ESAA Photo Contest Calendar IS BACK for 2025
Sponsor a Page / Buy and Ad
Sponsor a page in the upcoming 2025 ESAA Calendar. The 2025 calendar will feature 13 photos from the ESAA Photo Contest. By sponsoring a page you will get an ad for one of the months of the calendar. (13 available) Calendars will be distributed at upcoming ESAA Events.
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RemTech 2024
Silent Auction – Items Needed
Auction Opens – October 7th at 10 am
Auctions Closes – October 17th at 6 pm

RemTech 2024 will not only be a great learning and networking event, it will also be one of the largest charity fundraisers supported by the environment industry. Since its inception 22 years ago, RemTech delegates have raised over $960,000 for charity. In fact, ESAA events and member activities have raised over $1.96 million for a variety of charities.
Our goal this year is to crack the $1,000,000 mark for RemTech fundraising.
At this time ESAA is requesting items for the silent auction being held during RemTech. The auction will be held via an online auction platform / app and will be open to all delegates and anyone else interested in supporting the 2024 charities. All auction interactions will be electronic, no paper bid sheets.
Suggested donations include, sporting event tickets, hotel stays, electronics, golfing, spa packages, gift cards for local business, unique experiences, etc. Be creative! ESAA may combine items into packages.
All donors will be highlighted on the conference website, on site and on the auction app.
Proceeds raised from the auction will be donated to the following organizations: Ilsa Mae Research Fund at Muscular Dystrophy Canada, Jane Goodall Institute Canada – Roots and Shoots Program, The Wilder Institute – Burrowing Owl Conservation Program and Joe Chowaniec Scholarship Fund
The RemTech 2024 auction is sponsored by McLennan Ross LLP.
The auction opens at 10 am on October 7th and closes at 6 pm on October 17th. To view the auciton site and see what has been donated to date, visit: https://app.galabid.com/
To donate an item, contact Joe Chowaniec at the ESAA Office, chowaniec@esaa.org
Visit our sponsors at: https://esaa.org/remtech/
WISEST Industry Alliance Launched.
Are you an inclusive-minded employer in a STEM-related industry? Partner with WISEST to empower those who face barriers to pursuing STEM education and careers.
Together, let’s strengthen the STEM Workforce.
Number of orphan wells in Alberta will soon double as controversial oilpatch bankruptcy settled
(Source: CBC News) Alberta’s orphan well woes are about to swell following the end of a controversial court case involving some of the biggest names in the Canadian oilpatch.
The province’s Orphan Well Association (OWA) is tasked with cleaning up oil and natural gas wells that no longer have an owner, something that is often caused by a company going bankrupt.
The OWA already has an inventory of about 1,600 wells in need of closure and reclamation. That workload is expected to more than double as the bankruptcy of Sequoia Resources is finally settled — a court case that has been followed closely by many because of its broad implications for landowners, industry and taxpayers.
With Sequoia, the OWA is expecting to inherit 1,800 to 2,000 more wells, in addition to the company’s other infrastructure, such as pipelines. The estimated clean-up cost of the Sequoia properties is about $200 million.
As a result, the OWA now expects it will likely need more than a decade to clean up Sequoia assets, with a scheduled completion around 2036. That timeline could increase further if other oil and natural gas companies go bankrupt.
The bankruptcy trustee, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), is expected to seek court approval to sell some of the Sequoia assets that still have value in November, said OWA president Lars DePauw. Everything else will be considered to be abandoned and handed over to the OWA, he said.
“There’s a lot of additional infrastructure,” DePauw said. “We’re getting a pretty significant portion of the wells, and with that comes facilities and pipelines and road infrastructure. That’s all part of that
Sequoia went bankrupt in 2018, but most of its natural gas wells have sat idle as the court battle dragged out.
And many landowners have been waiting for those aging wells to be cleaned up. An open house was held this summer to give some rural residents an update on when reclamation work might actually begin.
“It’s been a tough situation for the landowners,” DePauw said. “A lot of people are looking forward to these sites being removed from their land and being able to put them back into productive use.”
The Sequoia bankruptcy hearings attracted attention from big-name companies such as Cenovus Energy and Canadian Natural Resources. They, along with other companies, are affected because they pay into the OWA to clean up orphan wells. In court filings, those companieswarned there could be industrywide consequences if similar deals as those that helped build Sequoia are allowed in future.
The OWA’s budget has steadily increased in recent years in anticipation of the Sequoia assets, which has resulted in higher levies charged to industry.
