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RemTech EastMay 30 – June 1, 2023 Call for Abstracts and Early Bird RegistrationThe Environmental Services Association of Alberta (ESAA) is pleased to announce that in partnership with the Ontario Environment Industry Association (ONEIA) that RemTech East is returning in 202 to the Fallsview Casino – Niagara Falls: May 30th – June 1st. The two and a half day technical program will consist of presentations grouped into sessions chaired by leaders in environmental remediation research and application. The event will feature great keynote speakers, lots of networking opportunities and an amazing reception at Table Rock House Restaurant. Call for Abstracts – Deadline to submit an abstract is February 17th, 2023. Full details at: https://esaa.org/remtecheast/ Early Bird Registration Now Open
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EnviroTech is EvolvingEnviroTech is now the ESAA Environmental SummitApril 12-14, 2023 |
Alberta: Guilty plea for contravention of the Water Act
Robert Rettie has pleaded guilty to one count under the Water Act regarding an incident that occurred between Aug. 31, 2020 and May 26, 2022.
Rettie entered a guilty plea on Dec. 20 to one count of contravening a term or condition of a licence under Section 142(1)(e) of the Water Act for failing to monitor and record the total number of cubic metres of water diverted from production wells.
He was sentenced to a $2,500 fine, inclusive of the victim surcharge, plus a two-year probation order.
Quick facts
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A separate related matter is still before the courts.
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The Criminal Code allows prosecutors the flexibility to ensure guilty pleas are entered as best describing an offence. Upon entry of a guilty plea, the judge can impose the sentence they determine appropriate.
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Alberta’s Water Act supports and promotes the conservation and management of water in Alberta.
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The Water Act addresses Albertans’ rights to divert water, the types of instruments and decision-making processes available for diversion and use of water, and enforcement measures available to ensure the goals of the act are met.
AER : Invitation for Feedback on Revisions to Directive 001
N7 Energy Ltd. pleads guilty to charge laid by the AER
CALGARY, AB, December 14, 2022 – N7 Energy Ltd. pled guilty to a charge laid against them by the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) in August 2022. The charge relates to starting activity without prior approval contrary to section 142(1) (h) of the Water Act, which occurred in August 2020 near Swan Hills, Alberta.
Because of the guilty plea, N7 Energy must pay a $70 000 penalty. Of that amount, $65 000 will go to the AER to fund at least one creative sentencing project, and the remaining $5000 will go to the Provincial Court of Alberta as a fine and a victim fine surcharge payment.
The creative sentencing project will occur within the Lesser Slave Watershed or the municipal districts of Greenview, Lesser Slave River, or Big Lakes County and must demonstrate benefits to aquatic ecosystems and environments. The AER will publish one or more requests for proposals using established Government of Alberta practices and oversee the creative sentencing project on behalf of the Provincial Court of Alberta.
For more information, visit the AER Compliance Dashboard.
BC: Provincial environmental assessment certificate will not be granted for Sukunka coal mine
NS: Environmental group claims water tests at gold mine site have high arsenic levels
(Source: CBC News) An environmental group in Nova Scotia says a gold mine is responsible for high levels of arsenic in waterways nearby.
Members of Water is Life Nova Scotia have been doing regular water testing near the tailings dam at the Touquoy Gold Mine located in Moose River, about 65 kilometres northeast of Halifax.
What they discovered in late August near Scraggy Lake, which is located next to the mine, prompted them to come back and take more water samples.
“There was a yellow and orange liquid running through the woods,” said Sydnee McKay. “We were quite shocked to see this.”
The group, which has 200 members, has now collected several water and soil samples at the site.
Some of the lab tests showed arsenic levels five times higher than industrial approval limits. Further tests done in subsequent weeks showed levels were lower but still well above the limit.
Those results, including the GPS coordinates of where the tests were taken, were included in an information package that was shared with provincial and federal environment departments.
McKay says water from Scraggy Lake flows toward the coastline, eventually flowing into the ocean.
“We have not heard from the provincial government on this and it concerns me,” said McKay. “I’m really worried about the water systems on the eastern shore.”
