2024 ESAA AGM
Notice of Meeting and Call for Nominations – ESAA Board of Directors
April 15th, 2024
4:15 pm – Kananaskis Mountain Lodge
Registration details available in late February
NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF MEMBERS
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Annual General Meeting of the Members of the Association will be held at the Kananaskis Mountain Lodge, on April 15th, 2024, at the hour of 4:15 pm for the following purposes:
- to approve the minutes of Members dated April 12th, 2023;
- to receive the report of the President;
- to receive the report of ESAA Management;
- to receive the report of the Treasurer;
- to appoint Auditors;
- to appoint/elect Directors; and
- the transaction of such further and other matters as may properly be brought before the meeting or any adjournment thereof.
All full members have the right to appoint a proxy, who needs not to be a member, to exercise the same voting rights that the member appointing such proxy would be entitled to exercise if present at the meeting.
The location of the meeting is Kananaskis Mountain Lodge
Dated at the City of Edmonton, in the Province of Alberta,
this _12th___ day of _April _, 2024.
BY ORDER OF THE BOARD
Per: President
* There is no charge to attend the ESAA AGM
ESAA Board of Directors
Call for Nominations
The ESAA Board of Directors is pleased to announce the Call for Nominations for the ESAA Board of Directors. The Board of Directors election to be held at the ESAA AGM on April 15th, 2024.
There will be four (4) positions open for the ESAA Board of Directors, each for a three (3) year term.
If you would like to be included on the list of candidates for the ESAA Board of Directors and are a representative of a full ESAA Member, please submit 6 letters of support* by no later than March 13th, 2024, to the ESAA Office via e-mail: [email protected].
In addition to the requirement of being a representative of a full ESAA Member, the ESAA Board is requesting those with the following qualifications consider putting their name forward to assist ESAA navigate a number of strategic priorities:
- Senior management experience or 10+ years environment industry experience
- Regulatory or government relations experience,
- ESG knowledge,
- Waste management, laboratory, Industrial experience
Potential Candidates should be aware that there will be a Board planning session May 22 and May 23rd
(*) Letters of support must be from ESAA Members and only one letter per member.
Elevate Your Environmental Career: Join ECO Canada’s Community of EP® Professionals Today!
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- Industry-Recognized Designation
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Protecting Alberta’s ferruginous hawk
Alberta is launching a new at-risk species plan to protect an endangered hawk and send population numbers soaring.
A ferruginous hawk in flight near Hilda, Alta. Photo credit: Gordon Court
The ferruginous hawk has been seen in the rolling plains of southern Alberta’s grasslands for generations and is widely known as the largest hawk in North America. However, despite past efforts to increase its numbers, the bird remains endangered under Alberta’s Wildlife Act.
Alberta’s government is releasing an updated plan to protect this majestic hawk and support the growth of its population. This plan will update the original 2014 plan and will increase population numbers, protect nest sites and support the habitats needed for the ferruginous hawk to thrive.
“This plan represents a collaborative, multi-year conservation effort between Environment and Protected Areas and multiple partners. While still not where they need to be, numbers of ferruginous hawks appear to be moving in the right direction, thanks to these efforts. These large, conspicuous hawks are an iconic species in our grasslands and play an important role in our province’s ecosystem.”
Alberta’s species at risk recovery plans help establish a basis for cooperation among government, Indigenous communities, industry, conservation groups, landowners and other stakeholders to ensure at-risk species and populations are restored or maintained to their former glory.
Under the original plan, the ferruginous hawk population has slowly stabilized and shown signs of increasing. However, the bird remains endangered, and an updated approach is needed if Alberta hopes to see a long-term recovery.
Through the new plan, Alberta’s government and partners across the province will work to protect and support the hawk’s habitats, nest structures and prey needed to survive. Other important steps will also be taken in the coming years, including reducing human disturbance at nest sites and limiting the impacts of predators.
“Ensuring grasslands are maintained for species like ferruginous hawks is crucial. These hawks are often embraced by landowners as a natural means to help control ground squirrel numbers, with many encouraging the endangered species to establish a nest on their land. Continued support and collaboration from landowners, along with society’s desire to see ferruginous hawks thrive, provides a promising future for this and other species as long as we maintain intact grasslands.”
“Since 2008, AltaLink has proudly been an active member of the Alberta Ferruginous Hawk Recovery Team and contributed to the development of the recovery plan. Through our own avian protection plan, AltaLink proactively works to mitigate the potential impact that our facilities can have on all avian species. This has included funding ferruginous hawk research and contributing materials and resources to construct nesting platforms. We are pleased with the approval of the recovery plan and look forward to continuing our efforts to support the recovery of this species.”
This recovery plan was developed with input from Indigenous communities, industry, conservation groups and other stakeholders that have played vital roles in recovery efforts for Alberta’s ferruginous hawk population.
