

SITE REMEDIATION

Many significant remediation projects were underway during the 2006/07 fiscal year in British Columbia. Highlights of four of these, summarized below, pro-vide an overview of the scope and varied nature of projects overseen by the Land Remediation Section.

BamBerton�: Former Cement Plant

Bamberton is located on Vancouver Island just south of Mill Bay, about a 25-minute drive north

from Victoria over the Malahat Drive. It is the site

of a former cement plant that began operations in the early 1900s. At one time the town had a population of more than 300. Ambitious plans for private redevelopment of this property have led to a comprehensive remediation project, which began in 2005.

roCk Bay�: Former Coal Gasification Plant Rock Bay is located in the upper part of Victoria Harbour. Industrial operations on the shores of this small, protected bay once included a coal gasification plant. Gas from the plant was piped to residential and commercial customers in Victoria from 1860 to 1952. Byproducts of the gas production process left a legacy

of severe contamination in and around the plant site. When remediation is complete at this prime location, opportunities for redevelopment of the land will abound, as it is ideally situated at the edge of Victoria’s downtown core and the harbour waterfront.

SoutheaSt FaLSe Creek: remediation to accommodate 2010 athlete’s Village and Sustainable Community in Vancouver

Former industrial properties along the southeast shore of False Creek in Vancouver are being remedi-ated under ministry approval to create a model sustainable commu-nity that will accommodate the Vancouver Athlete’s Village for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

hIghLIghTS Of ThE yEAR

DEfINITIONS

Remediation: Action to eliminate, limit, correct, counteract, mitigate, or remove any contaminant from the environment or the adverse effects of any contaminant on the environment or human health. Remediation may include: site investigation, analysis, and interpretation; evaluation of methods of remediation; preparation and implementation of a remediation plan; and monitoring, verification, and confirmation of whether the remediation efforts comply with the remediation plan, applicable standards, and requirements imposed by a Director under the Environmental Management Act.

Policy: A written governing principle, position, plan or course of action that directs, guides or influences decision-making and the actions of staff.

Protocol: A document containing legally enforceable contaminated sites requirements issued by the Director under the authority of section 64 of the Environmental Management Act. Typically the requirements relate to investigations, analysis, interpretation, planning, conducting and reporting on remediation.

Procedure: Guidance to Ministry decision-makers and staff in performing their duties.

Guidance: Advice provided to stakeholders to explain the Land Remediation Section’s administrative and technical requirements in addition to those already required under the Environmental Management Act, its regula-tions, protocols, policies and procedures.

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traiL: teck Cominco Lead-Zinc Smelter

Along the Columbia River in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, approximately 15 kilometres north of the international border, Teck Cominco operates a lead-zinc smelter. Historic and

current discharges associated with the smelter have

resulted in widespread contamination throughout the lower Columbia River valley.

Long-term remedial and risk management

planning is underway at this complex site.

See “The Year in Detail” section of this report for additional information about remediation of the four sites briefly outlined above.

BROwNfIELDS AND BROwNfIELD REDEvELOPMENT

The Land Remediation Section undertook research in 2006/07 to update knowledge on national and inter-national best practices in brownfield redevelopment. This work culminated in a report that included op-tions for a provincial brownfield redevelopment strat-egy. In addition, financial support was provided to the newly formed B.C. Chapter of the National Brownfield Associations and to the Canadian Brownfields Network to assist these partner organizations in their work to promote brownfield redevelopment.

STAkEhOLDER OUTREACh AND PARTNERShIPS

At consultation meetings held in Vancouver in February 2007, the Land Remediation Section provided an overview of seven draft documents being prepared to enable the ministry to increase focus on high risk sites while streamlining the site assessment and remediation process and providing guidance to environmental professionals. As well, meeting attendees were updated about the development of the Contaminated Sites Approved Professional (CSAP) Society. The CSAP Society website can be found at: http://www.csapsociety.bc.ca.

DEfINITIONS

Approved Professional: A person who is appointed by a Director to the Roster of Approved Professionals. Under the Environmental Management Act, Ministry officials may issue, based on the recom-mendation of these Approved Professionals, a contaminated sites legal instrument (such as a Certificate of Compliance) without review. Since November 1, 2004, the Ministry has required that all applications for various services for non high risk sites be made by an Approved Professional.

Director: The Director of Waste Management.

Legal Instrument: Any written legal document. In the contaminated sites legal regime, Certificates of Compliance, Approvals in Principle, and Voluntary Remediation and Contaminated Soil Relocation Agreements are examples of legal instruments.

Certificate of Compliance: A certificate, issued by a Director under the Environmental Management Act, stating that a site has been remediated in accordance with the standards prescribed for the purposes of the site and with any orders issued, any remediation plan approved by the Director, and any requirements imposed by the Director. If he or she sees fit, the Director may impose conditions as part of the certificate, such as monitoring or financial security. Certificates of Compliance may be issued using risk-based or numerical standards.

hIghLIghTS Of ThE yEAR (CONTINUED)

http://www.csapsociety.bc.ca

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OUR TEAM

The Land Remediation Section, during fiscal 2006/07, had a staff of 23 operating out of offices in Victoria and Surrey, including five managers, four auxiliary staff, and one administrative assistant (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Land Remediation Section organization chart.

DEfINITIONS

Contaminated Sites Legal Regime: Collectively, the documents that allow the Ministry to legally regulate the investigation and remediation of contaminated sites in B.C. The contaminated sites legal regime is made up of the Environmental Management Act, the Contaminated Sites Regulation and a number of protocols.

Approval in Principle: A legal instrument under the Environmental Management Act, issued by a Director, stating that a remediation plan for a contaminated site has been reviewed and approved by the Director. The Approval in Principle may specify conditions that must be implemented during remediation.

Voluntary Remediation Agreement: A contami-nated sites legal instrument between a responsible person and the Director of Waste Management, in which the person commits to independently undertaking remediation to address contamination at a site. The agreement includes provisions for financial contribution and security, a schedule of remediation, certification by the responsible person of full disclosure of information, and any other requirements the director considers necessary.

Contaminated Soil Relocation Agreement: A legal agreement required when soil is to be moved from one site (the source site) to another (the receiving site). It is an agreement between the owner of a source site, the owner or operator of a receiving site, and is signed by the Director.