And taxpayers have increasingly covered some of the cost to clean up aging wells, including the federal government’s $1.7-billion commitment in 2020, which also aimed to provide stimulus for the oilfield service sector when oil prices crashed after the pandemic began.
Part of the reason for the lengthy bankruptcy court battle was the controversial way Sequoia was built — and how quickly it failed.
The case has its origins in the reorganization of Perpetual Energy in 2016. That Calgary-based company transferred many of its money-losing properties to an associated company. Then Sequoia, which was founded by a pair of Chinese investors that same year, acquired those assets in a deal for $1.
Sequoia would gobankrupt in 2018.
The trustee in the bankruptcy, PWC,sued Perpetual, arguing the energy company knew the assets would sink Sequoia because of its aging wells and the nearly $134-million worth of reported environmental liabilities.
In court, Perpetual said the deal was doneproperly and that it went to great lengths to ensure Sequoia would be a success.
Shortly after Sequoia’s bankruptcy, the Alberta Energy Regulator acknowledged it needed to tighten the rules to ensure it wouldn’t approve such deals in the future and allow financially weak companies to take ownership of assets burdened by hefty looming clean-up costs.
The bankruptcy hearing had its own controversy.
PWC sought $217 million in damages from Perpetual.
In 2021, while the bankruptcy battle was ongoing, Perpetual stored the majority of its assets into a new company called Rubellite Energy, which would have the same employees and office space as Perpetual.
TheOWA andPWC opposed the move in court, arguing it would diminish how much money could be recovered if Perpetual lost the bankruptcy case.
This is how inactive and orphaned oil and gas wells in northern B.C. are cleaned and dismantled.
“The Rubellite transactions and the proposed arrangement represent a radical solution to Perpetual’s overwhelming financial problems: the establishment of Rubellite as a successor entity, free of Perpetual’s obligations, to its creditors and other stakeholders,” submitted PWC in a court filing. “Perpetual’s shareholders receive clean shares in a ‘pure’ successor entity with ‘no debt.'”
Perpetual chief executive Sue Riddell Rosedescribed the move differently, calling it a way for “Perpetual shareholders to benefit through Rubellite to unlock the value of these high-quality assets while at the same time providing a full capital solution, reducing Perpetual’s leverage and improving its liquidity to surface value from Perpetual’s remaining asset base.”
The creation of Rubellite was allowed, leaving Perpetual with a much lower value.
In March 2024, asettlement was reached to end the court case centred around whether Perpetual was responsible for Sequoia’s bankruptcy. Perpetual agreed to pay $30 million, “without any party admitting liability, wrongdoing or violation of law, regulations, public policy or fiduciary duties.”
The money will go to the OWA to help pay for some of Sequoia’s estimated $200-million clean-up costs.
In a courtfiling about the settlement, PWC senior vice-president Paul Darby described the litigation as contentious and expensive, while a trial would still have been several years away.
“The settlement offer is approximately equal to the current market capitalization of Perpetual,” he said. “Even if the trustee is successful ultimately, the Perpetual defendants are unlikely to be able to pay any significant monetary judgment.”
Still, the settlement means there are unanswered questions, said Drew Yewchuk, formerly a staff lawyer with the University of Calgary’s Public Interest Law Clinic who has closely followed the complicated case.
“I’m annoyed that this settled,” he said. “I was looking forward to the full disclosure process and a trial and finding out in full detail what had happened and then getting a court’s opinion.”
Following the settlement, Perpetual and Rubellite announced this month they would become one company yet again.
For Yewchuk, the move could reinforce the notion argued in court by the OWA and PWC that the creation of Rubellitewould limit how much Perpetual could potentially pay if it lost the bankruptcy case.
“Without being able to conclude why that happens, and there can always be other business reasons, I can see why that would make a lot of people suspicious,” he said.
Riddell Rose, who is CEO of both Perpetual and Rubellite, said in an email she would not be able to comment to CBC News ahead of a shareholder meeting in October. Instead she referred to prior public comments about the court case and the two companies.
Currently, Perpetual has a market capitalization of about $30 million, while Rubellite is worth about $150 million.
When the merger was announced, Riddell Rose described thedeal as providing shareholders with “valuable synergies, both quantitative and qualitative.”
The combined company would use the existing executive team and operate as Rubellite Energy.
Since Sequoia’s bankruptcy, Alberta’s energy regulator has tightened up policies to prevent similar deals, something that is proving to be effective, said DePauw, with the OWA.