Quick facts
- Most ferruginous hawks are pale below with a rusty orange back, but some are dark brown with a contrastingly lighter tail.
- Ferruginous hawks require open habitat, including grassland, shrub-steppe or desert, typically nesting on elevated features such as trees or nest platforms. Its primary predators are great-horned owls; however, nestlings may be susceptible to predation by golden eagles, coyotes, badgers and foxes, among others.
Related information
Alberta: Updating workplace health and safety rules
Albertans can help make workplaces healthier and safer by providing input on proposed updates to health and safety rules.
Alberta’s government continues to review and update the Occupational Health and Safety Code (OHS Code), which contains detailed technical requirements for controlling health and safety hazards at the province’s workplaces. A new online survey enables Albertans to provide their input between Feb. 20 and March 19.
“Alberta’s workplaces have gone through many changes during the past 15 years and Alberta’s government needs to make sure health and safety laws reflect modern workplaces. I encourage workers, employers and health and safety professionals to provide their valuable input to help improve and update the OHS Code so it works better for everyone.”
Participants can fill out the entire survey or just the parts that interest them. The survey covers the parts of the OHS Code related to workplace violence and harassment, explosives and oil and gas wells.
Alberta’s government is looking for input on proposed updates to the OHS Code that consider new best practices, updated standards, technological advances and streamline requirements to reduce unnecessary administrative burden. The government is also looking to align Alberta’s code with other Canadian jurisdictions, which promotes labour mobility and inter-provincial trade.
Quick facts
- This year’s review and online survey will cover the following parts of the OHS Code:
- Part 27 – Violence and harassment
- Part 33 – Explosives
- Part 37 – Oil and gas wells
Related information
Town of Trenton fined for violating the Fisheries Act in Nova Scotia
The Government of Canada enforces the laws that protect Canada’s air, water, and natural environment, and takes pollution incidents and threats to the environment seriously.
On February 15, 2024, the Town of Trenton was ordered to pay a total of $100,000, after pleading guilty to one count of violating the Fisheries Act at the Provincial Court of Nova Scotia in Pictou County. The total fine will be directed to the Government of Canada’s Environmental Damages Fund. In addition to the sentence, the court also issued an order with a number of conditions to be met within 18 months. Some of the conditions include: training on the Fisheries Act and its requirements; training on proper effluent sampling protocols for Town of Trenton employees and contractors; completing routine sampling; and publishing emergency contact information and information about the incident and sentencing on the Town of Trenton website.
The charge stemmed from an Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement investigation, which determined that raw sewage was discharged into Lowden Brook between June 1, 2019, and January 4, 2020. Lowden Brook is a tributary to the East River that supports populations of Speckled Trout, Brown Trout, and Atlantic Salmon.
On November 13, 2019, Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers received a complaint of a strong sewage smell around Lowden Brook along North Main Street in Trenton, Nova Scotia. When officers conducted an on-site inspection, they located an outfall that was releasing what appeared to be raw sewage into the brook. It was determined that the outfall was connected to the Town of Trenton’s municipal infrastructure. Officers collected samples from the outfall and at the entry point into Lowden Brook for chemistry, microbiology, and toxicology analysis.
After lab results determined that there were high levels of E. coli at the outfall and the culvert, and that the effluent was toxic to fish, on December 20, 2019, officers issued a Fisheries Act written Direction to the Town of Trenton. The Direction required the town to develop a plan to stop the deposit of the deleterious substance and provide regular monitoring reports until the deposit was stopped. The deposit ceased on January 3, 2020.
Because of this conviction, the Town of Trenton will be added to the Environmental Offenders Registry. The Registry contains information on convictions of corporations registered for offences committed under certain federal environmental laws.
Environment and Climate Change Canada has created a free subscription service to help Canadians stay current with what the Government of Canada is doing to protect the natural environment.
Quick facts
Environment and Climate Change Canada administers and enforces the pollution prevention provisions of the Fisheries Act. The pollution prevention provisions include subsection 36(3) of the Fisheries Act which prohibits the deposit of a deleterious substance into water frequented by fish, or in a place where it may enter water frequented by fish.
A Fisheries Act Direction is a compliance tool that may be issued by enforcement officers when there is an unauthorized deposit of a deleterious substance into water frequented by fish, or when there is a serious and imminent danger of such an incident and immediate action is necessary. The Direction may require the person to take all reasonable measures consistent with safety and the conservation of fish and fish habitat.
Created in 1995, the Environmental Damages Fund is a Government of Canada program administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada. The Fund helps ensure that court-awarded penalties are used to repair environmental damage or benefit the environment. The Fund receives and redirects the money from court penalties and settlements and aims to invest in areas where the environmental damage occurred.