Sr. Manager, Land RemediationMike Macfarlane

Administrative AssistantMichele Parker

Manager, Risk Assessment & Remediation

Glenn Harris

Manager, Risk Assessment & Remediation

Doug Walton

Manager, Operations ManagementJohn Ward

Manager, Brownfields, OlympicsAlan McCammon

Sr. Contaminated Sites OfficerVacant

Sr. Contaminated Sites OfficerJulia Brooke

Risk Assessment OfficerTara George

Sr. Contaminated Sites OfficerAmy Sloma

Sr. Contaminated Sites OfficerGeorge Szefer

Risk Assessment OfficerRemi Odense

Sr. Contaminated Sites OfficerLavinia Zanini

Sr. Contaminated Sites OfficerPeggy Evans

Sr. Contaminated Sites OfficerStephen Dankevy

Sr. Contaminated Sites OfficerTim Bennett

Risk Assessment OfficerColm Condon (aux)

Risk Assessment OfficerVacant

Sr. Contaminated Sites OfficerDave Lockhart (aux)

Risk Assesment OfficerVacant

Contaminated Sites OfficerArdith Gingell (aux)

Sr. Contaminated Sites OfficerColeen Hackinen

Sr. Contaminated Sites OfficerVince Hanemayer

Sr. Contaminated Sites OfficerKerri Skelly

Sr. Contaminated Sites OfficerKelli Larsen (aux)

SETTINg ThE STAgE

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LEgISLATIvE fRAMEwORk

In 1997, British Columbia’s then Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks brought into force significant amendments to the Waste Management Act. These amendments included the creation of the Contaminated Sites Regulation, to provide a framework for the identification, assignment of responsibility for, and remediation of contaminated sites (including brownfields) in the province. Before 1997, the ministry had been increasingly contacted by local governments and land owners seeking greater certainty about the assessment and cleanup of contaminated sites, many of which were slated for redevelopment.

Since their introduction, British Columbia’s contami-nated site remediation laws have been reviewed and amended to streamline and improve the framework. One of the key objectives has been to shorten reme-diation timelines by increasing the involvement of Approved Professionals in the administration of non-

high risk sites, thereby allowing the ministry to focus its limited resources on the oversight of high risk sites.

Among the notable historical accomplishments:

In response to the newly elected provincial gov-•ernment’s “New Era” commitment in 2001, a com-prehensive review of the ministry’s contaminated sites legislation was undertaken in 2002. The result was a report and recommendations issued by the Minister’s Advisory Panel on Contaminated Sites.

The • Environmental Management Act was brought into force in July 2004, along with fourth stage amendments to the Contaminated Sites Regulation.

A backlog reduction strategy targeting •low and medium risk site applications was implemented to meet performance measures stipulated in ministry Service Plans.

Key external partnerships with qualified •professionals and the Science Advisory Board for Contaminated Sites in British Columbia were established to assist with streamlining of the contaminated sites regime.

In addition to providing the day-to-day delivery and administration of the contaminated sites remediation regulatory function, Land Remediation staff continued to develop and implement changes to the regime to streamline processes and increase certainty for stakeholders. The timeline of the statutory and regulatory milestones (see Figure 2) indicates the progressive changes to the contaminated sites regime since 1997.

April 1, 1997Contaminated Sites Regulation in effect

Stage 1 – July 19, 1999Added rostered experts, standards for petroleum hydrocarbons; removed aquatic life standards for Fe, Mn and AI

Stage 2 – February 2, 2002Allowed rostered experts to submit determinations, various numerical standards revised, added notice of offsite migration

Stage 3 – December 1, 2003Fees amended allowing lump sum and hourly rates

Stage 4 – July 8, 2004Updated authority to make regulations and decisions, removed conditional certificates, renamed professional experts, moved director’s standards to regulation

April 1, 1997Contaminated Sites provisions of Waste Management Act in force

May 6, 2002Waste Management Act amended (mines provisions, cost recovery, consequential amendments)

October 21, 2003Environmental Management Act created from Waste Management Act (Bill 57)

April 19, 2004Environmental Management Act amended (Bill 13)

July 8, 2004Environmental Management Act in effect

May 13, 2003Advisory Panel Report issued

July 23, 1997Section 28.6 of the Waste Management Act (immunity) repealed and replaced with more detailed provisions

Statutory Milestones

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Regulatory Milestones

Figure 2. Evolution of contaminated sites legislation in British Columbia over the last decade.

SETTINg ThE STAgE (CONTINUED)

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LINkS TO MINISTRy SERvICE PLAN

Goal 1 of the Ministry of Environment’s 2006/07–2008/09 Service Plan is “Clean and safe water, land and air.” Objective 2 of this goal, “Reduced con-tamination from toxins and wastes,” includes the work done and overseen by the Land Remediation Section to ensure protection of public health and the environ-ment from risks arising from contaminated sites.

The Land Remediation Section provides provincial regulatory oversight for the assessment and remediation of complex, high profile contaminated sites. This is achieved through innovative strate-gies and risk management measures, working in conjunction with communities, other government agencies, and private parties to realize remediation and sustainable redevelopment opportunities for sites throughout the province.

The Ministry’s 2006/07 Service Plan also identified brownfields as one of the key strategies to reduce contamination from toxins and wastes and to meet the ministry’s goal of clean and safe water, land, and air.

PROgRAM ACCOMPLIShMENTS

Many of the sites identified as potentially contami-nated in British Columbia are listed in the ministry’s Site Registry, a database initiated in 1997 when the Contaminated Sites Regulation was first brought into force. Before that there was no systematic process to identify potentially contaminated sites in British Columbia. It is important to note, however, that the Site Registry is not a registry solely of contaminated sites. Some sites in the Registry are contaminated, but most are simply being investigated and require little, if any, cleanup or they have already been cleaned up to government standards. Today, anyone can access the Site Registry to obtain current information on the status of sites that have records associated with them. Since the inception of the Site Registry, more than 8,500 sites have been registered with the ministry.

Many of the sites on the Site Registry have been brought to the attention of the Land Remediation Section through various regulatory processes (such as submission of Site Profile forms, Notifications of Independent Remediation, Notifications of Offsite Migration, and Contaminated Soil Relocation Agreements) and, less frequently, through public complaint or agency referral.