Still, there are holdover cases involving companies that were able to purchase assets prior to those changes, and some of those are now in bankruptcy proceedings.
The Alberta government is trying to amend its own rules, including how much companies need to set aside to address the eventual clean-up costs of oil and gas wells.
While discussing the possible changes, Premier Danielle Smith specifically named Sequoia as a situation that needs to be prevented in the future.
“There has been an idea that liability could just be carried forward to the next purchaser with no dollars following it. And as a result, when companies get in trouble and they go under, if they have a lot of discontinued wells, it goes to the Orphan Well Association. We’ve seen some major problems with Sequoia, AlphaBow, there’s probably a handful of others,” she said to reporters this week.
“We don’t have any answers about what the future will hold for that just yet.”
Alberta First Nations leaders say federal government hid contamination at local dock
(Source: CBC News) Three northern Alberta Indigenous groups say the federal government has kept them in the dark about a contaminated dock site in their community.
The Big Dock, as it’s known in Fort Chipewyan, is owned by Transport Canada.
The dock is used for commercial purposes, but Allan Adam, chief of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, said the hamlet’s residents also use it for “swimming, fishing, hunting, trapping and harvesting.”
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The community leaders became aware of the dock’s contamination this summer, after they learned of a report produced by a third-party contractor in 2017.
The dock is important for the community, as it can be used for evacuations during wildfires.
In August, leaders of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Mikisew Cree First Nation and Fort Chipewyan Métis wrote a letter to the then-minister of Transport, Pablo Rodriguez.
“The Transport Canada dock in downtown Fort Chipewyan is the only alternative to the airport if the community is placed under an urgent evacuation alert,” they wrote, particularly if evacuation by air is not possible.
“We had low water tables this year,” Adam said in an interview with CBC, and they were concerned that they wouldn’t be able to use it for evacuations, if the need arose.
“Due to a lack of maintenance, your refusal to dredge the surrounding area, and low water levels in the Peace-Athabasca Delta, the Transport Canada dock is not up to standard for the needs of the community,” community leaders wrote in their letter to Rodriguez.
Adam said they asked Transport Canada to fix the issue, but the department didn’t do it.
“We went ahead and we said that we were going to go ahead with the contracting of the remediation of the dock to repair it, so we would be able to dredge the canal to the channel.”
Once they found the contractor, Adam said, the company revealed to them that there were “heavy contaminants in the area,” based on the 2017 report.
Adam said Transport Canada failed to notify the community about this issue.
“The community is very concerned about the findings,” he said.
“We’re very scared now, finding this out, because a lot of us allow our kids to go into those waters for recreational use, because we know that, being a remote community, kids will access any waters that they can,” said Billy-Joe Tuccaro, Chief of Mikisew Cree First Nation.
Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation commissioned their own studies of the area. One of them, conducted by Stantec, discovered hydrocarbon and metal contamination in the sediment on the bottom of the dock, and metal contamination of the water there. Among the contaminants, the study found cadmium, arsenic, iron and copper, and among hydrocarbons: pyrene, chrysene and fluorene.
Michael Serpe is a professor of chemistry at the University of Alberta who reviewed the results of Stantec’s study for CBC. He said “a number of the values that were acquired as part of the study do indeed show that the levels of some of these species were above the guideline levels.”
He said that a number of substances identified in the report “are indeed toxic, especially for human consumption over long periods of time,” such as, for instance, daily consumption of water contaminated with them over the course of decades.
“That being said,” he said, “this is not water that’s being consumed by people in these communities every day, over many decades.”
Serpe believes the risk to humans from the Big Dock “is quite minimal.”
Adam is frustrated with what he says is the lack of communication from Transport Canada.
“It’s astonishing it continues to happen in this day and age,” he said.
He says the federal government has done “nothing at this point in time” to address the issue.
“And if they did, and if they are doing something — they haven’t released any information to us.”
In a statement to CBC, Transport Canada said that 2017 risk assessment “investigated risks to human health and wildlife, and the study determined that the site was not likely to pose any risks to human health.”
The statement also says that the risk assessment “also considered a variety of uses such as, swimming and fishing.”
Adam disputes that. He says that the 2017 report only considers the commercial use of the site and doesn’t reflect the fact that residents of Fort Chipewyan use it for other purposes as well.