A spokesperson for Nova Scotia’s Department of Environment and Climate Change confirmed they received the information package and are reviewing it. When asked if the department has done any of their own testing at the site, the spokesperson said a determination on whether additional testing is required will be made once the review is complete.
The company that operates the mine, Australia-based St Barbara Ltd., says it does daily inspections at the site and no recent leaks have been detected. They’re also required to do regular water testing.
“Arsenic and other metals are naturally occurring elements in surface water and groundwater throughout the province of Nova Scotia and are tested as part of our routine sampling programs,” Sarah Brannen, a communication consultant with St Barbara, Atlantic Operations, said in an email statement.
“Our testing and sampling procedures for ground and surface water are completed to meet federal and provincial requirements.”
Part of a wall surrounding the open pit at the gold mine collapsed in late September following torrential rain from post-tropical storm Fiona. Material from the wall located above a production area slid into the pit. The storm also knocked out power at the facility for a week and a half.
McKay says ongoing extreme weather events are bound to cause significant impacts at the tailings dam. The organization will continue to take water and soil samples in the area. So far the testing they’ve done has cost about $5,000.
This isn’t the first time environmental questions have been raised at the gold mine site.
Last year, St Barbara was fined $10,000 and ordered to pay an additional $240,000 in financial penalties after pleading guilty to federal and provincial environmental charges. The company admitted it breached environmental laws by failing to properly test for the level of sediment in water that could be hazardous to fish habitat. It also failed to regularly report findings to government as required.
Local anglers are concerned to hear about high arsenic levels in recent tests.
“We fish Scraggy Lake and some other lakes in the area that are all connected,” said Ryan Dickie, whose family has a fishing camp on Scraggy Lake. “This really makes us wonder if it will have a big impact on the habitat for all the fish back there.”
In 2021, a provincial investigation into a discoloured substance found at the tailings dam concluded there was no risk to the environment in the incident.
At the time, an orange-coloured substance was spotted around the rock wall that separates the tailings pond from the surrounding area at the Touquoy mine.
Environmental groups were concerned that the tailings pond, which contains material left over after ore has been crushed and processed, was leaking into the environment. But provincial environment inspectors took samples of the substance and their investigation concluded it was from elevated iron concentrations from groundwater entering the collection pond.
The ownership of the mine, which employs 292 people, has undergone change.
When it first opened in 2017, Vancouver-based Atlantic Gold operated the mine. St Barbara purchased it in 2019. Last month, St Barbara announced it will be merging in June with Genesis Minerals Ltd., another company based in Australia.
Since production commenced at the Touquoy Mine, 400,000 ounces of gold has been produced.
White-nose syndrome has killed millions of bats. The fungus that causes it is now in Alberta
(Source: CBC News) A fungus that causes a disease that is nearly wiping out bat populations in Eastern Canada and the U.S. has made its first appearance in Alberta.
The fungus has been identified in several locations in the province after being found in Saskatchewan in 2021.
White-nose syndrome is a disease that starves bats to death by interrupting their winter hibernation, which wastes the energy they need to get through the winter.
“It looks like [the fungus is] spreading about 500 kilometres a year,” said Cory Olson of the Wildlife Conservation Society, which conducted the research.
Society researchers traced the fungus by collecting bat droppings from underneath 800 bridges where the tiny mammals like to rest during the night.
“A lot of bridges have bats,” said Olson. “About half of all the bridges we looked at had bat guano.”
When analyzed, two samples from along the southern stretch of the Red Deer River came back positive for the fungus.
Other samples that showed likely infection came from along the Milk River in southern Alberta and as far north as the Battle River near Cold Lake.
The fungus affects an infested bat’s skin. Olson compared it to athlete’s foot.
“It eats away at their skin and they have to come out of hibernation to fight the infection — or it may be irritating and they can’t hibernate when it’s happening.”
Bats’ immune systems barely function when they’re asleep, meaning they must wake up to fight the fungus. But during hibernation, bats may have to go without food for six months. Coming out of it costs them energy they need to make it through the winter.
“They simply starve to death before they can start feeding again,” Olson said.