DEfINITIONS

Site Registry: An electronic database created in 1997 under the contaminated sites legal regime to document milestones in the screening, identification, and cleanup of all sites in British Columbia’s records.

Site Profile: A screening form developed by the Ministry for identifying potentially con-taminated sites. The profile is a summary cre-ated from readily available information about a site, and includes a basic description of the site and of its past and present uses.

Independent Remediation: Remediation carried out without any Ministry involvement other than the party doing the remediation notifying the Ministry of initiation and completion.

Notification of Independent Remediation: A notice in writing issued by a person to a Director promptly once the person has initiated independent remediation, and within 90 days of completing independent remediation.

Offsite Migration: Contamination that has migrated from a contaminated site to a neighbouring site.

Notification of Offsite Migration: Written notification by a responsible person to the person or persons who own neighbouring sites and to a Director regarding migration or likely migration of contamination.

Determination of Contaminated Site: A decision made under the Environmental Management Act by the Director of Waste Management whether a site is, or is not a contaminated site.


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3%3%

4%2%

7%50%

13% 14%4%

6%

7% 33%

5%2%

4%16%

3%5%

4%

15%

6%

7% 33%

5%2%

Many of the sites listed as contaminated in the Site Registry are contaminated from former and present industrial and commercial operations that commonly stored or handled toxic materials on their land. The breakdown of suspect land uses associated with sites in the Registry (determined from site profile data) is shown in Figure 3. Almost 50% of the sites listed in the Registry are related to the oil and gas industry and include activities such as the extraction, processing and retailing of petroleum and natural gas. The next largest categories in the Site Registry are “waste disposal and recycling operations” at 14% and “transportation industries” at 13%.

Figure 4 displays the number and percentage of sites by geographic region currently in the Site Registry. As one might expect, most sites are concentrated in areas of intense commercial or industrial operations or activities and high population, such as the Lower Mainland. However, in British Columbia, many sites are also located in the Peace Region where the oil and gas industry predominates.

Since the Contaminated Sites Regulation was brought into force, nearly 1,000 Certificates of Compliance have been issued to confirm that a site has been ap-propriately cleaned up and 400 Approvals in Principle have been issued to confirm the ministry’s support of remediation plans designed to clean sites up. Over 50% of the sites listed in the Registry have been cleaned up (or are in the process of being cleaned up) by independent remediation – typically without significant Ministry of Environment oversight. Many of these sites will eventually be reviewed by the ministry or an Approved Professional when the property own-

Figure 3. Number and percentage of sites in British Columbia by “suspect land use” based on site profile data in the Site Registry, as at March 31, 2007.

Figure 4. Number and percentage of sites, by region in British Columbia, listed in the Site Registry, as at March 31, 2007.

Transportation industries, operations and related activities (1435)

Waste disposal and recycling operations and activities (1569)

Wood, pulp and paper products and related industry/activity (396)

Chemical industries and activities (330)

Electrical Equipment Industries and Activities (321)Metal smelting/processing/finishing industries/activities (455)

Mining, milling or related industries or activities (184)

Petro leum/natural gas drilling/production/processing/retail/

distribution (5432)

Miscellaneous industries, operations or activities (780)

Cranbrook, Kootenay (325)

Williams Lake, Cariboo (198)

Smithers, Skeena (470)

Surrey, Lower Mainland (2836)

Fort St. John, Omineca-Peace (1377)

Federal Sites (267)

Kamloops, Southern Interior (433)

Nelson, Kootenay (356)

Nanaimo, Vancouver Island (1317)

Prince George, Omineca-Peace (540)

Penticton, Southern Interior (604)


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0 %

10 %

20 %

30 %

40 %

50 %

60 %

70 %

80 %

Jan-04

Apr-04

Jul-0

4

Oct-04

Jan-05

Apr-05

Jul-0

5

Oct-05

Jan-06

Apr-06

Jul-0

6

Oct-06

Jan-07

Apr-07

Approved Professional Review Ministry Review

er applies for a contaminated sites legal instrument, which is often required to redevelop a property.

Only a few years after the Contaminated Sites Regulation came into effect, the ministry realized that its limited resources could not meet the overwhelming volume of requests for contaminated sites legal instruments from various stakeholders. To help accommodate the demand, in 1999 the ministry introduced legal provisions for establishment of a roster of professional experts (now the “Roster of Approved Professionals”) consisting of private practitioners, typically from the environmental consulting sector. The Director was empowered to rely on the recommendations of these experts when deciding whether to issue a legal instrument.

The ministry’s key objective in establishing the Roster of Approved Professionals was to reduce the backlog in applications that the ministry handled, and so accelerate remediation timelines for many sites. For the three-year period, 2004/05–2006/07, of the total number of legal instruments issued, the percentage issued based on ministry review has declined at a rate of 10% per year, while the percentage issued based on Roster recommendations has increased by the same amount (see Figure 5).

With greater Roster involvement, the ministry was able to increase its focus on high risk sites, redevelop-ment of brownfields and stakeholder outreach. More time was devoted to developing new guidance, protocols, and policies to facilitate decision-making for Approved Professionals and ministry staff.

Figure 5. Relative percentages of legal instruments recommended by the Roster of Approved Professionals and by the Ministry between 2004/05 and 2006/07.


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IDENTIfICATION Of SITES

In the 2006/2007 fiscal year, 279 site profiles were processed by the ministry. Of this number, 171 (64%), triggered a requirement for further investigation. There were 108 site profiles reviewed by the ministry for which the sites were determined not to need any further investigation.

CLEANUP ACCOMPLIShMENTS

In 2006/07 alone, 267 sites were cleaned up with Ministry of Environment approval or through independent remediation.

For approximately a third of these sites (97), a Certificate of Compliance was obtained. As well, 19 Approvals in Principle were issued approving remediation plans put forward by clients responsible for contaminated properties. Of these requests for instruments, approximately 20% were reviewed by the ministry. The remainder were reviewed by persons on the Roster of Approved Professionals.