In a statement to CBC, the office of Minister of Transport Anita Anand said, “our government is working with the local First Nations community to ensure that operations at the port facility are carried out safely. Remote and Indigenous communities must have access to the safe and reliable connectivity that they need.”
B.C. company issued maximum $150,000 fine by Ministry of Environment for operating without permit
(Source: CHEK News) A beleaguered company in Port Coquitlam has been hit with a $150,000 fine by the province for environmental infractions.
The Ministry of Environment issued Ground X Site Services the maximum penalty on Aug. 26, after its inspections in 2021 and 2023 determined the facility on 750 Kingsway Avenue was introducing waste into the Pitt River without proper authorization.
Both provincial and local governments have been cracking down on Ground X’s operations at the facility over environmental concerns.
The company allows hydrovac trucks to dump construction slurry – a mix of water and waste material left over from excavations – into settling pits at the property.
Inspectors have observed wastewater discharging into a ditching system on the northern edge of the site, as well as directly into the Pitt River to the south.
Samples collected during inspections on Nov. 29, 2021 and Dec. 7, 2023, showed the effluent contained metals, hydrocarbons, bacteria and other contaminants of concern.
Levels of Fecal Coliforms, E. Coli, Arsenic, Chromium, Cobalt, and Lead, Benzo(a)pyrene, Pyrene, and Chloroform exceeded the BC Water Quality Guidelines. These exceedances ranged from 11 percent (Arsenic) to 14,650 percent (Pyrene) over the limit.
Following the December inspection, the ministry slapped the company with a pollution abatement order.
Pitt River is a major tributary of the Fraser River, and both hold a rich diversity of wildlife and fish species, including Pacific salmon species, which have experienced significant declines over the last 125 years, the province said.
Jack Green, director of the Environmental Management Act (EMA), said the effluent being discharged from the facility is “capable of injuring any life form or is capable of damaging the environment.”
While Green said there was insufficient evidence from the two inspection dates to conclude that actual adverse damage was done to the environment, he classified the potential for that damage as “medium.”
In its response to the fine notice in July 2024, Ground X disagreed with the ministry’s description of the facility as a “waste disposal facility,” instead calling it a transfer facility for re-use materials, asserting its activities do not require a waste-discharge permit.
The province, however, stated that effluent is broadly defined under the EMA to include any harmful substance, regardless of whether the waste has any commercial value or useful purpose.
“The disposal of waste is not necessary to meet the definition,” Green said. “Simply collecting, handling, and storing waste soil, solids, and liquids is enough.”
Ground X also claimed the contamination found at the site was due to historical uses, adding the property has no drainage, and an insufficient dike, which leads to flooding on the southern portion of the property.
The company disputes the facility is the source of any contamination into the northern ditch, stating the area’s groundwater management is interconnected, which feeds untreated wastewater from other sources into the river.
Ground X added they have made significant efforts over the years to install barriers, filtration measures and silt fencing to control effluent on the low-lying southern portion of the property.
“I want to be abundantly clear at this point that GroundX is acknowledging significant challenges with the onsite water management,” the company said. “The claim that GroundX is causing pollution and discharging into the Pitt River is grossly exaggerated and frankly without merit.”
The province gave little weight to Ground X’s assertion that historical industry is the source of the contamination at the site, noting that no supporting evidence was provided.
They also note the sampled effluent contains contact water from the piles of solid hydrovac waste, soil, concrete, asphalt, and compost at the facility.
Reports submitted by the company also identified the hydrovac slurry ponds as potential areas of concern regarding contaminants, according to the province.
Ground X also blamed the City of Port Coquitlam for the contamination, stating it has not implemented any erosion and soil control measures on its land bisecting the property.
The city recently sought an injunction against the company, as staff believed contaminants were being introduced into the environment. A total of 672 tickets had been issued, according to the city.
In July 2024, a B.C. Supreme Court judge temporarily barred Ground X from depositing and removing soil and hydrovac waste, altering the land and operating on the site without a business licence.
In July 2024, a B.C. Supreme Court judge temporarily barred Ground X from depositing and removing soil and hydrovac waste, altering the land and operating on the site without a business licence.
Green described Ground X’s contravention as “major,” stating it undermines the “basic integrity of the overarching regulatory regime.”
Warnings from the ministry date back to July, 2021, and the company was repeatedly told that it could not allow waste to be introduced to the environment without authorization.
While some effort was made to prevent these discharges, documented observations from inspectors have led the ministry to believe the contamination was ongoing, Green said.