Because bats huddle closely together to survive the cold, the disease spreads quickly. It’s also deadly.
In one cave in Eastern Canada, 98 per cent of bats died.
In eastern North America, where the disease has been present for almost 20 years, bat populations have shrunk by about 90 per cent.
Alberta has already declared endangered two species of the little brown bat, the province’s most common bat, out of concern for the disease’s eventual arrival.
“We’re pretty likely to see similar declines in Alberta,” Olson said. “It’s not a lot of bats that can survive this disease.”
‘Bats are in trouble’
White-nose syndrome first appeared in North America in 2006 in New York state, probably through shipping. It’s spread mostly bat-to-bat, although humans can play a role.
Bats play an important role in their various ecosystems. They are the major nighttime predator of flying insects, such as mosquitoes. A bat can eat its body weight in bugs during a single night’s hunt.
They also feast on insects that damage human crops. Moths, for example, are prime bat food. Moths grow from caterpillars, a significant crop pest.
Olson said an American study concluded that bats provide pest control worth billions every year. He said the Canadian figures are likely in the “many millions” of dollars.
A small number of bats have shown a natural resistance to the fungus, which scientists are trying to understand. As well, researchers are experimenting with an antifungal agent that could be sprayed into bat caves.
Olson urges people to disturb bats as little as possible.
“Let them do their thing,” he said. “Bats are in trouble.”
Alberta government won’t release data on snowpack contamination from coal mines
The data was collected by two senior provincial government scientists who conducted research into the impact of windblown dust from mines in British Columbia on a pristine Alberta alpine lake. They recently published a paper concluding that sediments in Window Lake are as contaminated as lakes downwind from the oilsands.
They also analyzed contaminants in area snowpacks. That data is currently unpublished, but appears to have been presented to senior Alberta Environment staff in November.
The Canadian Press filed a freedom of information request to have that presentation released. In response, the news agency received a copy of a slide deck containing information that was already public, minus large redactions.
One remark that survived the redactions suggests the complete document includes information on contaminant levels in the snowpack around Window Lake.
Under a heading “Next Steps,” the released documents say: “Propose to conduct additional lake sediment and snow sampling.”
How the redactions were justified also suggests the data exists. Information was removed under sections of legislation that allow the government not to disclose documents that may contain valuable intellectual property or to protect the researcher’s right to publish first.
The Canadian Press contacted an Alberta scientist not employed by the province who has seen the data and confirms it exists.
Bill Donahue is another independent scientist in B.C. and former head of Alberta’s Environmental Monitoring and Science Division. He hasn’t seen the snowpack research.
He pointed out that even if initial concentrations heavy metals and hydrocarbons of the kind found downwind of the mines are low, they don’t dissipate and gradually build up in the environment. As well, contaminants from snowpacks are often released in a concentrated pulse as the buildup over months is released during the spring melt.
“The amount in the snowpack at a given time in a given year may vary, but it’s an absolute certainty that regional contaminant deposition on all landscapes today is far higher than it should be and that coal mining in (southeast B.C.) is the cause,” he wrote in an email.
The paper on sediments in Window Lake, published in November in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, came to disturbing conclusions.
It found levels of contaminants such as polycyclic aromatic compounds, known carcinogens, reached 30 times pre-industrial levels and in some cases exceeded Canadian guidelines for the protection of aquatic life. Levels of selenium, toxic to fish, had doubled.
At the time, Alberta Environment did not make either of the paper’s authors available for interviews.
Other scientists in both the United States and Canada praised the work.
Emily Bernhardt, a ecologist at North Carolina’s Duke University who has published extensively on mountaintop coal mining, called the research groundbreaking and convincing. She said it confirms what has been found in other papers — that mountaintop coal mining spreads contaminants beyond mine sites.
Alberta’s United Conservative government is currently blocking coal mine exploration and development in the province’s Rocky Mountains.
The policy, however, is enforced by ministerial order, which can be lifted at any time without notice.
Alberta Energy Minister Peter Guthrie has said there are no plans to lift the order. But he has not specified how long it will remain in place or indicated it would be reinforced by legislation or regulation.