Processinstrument

issued

n�umber of Sites

remediated

n�umber of Sites

undergoing remediation

Ministry/Roster

Certificate of Compliance

97 N/A

Ministry/Roster

Approval in Principle

N/A 19

Independent N/A 170 300

Total for category 267 319

ExTERNAL REvIEw

Under the provisions of the Environmental Management Act and Contaminated Sites Regulation, the ministry may contract out report reviews to qualified external consultants. The external review service was implemented to provide timely reviews and to supplement ministry capacity. This furthers the ability of ministry staff to develop policy, protocol and guidance materials needed to support the work of the environmental consulting community and the Roster of Approved Professionals. External contract reviewers are Approved Professionals from environ-mental consulting firms selected following a qualifica-tion process. Timelines have been established that external reviewers are expected to meet, and depend on the type of report being reviewed. If reports are found to be deficient and additional information is required from the submitting party, extension of the timeline is required for review completion. Once a re-view is complete and the review report is forwarded to the ministry, time is required to assess the external contract review, including the reviewer’s conclusions and recommendations, and to finalize the review.

In 2006/07 a total of 30 external review submissions were administered by ministry staff. Typically timeline extensions for reviews were required while external reviewers awaited additional information from the submitting consultant. Following receipt of the completed external review report by ministry staff, contaminated sites legal instruments were issued within the timeframes shown in the following table.

Time to Issue Legal Instrument Following External Contract Reviewers Submission (weeks)

3-4 10 14-16 22

Number of Instruments 2 1 7 1

Percentage of Total 18 9 64 9

DireCtor’S roSter oF aPProVeD ProFeSSion�aLS an�D the CSaP SoCiety�

The Stage 1 amendments to the Contaminated Sites Regulation in 1999 allowed for the establishment of the Roster of Approved Professionals. The role of Roster members is to review site investigation and remediation work at contaminated sites and make recommendations to the Director regarding issuance of contaminated sites legal instruments. In its 2003 report to the Minister, the Advisory Panel on Contaminated Sites recommended that the Roster move toward greater independence and take on oversight of a wide range of activities on non-high risk sites. At that time work began that led to the creation of an independent Contaminated Sites Approved Professional (CSAP) Society.

Milestones achieved by Approved Professionals in 2006/2007 include:

For the first time, exams were held to •qualify applicants as numerical standards and risk assessment specialists. Five new numerical standards specialists and three risk assessment specialists were appointed to the Roster, bringing totals to 65 numerical standards specialists and eight risk assessment specialists. Four members have dual designation.

ThE yEAR IN DETAIL

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In December 2006, an interim board for the •proposed CSAP Society was established. In March 2007, the constitution and bylaws of the society were deposited with the government and the CSAP Society was established under the Society Act.

In support of the CSAP Society, Roster •members developed many internal guidance documents, including those for practice, membership qualifications, quality reviews, and disciplinary action. These documents are to be finalized before full operation of the society, anticipated to be in the late fall of 2007.

In 2006/07, Approved Professionals made 108 submissions to the ministry, recommending issuance of legal instruments. Based on the

recommendations received and following resolution of outstanding information requirements, legal instruments were issued in all cases. However, the length of time between initial submission to the ministry and issuance of an individual instrument varied greatly, as shown in Table 1.1,2

The performance of Approved Professionals is monitored by conducting regular quality reviews of the work done by individual members. Quality reviews have been carried out on the work done by members of the Roster since 2001. The intent of a quality review is to evaluate:

technical competency of site investigation;•

technical competency of remediation;•

competency of documentation for all •aspects of the work submitted in support of a recommendation to the Director regarding issuance of a legal instrument; and

accuracy and appropriateness of final conclu-•sions and recommendations provided.

The findings of a quality review result in either a pass or fail, defined according to the measures outlined in Table 2.

In 2006/07 seven quality reviews were conducted, resulting in one Class 1, four Class 2, and two Class 3 findings.

Table 1. Issuance of Legal Instruments.

Time to Issue Legal Instrument Following Recommendation by Approved Professional (weeks)

< 1 1–2 2–3 3–4 4–5 5–6 > 6

Number of Instruments 15 19 21 16 4 4 29

Percentage of Total 14 18 19 15 4 4 27

Table 2. Quality Review Measures.

Pass Fail

Class 1: Trivial Errors Class 2: Minor Errors Class 3: Serious Errors Class 4: Major Errors

Minor technical errors•

Minor documentation errors•

Conclusion correct•

Minor technical errors (1 •major error)

Major documentation errors•

Conclusion correct•

Major technical errors (more •than 1)

Minor documentation errors•

Conclusion incorrect•

Additional technical details •required

Major technical errors (more •than 1)

Major documentation errors•

Conclusion incorrect•

New technical work required •at site

Footnotes:

1 There is a statutory notification period with respect to the Determination of a Contaminated Site. After making a preliminary determination, the Director must allow a period for comment of not less than 30 days and not more than 60 days after delivery of the notice of preliminary determination. The time periods listed in the table include the time required to satisfy statutory obligations.

2 Processing delays can be attributed to waiting for additional information from Approved Professionals such as to provide legal surveys for portions of lots or offsite areas; to provide new site plans; to confirm applicability of standards applied for a given site; or to provide rationale regarding site delineation. Also, delays may occur when legal issues arise requiring clarification (e.g. determining responsibility for offsite contamination).

ThE yEAR IN DETAIL (CONTINUED)

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SITE REMEDIATION

hiGh ProFiLe SiteS

The Land Remediation Section provides regulatory oversight for many high profile sites as they progress through the stages of environmental investigation, remedial planning, remediation, confirmation of remediation, and issuance of legal instruments (see Table 3). Some of these sites take many years of effort to reach the stage where a Certificate of Compliance can be issued. The following four high profile sites provide examples of the types of sites staff were actively involved with during fiscal 2006/07:

Bamberton• : Former Cement Plant Remediation Project

rock Bay• : Former Coal Gasification Plant Remediation Project

Southeast False Creek• : Remediation to Accommodate 2010 Athlete’s Village and Sustainable Community in Vancouver

trail• : Teck Cominco Lead-Zinc Smelter Site Remediation

Site n�umber Site n�ame Location origin of Contamination

9195 18th and Dunbar Vancouver Drycleaner

10247, 10258, 10259, 10260 41st and Collingwood Vancouver Service station

1397 9250 Oak Street Vancouver Wood preservation

1733 Bamberton Mill Bay Cement plant

451 Bell Pole Lumby Pole treatment and storage

6137 Brilliant Nelson Metal concentrate spill

436 Britannia Britannia Beach Copper mine

2167 Bullmoose/Quintette Tumbler Ridge Coal mines

4084 Cordova Bay Shell Victoria Service station

1759 Country Club Mall Nanaimo Service station

71 Canada Cedar Pole Kootenays Wood preservation

57/6455 CPR Revelstoke/Exeter Offsite Revelstoke Rail yard

1540 Domtar Coquitlam Wood preservation

9465, 9466, 9467 Dockside Lands Victoria Mixed industrial

2643 Grand Forks Chevron Grand Forks Service station

2203 Koppers Burnaby Lumber treatment

6670 Malahat Soil Malahat Soil stockpile

445 Mitchell Island Vancouver Steel manufacturing

3141 Nexen Squamish Chlor-alkali plant

9680 Quathiaski Cove Quadra Island BC Packers Cannery

4188 Quesnel Legion Drive Quesnel City works, bulk fuel storage, rail yard

354 Rock Bay Victoria Coal gasification plant

13 Southeast False Creek Vancouver Mixed industrial

3120 Sixth and Cambie Vancouver Rail yard

3730, 4119 Smithers Bulk Plants Smithers Bulk fuel storage

2421 Skeena Cellulose Smithers Pulp mill

7091 Suburban Motors Victoria Service station

5819 Sullivan Mine Kimberley Lead-zinc mine

3232 Taylor Taylor Gas refinery

3250 Trail Smelter Trail Lead smelter

4291 Union Bay coal pile Union Bay Coal waste

9404, 9405, 9406 United Auto lands Vancouver Fill of unknown origin

9 Vancouver Wharves Vancouver Industrial shipping

1419 Versatile Shipyard Vancouver Shipbuilding, wood preservation

9930 Woodfibre Squamish Pulp mill

5184 Your Family Food Mart Victoria Service stationTable 3. Sites overseen by the Land Remediation Section

during fiscal 2006/07.


14

The sites highlighted in Table 3 are described in more detail below. These sites illustrate the varied nature and scope of projects overseen by Land Remediation Section staff.

BamBerton�: Former Cemen�t PLan�t remeDiation� ProjeCt

From the early 1900s to 1981, the Bamberton property, located on the Saanich inlet north of Victoria, was used as a cement manufacturing plant and worker’s town. From 1981 to 2005, the site sat idle and residents gradually departed. Structures remaining on the site included a number of derelict buildings containing asbestos, landfills containing hazardous waste, and storage tanks containing bunker oil and solidified asphalt. In 2005, Three Point Properties pur-chased the property and initiated remediation in partnership with the Ministry of Environment.

Aerial photo showing the Bamberton cement plant before

deconstruction. The former limestone quarry shows as a deep excavation on the west

(left) side of the cement plant buildings.

Building deconstruction took eight months and included removal of 40 tonnes of asbestos pipe insulation waste (shown in yellow bags) and 2,800 tonnes of steel, which was

barged to Tacoma, WA, for recycling.

Southernmost landfill site under remediation. As can be seen in

this photo, the site presents some challenging terrain.

An estimated 750,000 tonnes of cement-man-ufacturing waste – such as off-specification cement, cement kiln dust and slurry – were located in three different landfills and beneath

the derelict buildings. One landfill failure resulted in the material

sliding into the ocean.

Contaminated materials reaching the ocean where one of the old

Bamberton landfills failed.

The former limestone quarry being engineered for use as the soil

storage facility.

The soil was contaminated with lead, zinc, and arsenic in concentrations greater than commercial land use standards. Some hazardous waste pH levels were also present on the site.

Since 2005, Three Point Properties has spent over $12 million remediating the site to meet provincial Contaminated Sites and Hazardous Waste Regulation requirements. Remediation activities have included removal of asbestos-containing building material,

cleanup of three abandoned landfills, and creation of a massive engineered and managed soil storage facility. It is anticipated that at the completion of remediation (scheduled for June 2007), this site will meet urban park/residential standards.

roCk Bay�: Former CoaL GaSiFiCation� PLan�t remeDiation� ProjeCt

This property on the south shore of Rock Bay in the upper part of Victoria Harbour was once the site of a coal gasification plant that provided heat and light to nearby residential and business customers from approximately 1860 to 1952.

The former coal gasification plant, Victoria Gas Works, in the 1920s. The

cylindrical tower at the centre-back of the photo is one of the four gas holders (“gasometers”) erected onsite to store the coal gas before distribution to customers. The

gasometers were designed with telescoping sections that moved up and down, depending on the volume of gas in storage.

This legacy industrial operation left behind contami-nants such as coal tar, metals, sulphide, cyanide, and ammonia. BC Hydro began remediation of the upland portion of this site in 2004. By the end of August 2006 more than $32 million had been spent by the land owner, and approximately 250,000 tonnes of material had been excavated from the site and sent to licensed treatment and/or disposal facilities.


15

An interior view of the foundation base of one of the gasometers at the former

coal gasification plant at Rock Bay. This brick and mortar foundation (20 metres in diameter, 7 metres high, and 1 metre thick) was completely

removed during remediation.

To keep the site and excavations dry, a temporary holding pond was

put in place to accommodate site ground and surface runoff water

during remediation. The water was tested, treated, and (upon meeting

acceptable quality) discharged to the sanitary sewer under permit from the Capital Regional District.

Soil being loaded for barge transport offsite to licensed treatment and disposal facilities.

Completion of the first two stages of remediation in August 2006 repre-

sents great strides in achieving the remedial goals at this site. The project

will continue in 2007/08 once planning is firmed up for the third and final stage of remediation.

SoutheaSt FaLSe Creek: remeDiation� to aCCommoDate 2010 athLete’S ViLLaGe an�D SuStain�aBLe Commun�ity� in� Van�CouVer

Lands owned by the City of Vancouver and some private properties located along the south shore of False Creek, north and near 1st Avenue between

Cambie Street and Quebec Street, are slated for remediation and redevelopment as a showcase sustainable community. In early 2010, the site will be the location of Vancouver’s Olympic Athletes’ Village.

Soil, groundwater, and sediments at the site were contaminated with metals and hydrocarbons, the result of industrial activities that took place since the late 1800s, including sawmilling, foundry work, shipbuilding, metalworking, salt distribution, and warehousing. Even the city’s public works yard was once located there.