In determining whether the contraventions were deliberate in nature, Green said the company was at least “willfully blind.”
The company submitted an application for a waste-discharge permit in September, 2021, but failed to provide the requested information for processing, leading to the application being cancelled in April, 2024.
Green said this shows Ground X knew they were operating in the waste industry, were aware of the requirements, but continued their activities regardless.
He said the company saved hundreds of thousands of dollars from the delay, by avoiding annual fees and operating costs, and treating leachate.
Although the aggravating factors led to a fine totalling $323,500, the EMA’s administrative penalties for no-permit infractions are capped at $75,000.
Modernizing the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, strengthening chemicals management, and protecting the right to a healthy environment for all
The Government of Canada is taking steps to implement the modernized Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA), which recognizes in its preamble that every individual in Canada has a right to a healthy environment as provided under CEPA. It also strengthens Canada’s chemicals management regime and increases transparency in the way it is administered.
Through the strengthening of CEPA, the Government committed to protecting populations that may be disproportionately impacted due to greater susceptibility or higher exposure to environmental and health risks. CEPA also now requires the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and the Minister of Health to consider available information about cumulative effects on the environment and health that may result from exposure to a substance in combination with exposure to other substances when conducting and interpreting the results of risk assessments.
A proposed Plan of Priorities will be published to outline the Government’s proposed priorities for substances to assess and manage. This is to better protect the health of people in Canada and the environment.
The Government of Canada is working to implement the modernized Act through the development of various initiatives, such as frameworks, policies, strategies, regulations, and processes. Over the next couple of months, the public will have the opportunity to have their say on the Government’s efforts to strengthen CEPA.
The right to a healthy environment
The Government will release a draft implementation framework on the right to a healthy environment to propose how this right would be protected when administering CEPA. The draft framework proposes policies and procedures to ensure marginalized populations do not carry an unfair burden. Protecting the right of people in Canada to a healthy environment requires decision makers to consider several factors when interpreting and applying the right and in determining its reasonable limits, including social, health, scientific, and economic aspects. While some of this existed prior to the CEPA revisions, the draft implementation framework provides direction to decision makers to ensure the right is protected when administering CEPA.
This draft framework elaborates on three new principles. Environmental justice means avoiding disproportionate impacts on different populations, recognizing that some populations are more vulnerable to impacts than others, and ensuring there is meaningful participation in the decision-making process. The principle of non-regression prevents reducing current levels of environmental and human health protection. Finally, intergenerational equity requires meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
Environment and Climate Change Canada and Health Canada conducted broad engagement activities to inform the development of this draft framework. In February 2024, the Government released a Discussion Document on the Implementation Framework for a Right to a Healthy Environment under CEPA. Consultations involved stakeholders from industry, non-governmental organizations, and Indigenous partners.
Plan of Priorities
CEPA requires that the Plan of Priorities outline priorities to manage substances in order to protect the health of people in Canada and the environment.
This proposed plan identifies more than 30 substances and substance groups prioritized for assessment and includes new or expanded activities to help assess, control, and manage risks posed by substances. In selecting and prioritizing these substances, this proposed Plan of Priorities took into account key drivers, including:
- Substances that are hazardous to human health or the environment, including carcinogens, mutagens, and reproductive toxicants, as well as endocrine disrupting substances
- Substances that are impacting populations or environments that may be at increased risk due to either greater exposure or greater susceptibility
- Substances with the potential to contribute to cumulative risks
- Very hazardous substances that are capable of long-range transport (VH-LRT)
- Substances with known hazardous properties that are used in products available to consumers
- Potential substitutes for substances with known toxicity
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) is a large class of extremely persistent human-made substances used in a wide range of everyday products, including food packaging, drugs, cosmetics, non-stick cookware, vehicles, and electronics. Worldwide, PFAS can be found in the air, groundwater, oceans, lakes, rivers, and soil, as well as in wastewater and sewage sludge. An Updated Draft State of PFAS Report, which proposes to conclude that the class of PFAS, excluding fluoropolymers, is entering or may enter the environment at levels that are or may be harmful to the environment and human health, was published for a 60-day public comment period in July 2024. Based on available information, a group of polymeric PFAS, known as fluoropolymers, may have different exposure and hazard profiles compared with other PFAS. The Government is committed to doing additional work to understand the risks of exposure in the environment and health of Canadians. The proposed Plan of Priorities includes an assessment of fluoropolymers.