Orphan well Site Rehabilitation Program sees success, according to province
The Site Rehabilitation Program (SRP) was launched in May 2020, providing grant funding to Alberta-based oil field service companies to clean up “oil and gas sites in Alberta,” stated the Government of Alberta website.
Alberta was granted $1 billion in federal funding through the SRP. Since then, as of May 15 of this year, the full $1 billion in funding has been approved.
Scott Johnston, press secretary to Alberta’s minister of Energy, said in a statement to Lakeland Today, that SRP “has had significant success” in helping Albertans get back to work by “speeding up well, pipeline, facility, and site closure efforts in the energy sector, across the province.”
More than 20,500 wells were approved for “abandonment work” and over 12,300 were approved for reclamation work, according to Johnston.
In the County of St. Paul, Johnston said around $42 million in SRP funding was approved to address “almost 900 unique sites, which include wells, facilities, and pipelines,” he said.
The program is “providing jobs and other economic benefits to rural communities, including towns and villages, First Nations and Métis communities,” he said, adding, the program also builds “oilfield service industries and environmental clean up capacity across the province.”
In total, 37,589 applications were approved for the program.
As of Dec. 16, 2022, 27,588 of the SRP applications “have all work completed,” according to information from the provincial government.
This includes 15,340 applications completed for abandonment, 3,009 for phase 1 environmental site assessments, 2,917 for phase 2 environmental site assessments, 5,639 for reclamation, and 1,230 applications completed for remediation.
The SRP is now closed to new applications, and Johnston said the deadline for all the work to be completed under the SRP is set for Feb. 14, 2023.
Liability Management Framework
In addition to the SRP, the provincial government also introduced the Liability Management Framework in July of 2020 to reduce the number of orphaned and inactive wells in Alberta.
This framework includes providing a loan to the Orphan Well Association (OWA) to speed up the clean-up process of oil and gas sites.
“The Orphan Well Association (OWA) receives dedicated funding from industry and is responsible for cleaning up all orphan wells,” said Johnston.
OWA calls itself an industry-funded collaboration “among the Alberta Government, provincial regulators and oil and gas producers,” working to decommission “orphan oil and gas wells, pipelines, production facilities and restore the land as close to its original state as possible.”
In 2017, the Government of Alberta loaned OWA $235 million, and another $100 million in 2020 as part of Alberta’s Budget 2020, for a total of $335 million.
As of December 2021, OWA spent the full $335 million through the Orphan Well Loan Program, according to information from the province, resulting in a total of 3,512 wells abandoned,4,282 pipelines decommissioned, and 2,308 sites reclaimed.
According to the latest 2022 data from the Alberta Energy Regulator retrieved by Lakeland Today, as of Dec. 12 there are around 463,000 well licenses in the province. Of that, 28.8 per cent are reclaimed, 19.1 per cent are abandoned, 18.1 per cent are inactive, and 33.7 per cent are active.
So far, there are also 1,364 new drills in 2022, amounting to 0.3 per cent of the total amount of well licenses.
Remediation Technology News and Resource
(The following are selected items from the US EPA’s Tech Direct – http://clu-in.org/techdirect/)
Upcoming Live Internet Seminars
ITRC 1,4-Dioxane: Science, Characterization & Analysis, and Remediation – January 31, 2023, 1:00PM-3:15PM EST (18:00-20:15 GMT). 1,4-Dioxane has seen widespread use as a solvent stabilizer since the 1950s. The widespread use of solvents through the 1980s suggests its presence at thousands of solvent sites in the US; however, it is not always a standard compound in typical analytical suites for hazardous waste sites, so it previously was overlooked. The U.S. EPA has classified 1,4-dioxane as “likely to be carcinogenic to humans.” Some states have devised health standards or regulatory guidelines for drinking water and groundwater standards; these are often sub-part per billion values. These low standards present challenges for analysis, characterization, and remediation of 1,4-dioxane. The ITRC team created multiple tools and documents that provide information to assist all interested stakeholders in understanding this contaminate and for making informed, educated decisions. For more information and to register, please visit https://itrcweb.org/ or https://clu-in.org/live/
ITRC Optimizing Injection Strategies and In situ Remediation Performance – February 7, 2023, 1:00PM-3:15PM EST (18:00-20:15 GMT). ITRC developed the guidance: Optimizing Injection Strategies and In Situ Remediation Performance (OIS-ISRP-1) and this associated training course to identify challenges that may impede or limit remedy effectiveness and discuss the potential optimization strategies, and specific actions that can be pursued, to improve the performance of in situ remediation by: refining and evaluating remedial design site characterization data; selecting the correct amendment; choosing delivery methods for site-specific conditions; creating design specifications; conducting performance evaluations, and optimizing under-performing in situ remedies. The target audience for this guidance and training course is: environmental consultants, responsible parties, federal and state regulators, as well as community and tribal stakeholders. This training will support users in efficiently and confidently applying the guidance at their remediation sites. An optimization case study is shared to illustrate the use of the associated guidance document. For more information and to register, see https://www.itrcweb.org or https://clu-in.org/live.