In June 2005, the ministry issued an Approval in Principle under the Environmental Management Act approving the City’s remediation plan to address the contamination in preparation for redevelopment. The original remediation plan proposed use of both provincially endorsed approaches to remediation, namely (i) remediation to numerical standards (for land to be sold for market value redevelopment), and (ii) remediation to risk-based standards (for non-market-related lands such as parks and roads).

In addition to ministry approval, the City also required approvals under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and the federal Fisheries Act, as well as authorization from the City of Vancouver for dis-charge of treated groundwater to the city’s storm sewer system.

A historical view of False Creek’s south shore. (Source: City of

Vancouver website)

A vision of Southeast False Creek’s sustainable community. (Source:

City of Vancouver web site)

Proposed community layout. (Source: City of Vancouver website)

A new intertidal inlet and shoreline are starting to take shape. (Source: pacificmetropolis.com)

traiL: teCk Comin�Co LeaD-Zin�C SmeLter Site remeDiation�

In the late 1890s, in Trail B.C., smelting activities began along the banks of the Columbia River approximately 15 kilometres north of the Canada-U.S. border. The smelter remains an active facility, but historic and current emissions and discharges associated with the smelter operations resulted in widespread contamina-tion throughout the lower Columbia River valley. Because of cross-border contamination issues, reme-dial planning has involved participants not only from the B.C. Ministry of Environment and Teck Cominco, but also from U.S. regulatory and academic bodies.


16

With the original study area encom-passing approximately 80,000

square kilometres, the remediation plan is using a wide-area ecologi-cal risk assessment and a human

health risk assessment that will eventually narrow in scope as the

problem areas are identified. The objective of the remediation plan is to restore

the environmental quality of the site to a condition that does not pose unacceptable risks to humans or ecological resources.

Teck Cominco’s lead-zinc smelter complex has been releasing emissions into

the air and discharging effluent into the Columbia

River over many years.

The ecological risk assessment process has included many reports

and submissions and the final reports are anticipated in late 2007. The human health assessment was initiated in the 1970s in response to elevated blood lead level concentrations in children. The Trail Community Lead Task Force has released several reports and studies that will inform the remediation planning stage. The human health risk assessment, which evaluates risk associated with contaminants beyond the work completed by the Lead Task Force, is also nearing completion. As a result, Teck Cominco has initiated preliminary discussions with the ministry and other stakeholders concerning remediation planning – which is likely to be the focus of regulatory oversight in 2008.

The ministry retains regulatory oversight through the work of a Steering Committee, as well as by holding regular stakeholder meetings (which include the local medical health officer) and conducting technical reviews of the risk assessments.

MAjOR PROjECTS UNDER ThE ENvIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT PROCESS

As a participant in British Columbia’s Environmental Assessment (EA) process, the Land Remediation Section provides technical and regulatory guidance on contaminated site remediation to proponents of projects requiring environmental assessment certification. Land Remediation staff worked on the following EA projects during 2006/07:

Canada Line (formerly RAV) Rapid •Transit Project (Vancouver, Richmond, Vancouver International Airport)

Vancouver Convention Centre •Expansion Project (Vancouver)

Whistler Athlete’s Village and Legacy •Neighbourhood (Whistler; Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency’s process)

Gateway Program Environmental Assessments•

South Fraser Perimeter Road •Project (Surrey, Delta)

Port Mann / Highway 1 Project (Vancouver, •Burnaby, Coquitlam, Surrey, Langley)

Evergreen Light Rail Transit Project •(Burnaby, Coquitlam, Port Moody)

Together with the Regional Operations Branch in the ministry’s Environmental Protection Division, Land Remediation Section staff worked with representatives of the Gateway Program (South Fraser Perimeter Road) and the City of Delta to initiate discussions and actions towards closure and redevelopment of a series of demolition and land-clearing landfills along River Road in Delta.

Canada Line

Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion

Whistler Athletes’ Village


17

BROwNfIELDS AND BROwNfIELD REDEvELOPMENT

Brownfields are vacant or underutilized commercial and industrial properties which, although they may be contaminated, also have an active potential for redevelopment. Redeveloped and returned to pro-ductive use, brownfield sites can generate significant economic, social, and environmental benefits and more sustainable communities overall. The ministry’s Service Plan for 2006/07–2008/09 cites brownfields remediation as one of the key strategies to reduce contamination from toxins and wastes and meet the ministry’s goal of clean and safe water, land, and air.

Work undertaken by the Land Remediation Section in 2006/07 related to this area included:

In support of the creation of a brownfield •redevelopment strategy for British Columbia, Land Remediation completed a project to update knowledge on best practices in brownfield redevelopment in Canada, the U.S., and the European Union. The work also included the identification of a range of options for a suitable strategy for British Columbia.

The British Columbia Chapter of the National •Brownfields Association (NBA) was created in early 2006 and received both financial and committee support from the Land Remediation Section. The NBA is a not-for-profit educational organization promoting the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfield sites. Initial chapter membership was made up of representatives from industry, environmental consulting/contracting, and

the provincial government. Land Remediation staff participated in the delivery of a brownfield seminar by the B.C. NBA in September 2006 at the Science World facility on False Creek, Vancouver.

Land Remediation staff provided sponsor-•ship funding to the Canadian Brownfields Network (CBN) in support of their educational and awareness initiatives for brownfield redevelopment across Canada.

Land Remediation staff participated in the •NBA’s International Brownfield Summit, which took place in June 2006 in Niagara Falls, ON. A broad range of brownfield redevelopment stakeholders convened for workshops and roundtables, including focus sessions on waterfront redevelopments and brownfield revitalizations associated with Olympic events in London, New York, and Vancouver.

The Land Remediation Section accepted •invitations to participate on the initial organizing committees for the Canadian Urban Institute’s conference Canadian Brownfields 2007, and the National Brownfields Association’s brownfield redevelopment conference (“The Big Deal”), scheduled for the fall of 2007.


18

OUTREACh AND INfORMATION

StakehoLDer outreaCh an�D Partn�erShiPS

Land Remediation staff gave presentations at a number of conferences, seminars, and forums during the 2006/07 fiscal year (see Tables 4a & 4b). These sessions play an important role in the ongoing effort to keep stakeholders informed and to consult with all interested parties on a wide variety of issues managed within the contaminated sites regime.