Government of Canada invests $3 million in citizen science and open data for birds and biodiversity
Birds are the most accessible and effective indicators of the health of air, water, and land. They are at the heart of Canada’s biodiversity and play an essential role in maintaining healthy, resilient ecosystems in communities. When bird populations and their habitats are thriving, communities also benefit. When birds forage for food, build nests, and perform other necessities, they disperse plants and seeds that can reduce flooding and erosion, better filter groundwater, and provide more spaces to appreciate nature.
Today, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced an investment of $3 million to Birds Canada over five years. The funding will support citizen science programs and open data, providing access to hundreds of millions of data records gathered by volunteers and professional biologists on the distribution, abundance, and population trends for birds in Canada.
The new funding will allow Birds Canada to build and improve the tools needed to collect, analyze, and share open-access data that will inform a wide range of conservation efforts. Also, experts and citizen science volunteers will be mobilized across Canada to monitor migratory birds, including species at risk, to identify priority habitats and inform land-use management to better protect them.
The funding will support Birds Canada’s NatureCounts platform, one of the world’s largest biodiversity databases. The information and data in the NatureCounts platform can be used to inform environmental impact assessments, climate research, and industry practices. The data can also help determine the impacts of climate change stressors on ecosystems, biodiversity, and species, and evaluate the effectiveness of conservation and recovery actions.
Each year, tens of thousands of volunteers participate in Birds Canada’s citizen science monitoring and research programs. These citizen science programs, and the dedicated people who contribute to them, form the backbone of bird conservation in Canada. From February 16 to 19, 2024, bird enthusiasts of all ages, from beginners to experts, are invited to take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, a worldwide annual tradition that creates a real-time snapshot of where birds are over those four days.
North Bay council to vote on cost and scope of cleaning contaminated PFAS soil at airport
(Source: CTV News) The City of North Bay is planning to start on-site remediation of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) at the Jack Garland Airport property as early as this spring.
The work will be subject to city council’s approval next week of an increase in contract price and scope for the environmental consultant overseeing the engineering and design of the remediation plan.
Under a $20-million agreement with the Department of National Defence, 97 per cent of the remediation project will be funded by the federal government. The city would cover the other three per cent.
PFAS are substances found in many consumer and industrial products, including firefighting foam. Use of the airport lands for firefighter training from the early 1970s until the mid-1990s is the main source of PFAS on the airport property.
The scope of cleanup includes removing and treating the most contaminated soil, injecting adsorptive material into hot spots at the site’s boundary to treat groundwater before it exits, and placing adsorptive material at exit locations to prevent PFAS in surface water from leaching downstream.
“The development of a PFAS remediation plan has been a complex undertaking that began more than two years ago,” Mayor Peter Chirico said in a news release.
“We are extremely pleased that cleanup efforts at the airport site are now about to get underway.”
A staff report recommended the contract with Jacobs Consultancy Canada Inc. be increased to $8 million from $5 million to accommodate the increase in scope. The matter goes to council Feb. 27.
The increase in scope includes remediation design, site supervision, sampling analysis and reporting. The cost of the remediation work will also be covered under the DND funding agreement.
Since 2017, the city has been working with federal and provincial organizations to test and monitor PFAS in Trout Lake, Lees Creek and residential wells located near the lands.
“Our priority throughout this process is and has been the health and safety of our residents,” Chirico said.
A long-standing drinking water advisory for Lees Creek remains in place as well as a fish consumption advisory for fish from the creek.
New ESAA Member
ESAA welcomes the following new member. If you are not a member of ESAA you can join now via: https://esaa.org/join-esaa/
Datanest
Unit 15, 14 Broad Street
Woolston
Christchurch, Canterbury 8023
Phone: 64 21 377 559
Greg Martin, CEO
[email protected]
Datanest is the industry-leading data software designed primarily for scientific and engineering consultants. Covering all aspects of project work from in-field data collection through to automated report delivery, each of Datanest’s five modules offer fully customizable end-to-end workflow solutions, allowing you to produce exceptional outputs while saving time and money.
Upcoming Events
ESAA Environmental Summit
April 15-17, 2024
Kananaskis Mountain Lodge
Draft Agenda Now Available
The Draft Agenda is now available for the 2nd annual ESAA Summit – April 15 – 17th at the Kananaskis Mountain Lodge.
Agenda features 8 panel discussions:
- Toward Sustainable Development: Dual (and Competing) Imperatives for Industry and Municipalities
- Net Zero – What Does This Mean and What Can We Do?