ITRC Vapor Intrusion Mitigation (VIM-1), A Two Part Series February 14 and 21, 2023. When certain contaminants or hazardous substances are released into the soil or groundwater, they may volatilize into soil gas. Vapor intrusion (VI) occurs when these vapors migrate up into overlying buildings and contaminate indoor air. ITRC has previously released guidance documents focused on VI, including the “Vapor Intrusion Pathway: A Practical Guidance” (VI-1, 2007) and “Petroleum Vapor Intrusion: Fundamentals of Screening, Investigation, and Management” (PVI, 2014). However, ITRC has received multiple requests for additional details and training on mitigation strategies for addressing this exposure pathway. The ITRC Vapor Intrusion Mitigation Team (VIMT) created ten fact sheets, 16 technology information sheets, and 4 checklists with the goal of assisting regulators during review of vapor intrusion mitigation systems, and helping contractors understand the essential elements of planning, design, implementation, and operation, maintenance and monitoring (OM&M) of mitigation systems. The Vapor Intrusion Mitigation training is a series of eight (8) modules, presented over two sessions. For more information and to register, see https://www.itrcweb.org or https://clu-in.org/live.
ITRC Environmental Data Management (EDM): Real Life Application of Data Management Planning and Field Data Collection Best Practices – February 23, 2023, 1:00PM-2:30PM EST (18:00-19:30 GMT). The ITRC Environmental Data Management Best Practices Team (EDMBP Team) prepared a series of guidance documents and case studies on best practices for all phases of EDM to address the need for guidance on managing large stores of environmental data. Environmental data management (EDM) is a broad field that encompasses all aspects of environmental research and regulation, from habitat studies and wildlife management plans to health advisories and remediation of hazardous waste sites. The EDMBP Team developed three Roundtable training sessions to support the Guidance Document and case studies. The additional offerings are scheduled for April and May of 2023. You are welcome to register for any of the three, but they do not build upon each other. For more information and to register, see https://www.itrcweb.org or https://clu-in.org/live.
New Documents and Web Resources
Progress in the Management of Contaminated Sites in Europe (2022). European Environment Agency produced this report which summarizes contaminated sites in Europe that release potentially toxic compounds into soil, air and water, and can restrict economic development and decrease property values and the attractiveness of communities. Such sites are often located in urban industrial areas and lower income communities. However, they offer potential for urban re-development through land recycling after remediation. A recent conservative projection estimates that the EU has 2.8 million potentially contaminated sites. Current efforts to monitor and remediate these sites vary markedly across Member States. Therefore, coherent efforts supported by an EU-wide policy are needed to fill gaps and speed up the identification and management of sites in need of risk reduction measures and remediation. View or download from https://www.eea.europa.eu/ims/
Upcoming Industry Events
Canadian Environmental & Engineering Executives Conference
January 25-27 – Vancouver
We are less than two weeks away from the next CE3 Conference in Vancouver. There has been excellent response to our registration calls and we will have representation of company executives from across the country. We have lined up outstanding speakers, panelists and moderators who will discuss some of the key challenges and opportunities facing the environmental and engineering consulting sector in Canada.