Table 4a. Presentation and consultation outreach sessions.

Presentations

Date Title Audience Location

September 19, 2006B.C. Ministry of Environment Land Remediation Update

National Brownfields Association, B.C. Chapter Seminar

Vancouver

September 28, 2006Emerging Issues for Contaminated Sites Regulation in B.C.

Contaminated Sites Stakeholders (lawyers, environmental consultants, government and business representatives)

Vancouver

December 14, 2006 and March 9, 2007

B.C. Ministry of Environment Land Remediation Update

Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Crown Contaminated Sites Branch

Victoria

January 10, 2007The Past Present and Future of Remediation in B.C.

B.C. Business Council Vancouver

January 17, 2007The Increasing Role of Qualified/Approved Professionals

Lower Mainland Region All Program Meeting

Surrey

January 18, 2007The Past Present and Future of Remediation in B.C.

Environmental Managers’ Association B.C. Vancouver

February 2007British Columbia Contaminated Sites Regulatory Update

Bodycote/Norwest Labs Environmental Seminar

Alberta

February 16, 2007Contaminated Sites in British Columbia – Regulatory Perspectives

University of British Columbia 4th Year Civil Engineering Class in Contaminated Sites

Vancouver

February 22, 2007Draft Revisions and Other Planned Changes to the Contaminated Sites Regulatory Regime in B.C.

GeoEnviroLogic Professional Development Seminars on Contaminated Sites Topics

Vancouver

March 8, 2007 Ministry Update to the Roster of the Whole Roster of Approved Professionals Vancouver


19

Table 4b. Presentation and consultation outreach sessions.

Consultation Sessions

Date Topic Audience Location

June 8, 2006 Provincial and state agencies roundtable – NBA International Brownfields Summit

International Brownfields Summit •delegates (full range of stakeholders)

Niagara Falls, Ontario

February 7–8, 2007 Seven draft contaminated sites documents:

A procedure for processing site profiles;•

A procedure for defining the boundaries •of a site;

Supplemental guidance for risk •assessments;

A protocol for classifying sites according •to risk;

A protocol for screening level risk •assessment;

Guidance on soil vapour investigations;•

Air Concentration Criteria.•

Session 1: B.C. Business Council•

Session 2: Government and non-•governmental organizations

Session 3: Environmental Consultants and •others

Vancouver

PoLiCy�, ProtoCoL an�D GuiDan�Ce

In addition to the seven draft documents currently under development, the Land Remediation Section has revised or updated many of its current documents and produced a number of new ones.

Updated:

All guidance documents, fact sheets, and protocols•

Revised:

Administrative Guidance 6: Independent Remediation Where Local Government Approvals are Required•

Site Information Request Application form•

New:

Fact Sheet 30: The Roster of •Approved Professionals

Fact Sheet 31: Remediation of Sites •Contaminated by a Spill

Fact Sheet 32: Residential Heating •Oil Storage Tanks

Fact Sheet 33: Obtaining Information from •the SWIS, WASTE and COORS Databases

Fact Sheet 34: Requirements for Responding •to Offsite Contaminant Migration

Fact Sheet 35: Requirements for the Environmental •Cleanup of Illegal Drug Manufacturing Sites

File Contents Retrieval form•

Notification of Independent Remediation form•

Policy, procedure, and protocol documents can be found on the Land Remediation Section’s website at: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/policy_procedure_protocol/index.htm

Administrative and technical guidance can be found at: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/guidance/index.htm

Fact sheets can be found at: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/fact_sheets/index.htm


http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/policy_procedure_protocol/index.htm

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/policy_procedure_protocol/index.htm

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/guidance/index.htm

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/guidance/index.htm

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/fact_sheets/index.htm

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/fact_sheets/index.htm

20

aCCeSS to in�Formation�

The Site Registry

Contaminated sites provisions under the Environmental Management Act and Contaminated Sites Regulation require the ministry to provide public information about site investigations and cleanups. The provincial Site Registry meets this requirement. At the end of the 2006/07 fiscal year information regarding 8,922 sites was available on the Site Registry and 16,409 BC Online transactions had been made to obtain information associated with these records.

Site Information Requests

Information that is available in paper records or on databases can be provided through the site information request (SIR) process. In 2006/07 there were 139 requests through the SIR process, 68 for Site Registry information and 71 for file retrieval information. Turnaround times for these requests were typically 2 weeks.

CS e-Link System

The ministry maintains an e-mail service to provide up-to-date news on contaminated sites developments. The CS e-Link system is a free service that notifies subscribers when and where to find information, online documents, news, and announcements related to contaminated sites and the contaminated sites regime.

In fiscal 2006/07 twenty-seven CS e-Link messages were sent out, keeping stakeholders informed and up to date on contaminated sites issues. There

were 769 subscribers to the service by the end of fiscal 2006/07. On our web site there is also a list of archived CS e-Link messages, sorted by year.

fINANCIAL MATTERS

exPen�DitureS

In 2006/2007, the Land Remediation Section had an operations budget of $2,548,200. The total it spent was $2,986,051.

Summary of expenditures in 2006/07 $

Salaries and benefits 1,615,921

Staff travel 91,964

Professional services 650,216

Transfers and grants 537,400

Other expenses 90,550

Total 2,986,051

The Section received $640,000 for the 2006/07 fiscal year to spend on contracts. Of this money, almost two-thirds ($394,442) was used for external contract review of contaminated sites service applications.

reVen�ue

Including $605,529 in annual Site Registry revenue, the Land Remediation Section raised through service fees approximately $2.9 mil-lion for the Sustainable Environment Fund in 2006/07. The Sustainable Environment Fund is a special British Columbia government financial account dedicated to supporting provincial environmental protection and renewal initiatives.

Con�traCtS an�D Gran�tS

Contracts were administered and grants awarded in 2006/07 to ensure the objectives of the Land Remediation program were met. A number of these contracts and grants are shown in Table 5 on the following page.


21

Table 5. Contracts administered and grants awarded in fiscal 2006/07.

Contracts

Organization Project/Objective

Various environmental consulting firms External contract reviews - review of reports for non-high risk sites.

The Lime Kiln Group, Inc. Research and report on options for a provincial brownfields strategy.