- Sustainability in Action: Navigating Complexities of the Three Pillars of Sustainability
- Beyond the Buzzwords: Collaborative Pathways to Indigenous Engagement and Inclusion in Energy Transformation
- Wildfires – Disaster Management Risk Management and Climate Resiliency
- The Future of Water
- A Breathe of Fresh Air .. Maybe? Balancing Noise, Odour, Particulate and Contaminant Air Emissions
- Navigating the Environmental Business Landscape: A Comprehensive Approach to Risk Management, Insurance and Liability Mitigation
Justin Riemer, Emissions Reduction Alberta
Technology & Artificial Intelligence in the Wild
Brian Keating, Going Wild
Full details at: Agenda – ESAA
Hotel Accommodations: The 2024 edition will take place at the Kananaskis Mountain Lodge. Discover an extraordinary experience at Kananaskis Mountain Lodge, Autograph Collection, where you’re surrounded by mountainous beauty and modern luxury. Nestled against the enchanting Canadian Rockies, our upscale hotel is perfect for unique summer and winter activities. Room rates at the Kananaskis Mountain Lodge start at $245 + taxes. Book your room at: Kananaskis Mountain Lodge – ESAA
Registration: Register now at: Register – ESAA
Sponsorship: A very limited number of sponsorship opportunities remain – details at: Sponsors – ESAA
ESAA & SMART Remediation Webinar
March 14th, 2024
11:00 am to 1:45 pm (Alberta Time)
ESAA is pleased to partner with SMART Remediation to offer the following webinar on March 14th, 2024. The webinar will take place between 11:00 am and 1:45 pm and feature 5 speakers and will be held over Zoom.
Smart Methods in Advanced Remediation Technologies (SMART) is a series of technical learning seminars for environmental professionals. Our goal is to bring the North American environmental community together to enhance our collective understanding of cutting edge characterization and remediation technologies.
Full details at: https://esaa.org/events/webinars/
Speakers
PFAS Risk Management at Airports
Harris Switzman, General Manager of Environment and Sustainability, Calgary Airport Authority.
Hazardous is the New Clean – Contaminate Management Supported Redevelopment
Money Talk: FCSAP Phase V Demand
Scott Thompson, Public Services and Procurement Canada
6PPD and 6PPD-Q, Environmental Fate and Transport and Current Regulatory Environment
Paul Cheung, Terrapex Environmental Ltd.
Ivana Vukovic, Product Manager, Specialty Laboratories, SGS North America
Soil Management Technology at the Toronto Portlands
Pete Craig, National Director of Project Innovation, QM
Registration and Sponsorship
- Members: $29 + GST
- Non-Members: $39 + GST
- Sponsorship: $500 + GST – 2 Available
Register or Sponsor Now
We are excited to share that abstract submissions for the 2024 Federal Contaminated Sites Regional Workshop are now OPEN!
The workshop will be held in Edmonton, Alberta at the JW Marriot from June 26-27th, 2024 as a hybrid (live/virtual) regional event, with the theme of Contaminated Sites Management on Northern* and Remote Sites.
As the leading professional development event for federal and industry environmental professionals involved in the management and remediation of federal contaminated sites, the Workshop will provide a forum for the contaminated sites community to learn about technical, scientific, and organizational innovations and best practices.
Building on the success of the National event which took place in November 2023, this year, the Regional edition of the event will feature a diverse program of technical presentations, case studies, and everything in between.
For your abstract(s) to be considered, please make your submission(s) no later than March 4th, 2024.
We’re looking forward to hearing from you and are excited to have you participate in our dynamic program!
Details
ESAA Job Board
Check out the new improved ESAA Job Board. Members can post ads for free.
Current Listings:
- Intermediate Environmental Scientist, Arletta Environmental Consulting Corp
- Intermediate Report Reviewer, North Shore Environmental Consultants Inc.
- Intermediate Environmental Professional- Assessment and Reclamation Group – Triton Environmental Consultants
- Environmental Co-op Student – Trace Associates Inc.
- Environmental Student – Trace Associates Inc.
- Junior Geoscientist – Trace Associates Inc.
- Junior Environmental Scientist – Trace Associates Inc.
- Technical Operations (Environmental) – Edmonton, Alberta – Nichols Environmental
- Technical Operations (Environmental) – Calgary, Alberta – Nichols Environmental
- Human Resources Generalist – Edmonton, Alberta – Nichols Environmental
- Junior Environmental Consultant – North Shore Environmental Consultants Inc.
- Intermediate Environmental Professional- Assessment and Reclamation Group – Triton Environmental Consultants
- Intermediate Environmental Consultant – North Shore Environmental Consultants Inc.
- Senior Environmental Planner –Stantec
- Junior Environmental Consultant – North Shore Environmental Consultants Inc.
- Site Investigation & Remediation (SIR) Team Lead –Stantec Consulting Services Inc.
- Jr. To Intermediate Environmental Project Manager/Hydrogeologist – TerraLogix Solutions Inc.