July 30, 2010

FEATURE | Site services

Ontario Brownfield Act to change remediation rules next year

MARY BAXTER

correspondent

The old standby solution for soil remediation at brownfield sites used to be “dig and dump” —scooping up the toxic contaminants and getting rid of them.

No more. Big changes to environmental regulations under the Ontario Brownfield Act expands options, but also increases paperwork and costs.

The changes come into effect July 1, 2011 and apply to Regulation 153/04. They affect the tolerance levels for about 120 contaminants in soil, sediments and groundwater, introduce standardized reporting procedures for Phase I and II environmental site assessments and revise procedures for filing records of site condition.

They will also introduce a streamlined risk assessment and management process, called modified generic risk assessment, for when the site condition does not meet provincially developed generic standards. The process employs site-specific conditions such as soil type or land use to make property-specific standards.

Marc Chabot, Canada operations manager for CH2M Hill, based in Kitchener, Ont. predicts the changes will increase the use of environmental monitoring and risk management specialists in development projects.

Many of the tolerance levels for contaminants have “changed by 100-fold,” in the new regulations, he says, meaning a greater number of brownfield sites will need risk assessment and management under a Phase II environmental site assessment.

It’s going to increase the cost of redevelopment, he says, depending on the specifics of the site and the contaminant. The new approach also means developers will not necessarily be restricted to remediation to deal with the problem. If the project qualifies for the new risk assessment option, for example, the contaminant may be left in place as long as any potential exposure is blocked.

“That’s where folks like ourselves can help the client to understand what the social, financial, ecological, human impacts are for each of the contaminants of concern they might have on their site and help them to develop a strategy in order to address those specific issues.,” she says.

Glenn Ferguson, senior scientist and program director with Intrinsik Environmental Sciences Inc., says changes to the Phase I and II environmental site assessments means more data collection and reporting requirements for developers.

“The ministry has really raised the bar,” he says.

More sampling collected in some cases over longer periods of time is inevitably going to mean greater expense. Timelines could also be affected, he adds.

Historically, risk assessment has been done as a last resort. Ferguson says the regulatory changes will make risk assessment more of a priority.

strategy in order to address those specific issues,” she says.

Glenn Ferguson, senior scientist and program director with Intrinsik Environmental Sciences Inc., says changes to the Phase I and II environmental site assessments means more data collection and reporting requirements for developers.

“The ministry has really raised the bar,” he says.

More sampling collected in some cases over longer periods of time is inevitably going to mean greater expense. Timelines could also be affected, he adds.

Historically, risk assessment has been done as a last resort. Ferguson says the regulatory changes will make risk assessment more of a priority.

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