Westcoast Editorial Associates Professional writing services.

Grants

Organization Project/Objective

Canadian Brownfields Network Inaugural annual grant

National Brownfield Associations (Canada) Annual grant

Science Advisory BoardCompletion of work on detailed environmental risk assessment and Contaminated Sites Soil Task Group protocol integration

National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health Development of high density urban land use scenario

Simon Fraser School of Resource and Environmental Management Development of a framework for conducting cumulative risk assessment for impacted sites in B.C.

Simon Fraser University Development of conceptual exposure models for wild land standards development

Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Development of ecological benchmarks within Pacific Northwest jurisdictions

Macdonald Environmental Services Sediment assessment work

CGI Information Systems Contaminated Sites Application Tracking System (CATs) upgrades


22LOOkINg AhEAD

In the future the Land Remediation Section plans to:

Dedicate more staff time to high •risk contaminated sites.

Seek out and provide support for in-•novative remedial strategies based on experience from other jurisdictions.

Develop new policies and guidance to •support practitioners and clients.

Improve access to Site information.•

Promote a culture of life-long learn-•ing within the organization.

Some of the specific areas being pursued include:

Maintaining a flexible and •adaptive organizationIt is the Land Remediation Section’s ongoing objective to introduce legislative, regulatory, and process amendments, where possible and where they protect human and environmental health, in order to provide greater clarity, flexibility, and fairness to remediation and brownfield redevelopment stakeholders in British Columbia.

Developing a compliance strategy•Under the contaminated sites legal regime, responsible persons must abide by requirements to ensure that risks to human health and the en-vironment are at acceptable levels. A compliance strategy is currently being developed to align with the expanded role of Approved Professionals in contaminated sites management in the province.

Expanding partnerships•We recognize that an effective contaminated sites remediation and brownfield redevelop-ment regime relies on the active participation, collaboration and commitment of a wide variety of stakeholders including communities, land owners and developers, environmental professionals, other facilitators such as lenders, and the regulator. Land Remediation staff will work to maintain existing partnerships and seek new opportunities to expand partnerships.

Communicating effectively•Based on the findings of a “Website Usability Inspection” report the section commissioned in 2006, a number of recommendations were made which, when implemented, will improve naviga-bility on the Land Remediation website and stan-dardize the format and style of each page on the website. Over time, we will add more items to the Key Resources section. Additional work will also be done on pages that are at a lower level in the system (for example, the Approved Professionals and legislation and regulations pages).

We look forward to continuing to work with our partners and stakeholders to harmonize efforts to create a healthy, sustainable environ-ment and support a vibrant economy.

23fOR fURThER INfORMATION

Website: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/

Contact List by Topic: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/contact.htm

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (250) 387-4441

Mailing Address: BC Ministry of Environment Land Remediation Section PO Box 9342 Stn Prov Govt Victoria, BC V8W 9M1

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/contact.htm

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/remediation/contact.htm

mailto:[email protected]

24Environmental Management Branch

APPENDIxIMAgES

25

Bamberton, Vancouver Island

APPENDIx: IMAgES (CONTINUED)

26

Bayside Lands, Victoria (photo courtesy Thurber Engineering Ltd.)


27

9250 Oak Street, Vancouver


28

Washer Creek, Union Bay (photo courtesy Seacor Environmental Inc.)


29

Remaining portion of the original cement kiln at Bamberton.


30

The first of four gas holders (“gasometers”) constructed at the former coal gasification plant in Victoria.

Image I-01398 courtesy of Royal BC Museum, BC Archives


31

Aerial view of Southeast False Creek (area overlad by yellow shading) in Vancouver.


32

Teck Cominco lead-zinc smelter adjacent to the Columbia River.


33

Aerial photo showing the Bamberton cement plant before deconstruction. The former limestone quarry shows as a deep excavation on the west (left) side of the cement plant buildings.


34

Building deconstruction took eight months and included removal of 40 tonnes of asbestos pipe insulation waste (shown in yellow bags) and 2,800 tonnes of steel, which was barged to Tacoma, WA, for recycling.


35

Southernmost landfill site under remediation. As can be seen in this photo, the site presents some challenging terrain.


36

Contaminated materials reaching the ocean where one of the old Bamberton landfills failed.


37

The former limestone quarry being engineered for use as the soil storage facility.


38

The former coal gasification plant, Victoria Gas Works, in the 1920s. The cylindrical tower at the centre-back of the photo is one of the four gas holders (“gasometers”) erected onsite to store the coal gas before distribution to customers. The gasometers

were designed with telescoping sections that moved up and down, depending on the volume of gas in storage.


39

An interior view of the foundation base of one of the gasometers at the former coal gasification plant at Rock Bay. This brick and mortar foundation (20 metres in diameter, 7 metres high, and 1 metre thick) was completely removed during remediation.


40

To keep the site and excavations dry, a temporary holding pond was put in place to accommodate site ground and surface runoff water during remediation. The water was tested, treated, and (upon meeting accept-

able quality) discharged to the sanitary sewer under permit from the Capital Regional District.


41

Soil being loaded for barge transport offsite to licensed treatment and disposal facilities.


42

A historical view of False Creek’s south shore. (Source: City of Vancouver website)


43

A vision of Southeast False Creek’s sustainable community. (Source: City of Vancouver web site)


44

Proposed community layout. (Source: City of Vancouver website)


45

A new intertidal inlet and shoreline are starting to take shape. (Source: pacificmetropolis.com)


46

With the original study area encompassing approximately 80,000 square kilometres, the remediation plan is using a wide-area ecological risk assess-ment and a human health risk assessment that will eventually narrow in scope as the problem areas are identified. The objective of the remediation plan

is to restore the environmental quality of the site to a condition that does not pose unacceptable risks to humans or ecological resources.


47

Teck Cominco’s lead-zinc smelter complex has been releasing emissions into the air and dis-charging effluent into the Columbia River over many years.


48

Teck Cominco’s lead-zinc smelter complex has been releasing emissions into the air and dis-charging effluent into the Columbia River over many years.


49

Canada Line


50

Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion


51

Whistler Athletes’ Village


52

Idle brownfield site in Victoria West.


53

Brownfield site in Brentwood Bay on the Saanich Peninsula north of Victoria.


land remediation section - british columbia · director’s roster of approved professionals and...

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