Reducing reliance on vertebrate animal testing
CEPA recognizes the need to replace, reduce, or refine the use of vertebrate animal testing when assessing the potential harms that substances may pose to human health and the environment. In advancing this work, the Government commits to, among other things, the development, standardization, and incorporation of new approach methods in hazard and risk assessment activities.
A strategy is being developed to guide future Environment and Climate Change Canada and Health Canada’s efforts toward the goal of replacing, reducing, or refining the use of vertebrate animal testing under CEPA, when and where possible.
The strategy is intended to be flexible, and its implementation will reflect and keep pace with emerging science and technology, including ongoing engagement with people living in Canada, Indigenous partners, and stakeholders, and proceed in collaboration with national and international partners. The strategy responds to a new requirement under CEPA’s Plan of Priorities.
Watch List
The proposed Watch List Approach outlines how the Watch List would be compiled and amended. This approach will be finalized in 2025.
The Watch List will provide an online, continuously updated list of substances that do not meet the “toxic” criteria under CEPA but that have properties of concern (for example high hazard), and therefore could pose a risk if uses change, exposure levels increase, or if new information on hazardous characteristics becomes available.
The Watch List will enable importers, manufacturers, and Canadian consumers to make informed decisions to select safer alternatives and avoid regrettable substitutions, such as replacing one problem substance with another.
How to participate
On October 5, 2024, the 60-day public comment period will begin for the Draft Implementation Framework for the Right to a Healthy Environment under CEPA, the proposed Plan of Priorities, and the proposed Watch List Approach.
The draft strategy to replace, reduce, or refine vertebrate animal testing is currently open for public comment and input can be provided until November 13, 2024.
The Implementation Framework on the Right to a Healthy Environment; the Plan of Priorities; and the Strategy to Replace, Reduce, or Refine Vertebrate Animal Testing will be published in June 2025. Once the Watch List Approach is finalized in 2025, substances will begin to be added to the published Watch List.
Three Mile Island is reopening and selling its power to Microsoft’s AI Ambitions
(Source: CNN) Three Mile Island, the site of worst nuclear disaster in the United States, is reopening and will exclusively sell the power to Microsoft as the company searches for energy sources to fuel its AI ambitions.
Constellation Energy announced Friday that its Unit 1 reactor, which closed five years ago, is expected to be revived in 2028, dependent on Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval. Microsoft will purchase the carbon-free energy produced from it to power its data centers to support artificial intelligence.
Financial terms of the 20-year agreement, which Constellation called its largest ever, weren’t disclosed.
“Powering industries critical to our nation’s global economic and technological competitiveness, including data centers, requires an abundance of energy that is carbon-free and reliable every hour of every day, and nuclear plants are the only energy sources that can consistently deliver on that promise,” said Constellation CEO Joe Dominguez in a press release.
Clean energy advocates and businesses alike are looking towards nuclear energy as a source of zero-carbon power that is a reliable baseload source. A big pro is that nuclear is able to stay on at all times of the day and night, unlike wind and solar.
However, nuclear has drawn criticism for environmental groups for decades for its waste. The US still has no permanent repository for that waste, instead storing it at over 70 operating and shuttered plants around the nation.
Reopening of the Unit 1 reactor will add 3,400 direct and indirect jobs and add more than 800 megawatts of electricity to the grid, according to Constellation. It’s also expected to add $16 billion to Pennsylvania’s GDP, where the plant is located.
Shares of Constellation (CEG) soared more than 16% in midday trading.
Three Mile Island, located near Harrisburg, is best known for being the most serious accident at a commercial nuclear power plant in US history when it experienced the partial meltdown of one of its two reactors. Unit 2 reactor, which is adjacent to Unit 1, has remained closed since 1979 following the disaster.
The deal is enabled by President Joe Biden’s climate bill, which contains billions in tax credits to incentivize clean energy from nuclear in addition to wind, solar and clean hydrogen. The Biden administration and Congress have also poured billions into funding to stop old plants slated for closure from shutting down.
In the US “there’s not a lot of historical precedent on regulatory approval” to restart a shuttered plant, said Alan Ahn, deputy director for nuclear at think tank Third Way’s climate and energy program.
Regulators and companies are working to re-power the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan, which was destined for closure until the federal government stepped in with over $1 billion to save it. Three Mile Island has been mothballed for several years longer, Ahn added.
But as tech giants search for more sources of power to fuel their AI needs, Ahn said companies are increasingly taking a hard look at nuclear energy, which is carbon-free and helps them maintain their lofty climate goals.