We are very pleased to present to you the executives who will be speaking at CE3C in January in Vancouver. Don’t miss this rare networking and business opportunity to meet with your peers and colleagues in the industry.
See you in Vancouver on January 25-27, 2023
BEST 2023 – Call for Abstracts Now Open!
May 10-12, 2023 | Fairmont Chateau Whistler | Whistler, BC
Presenters Receive 50% Off Registration Price
The British Columbia Environment Industry Association invites submissions of papers and technical presentations for its eighth annual Bettering Environmental Stewardship and Technology Conference (BEST 2023) to be held in beautiful Whistler, BC, May 10 – 12, 2023.
Abstracts must include a presenter biography, with the combined length of both the abstract and bio not exceeding 500 words. Submissions that do not include a speaker biography will not be considered. Abstracts must be received by January 20, 2023. Please send submissions via e‐mail to [email protected].
Download the BEST 2023 Call for Abstracts for full submission details.
Announcing Smart Remediation 2023:
Topics & Ticket Information
The 2023 SMART Remediation seminar series is once again taking place in-person this year:
January 26, 2023: Toronto
February 2, 2023: Ottawa
Early Bird Registration is Available Now until January 4:
Speakers & Topics
This year we have another great lineup of interesting talks on a wide variety of topics, including PFAS, excess soils, risk management, technical case studies, and more! The full set of talks are presented below:
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Registration for the Methane Leadership Summit is now open!
Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada is pleased to announce that registration for the Methane Leadership Summit being held on April 26 and 27 at the Fairmont Banff Springs is now open.
This captivating 2-day event will continue the momentum generated from our annual methane forum launched in 2018, and bring together a multitude of stakeholder groups operating within the oil and gas industry, including government organizations, regulatory bodies, oil and gas producing companies, service and supply companies, research centres, and academic institutions, and will focus on the significant challenges facing the global oil and gas industry related to methane emissions reductions targets.
To register for the conference, please visit the PTAC Shop and use the registration tool at the bottom of the page.
We strongly encourage all members to register as soon as possible, as space for the venue is limited, and early bird pricing will only be available until January 31, 2023.
Hotel reservations at the Fairmont Banff Springs will be available starting at an exclusive rate of $249.00 per night (plus $16 resort fee and taxes).
To book a room, please visit the Fairmont Banff Springs exclusive link, or contact the hotel directly at 1-833-762-6866 (Toll-Free line) or 403-762-6866, and use the group code 0423PTAC when making your reservation.
For more information about the conference, please email Braden Kimoff at [email protected], or visit the Methane Leadership Summit website.
We hope to see you next year at the Methane Leadership Summit in April, as we drive innovation, promote progress, and break boundaries within the methane emissions reduction space!
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ESAA Job Board
Check out the new improved ESAA Job Board. Members can post ads for free.
Current Listings:
- Intermediate Environmental Scientist – Trace Associates Inc.
- Practice Area Lead, Hydrogeology and Water – Trace Associates Inc.
- Environmental Technician Intern – Paragon Soil & Environmental Consulting
- Soil Handling Monitor – Paragon Soil & Environmental Consulting
- Intermediate Soil Specialist – Paragon Soil and Environmental Consulting
- Junior Soil Specialist –Paragon Soil and Environmental Consulting
- Intermediate Vegetation Ecologist –Paragon Soil and Environmental Consulting
- Junior Vegetation Ecologist – Paragon Soil and Environmental Consulting
- Intermediate/Senior Hydrogeologist- Water Resources – Arletta Environmental Consulting
- Seedling Coordinator – Tree Time Services
- Municipal Approvals Engineer – Government of Alberta
- Environmental Engineers/Scientists/Technologists – Nichols Environmental (Canada) Ltd.
- Environmental Technologist – Summit
- Environmental Specialist – Natural Resources Conservation Board
- Intermediate Environmental Project Manager – TerraLogix Solutions Inc.
- Summer Students and Seasonal Staff – North Shore Environmental Consultants Inc.
- Sustainability Data Advisor – ATCO
- Senior Environmental Scientist (Salt Specialist) – Matrix Solutions Inc.
- Lead Crew Hand – Summit