“When you’re talking about expanded power needs from artificial intelligence, data centers needing to run basically at full capacity for 24 hours a day.There’s not a lot of alternatives outside of nuclear,” Ahn said. “It’s becoming a fairly clear that the tech companies are really intently looking at nuclear.”
“This agreement is a major milestone in Microsoft’s efforts to help decarbonize the grid in support of our commitment to become carbon negative,” Bobby Hollis, vice president of energy for Microsoft, said in the release.
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: Optimizing Injection Strategies and In situ Remediation Performance Training – October 8, 2024, 1:00PM-3:15PM EDT (17:00-19:15 GMT). In an effort to overcome the challenges and improve the effectiveness of in situ remediation using injected amendments, ITRC developed the guidance: Optimizing Injection Strategies and In Situ Remediation Performance (OIS-ISRP-1). The guidance and this associated training course 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. For more information and to register, see https://www.itrcweb.org
Virtual Technology Fair: Lead (Pb) Detection and Treatment for Water – October 28, 2024, 2:30PM-4:00PM EDT (18:30-20:00 GMT). The NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) presents a “Virtual Technology Fair” featuring Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant recipients developing innovative solutions for lead (and other metals) in water. Speakers will give a “pitch”, showcasing the work underway and its value-added to disrupt the market. We encourage participation by and questions from potential end-users, customers, and other stakeholders to accelerate technology transfer of these promising approaches. For more information and to register, see https://www.clu-in.org/
FRTR Fall 2024 General Meeting: Source Differentiation and Risk Assessments for Sites Impacted by PFAS – October 29, 2024, 8:00AM-5:30PM EDT (12:00-21:30 GMT). The FRTR 2024 Fall General Meeting provides an opportunity to share the latest developments in PFAS source differentiation and identification techniques applied to site remediation, as well as an update on advances in human health and ecological risk assessment. The meeting will highlight site-specific case studies where source differentiation technologies helped in identifying sites requiring further investigation and remediation. Emerging contaminants and issues have presented new challenges for risk assessment of both ecological and human health concerns. Therefore, meeting presentations will focus on new technical approaches to conduct site-specific risk assessments for PFAS when toxicological data, enforceable standards and similar information are limited. For more information and to register, see https://www.clu-in.org/
New Documents and Web Resources
Research Brief 358: Passive Samplers Track PFAS, Show Contamination Reduction in Cape Fear River. Common low-cost samplers may be an effective technology for tracking PFAS levels in aquatic environments, according to a study funded by the NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP). The research team found that frequently used passive sampling devices, which collect samples over time, can monitor how PFAS mitigation strategies affect PFAS levels along a stretch of the Cape Fear River in North Carolina. Erin Baker, Ph.D., a project leader at the Texas A&M SRP Center and part of the analytical core at the North Carolina State University SRP Center, led the team. For more information, please visit https://tools.niehs.nih.gov/srp/researchbriefs/view.cfm?Brief_ID=358
Technology Innovation News Survey Corner. The Technology Innovation News Survey contains market/commercialization information; reports on demonstrations, feasibility studies and research; and other news relevant to the hazardous waste community interested in technology development. Recent issues, complete archives, and subscription information is available at https://www.clu-in.org/products/tins/. The following resources were included in recent issues:
- Electrical Resistivity Tomography Monitoring of In Situ Soil Flushing at the Hanford 100-K East Area: 100KE Soil Flushing Monitoring
- EPA and U.S. Army Announce Joint Sampling Project to Identify PFAS Contamination Near Army Installations
- Results of 2018-19 Water-Quality and Hydraulic Characterization of Aquifer Intervals Using Packer Tests and Preliminary Geophysical-Log Correlations for Selected Boreholes at and Near the Former Naval Air Warfare Center Warminster, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
ESAA Member News
October 2024 marks a special milestone for ERIS, and we’d like to kick off the celebrations expressing our profound gratitude to all our clients and partners across the country for their tremendous support on ERIS’ 25 years in business. Yes, ERIS has served the due diligence market with environmental and property risk data and products to Canada since October 1999!
Lots has changed since we rolled data reports, aerials, and other materials into tubes and mailed them out! Technology has transformed all businesses in ways we only read about at the time. Still, ERIS has kept its focus, grown steadily, evolved products, created and innovated other new products, and adopted state-of-the-art software solutions – taking a digital approach supporting our primary mission – to make our clients’ work life easier.
None of this was possible without the trust, loyalty, advice, and support of you, our clients.
As we look forward, we will continue to provide leading edge products and imaginative software solutions to serve our clients for their North American due diligence work. Additionally, we have international partners in Europe, Australia, and Japan.
From start to finish you can take advantage of ERIS applications and platforms to assess the tried and trusted data and historical products for which we are renowned.
We are grateful. Here’s to the next 25 years!
Congratulations ERIS!
New ESAA Members
ESAA welcomes the following new members. If you are not a member of ESAA you can join now via: https://esaa.org/join-esaa/

Delta Helicopters Ltd.
13, 26004 Township Road Sturgeon County
Pro North Industrial Park
St Albert, AB T8T 0B6
Phone: (780) 265-3582
Raymond Juneau, Business Development / Special Projects
rjuneau@deltahelicopters.com
Delta Helicopters is a Canadian – Alberta born air support business that started 50 + years ago in Northern Alberta. We have a strategic network of 5 bases to include Fort McMurray, High Level, Rainbow Lake, Lac La Biche while our Administration and Maintenance is carried out in Sturgeon Counties Pro North Industrial Park near St Albert. Delta has a fleet of 20 Helicopters ranging from Light to Medium aircraft to service everyone’s needs when it comes to air support in any Province required and beyond. We are proud to say that we support our Indigenous Communities.
Delta prides itself in being an equal opportunity company for everyone. We support the Oil and Gas Industry, Forestry and reforestation, Drip torch, Mining and Mineral exploration with Heli-portable drill support, various Government bodies, Power and Hydro, Emergency Response with Fire and Flood Rescue, SAR (Search & Rescue) with Class D Aerial Rescue certification, Medevac (stretcher equipped), Aerial GPS mapping to name a few. We also have specialized equipment from Thermal Imaging for detecting hot spots as well as SAR, gas detection for pipeline patrol and surveillance, specialized baskets for forestry cone harvesting, specialized baskets for hauling gravel and concrete as well as hauling contaminated soils and spills debris along with aerial seeding of pipeline right of ways and leases. We also can supply aircraft for crew changes for up to 14 people at a time if required as well as Remote Camp Support. We offer General Charter Service for Executive and Media hire as well as scenic flights and Tourism. Reach out today for more detailed information regarding any project you may have. Our Mission statement says it best as we have “Solutions that Move You.”
Student:
Amelia Gurski
Upcoming Events
AER OneStop Record of Site Condition (RoSC) Information Sessions
As part of AERs ongoing engagement activities, a series of 90 minute live online sessions have been scheduled that will focus on OneStop RoSC submissions under the new Notice of Contamination intent, which supports Release Reporting and is scheduled for release on Wednesday October 16, 2024.
This new submission intent is to fulfil release reporting requirements (under EPEA S.111 and Release Reporting Regulation S.4) and may be used for unreported lower-risk situations where there is no ongoing incident resulting in substances being released to the environment. For all other situations, release reporting must continue to be carried out via the 24-hour Energy & Environmental Response Line at 1-800-222-6514.
These four sessions will be delivered through Microsoft Teams:
- Monday October 21 (10:00-11:30),
- Thursday October 24 (13:00-14:30)
- Monday October 28 (13:00-14:30) and
- Wednesday October 30 (13:00-14:30)
Attendees are expected to be familiar with the RoSC OneStop Submission module.
Topics covered will include:
- Overview of the RoSC intents of submission
- Demonstration of the new “Notice of Contamination” intent of submission
- New RoSC mapping component
- Other recent updates to the OneStop RoSC
- General observations and advice on RoSC Submissions
- Public access to information
There will be opportunity to ask questions and familiarize yourself with requirements, expectations and process.
To register, sign up through Eventbrite here.
Further information is available on the AER website, in Manual 021: Contamination Management and in the OneStop Contamination Management Quick Reference Guides
- https://www.aer.ca/regulating-development/project-closure/remediation/record-of-site-condition
- https://static.aer.ca/prd/documents/manuals/Manual021.pdf
- https://www.aer.ca/regulating-development/project-application/onestop/onestop-help
ESAA Job Board
Check out the new improved ESAA Job Board. Members can post ads for free.
Current Listings:
- Senior Environmental Planner –Stantec
- Site Investigation & Remediation (SIR) Team Lead –Stantec Consulting Services Inc.
- Environmental Risk Assessment & Technical Reporting – Arletta Environmental Consulting Corp