Assessing, remediating and performance monitoring abandoned mine sites in the Northwest Territories
The objective was to determine whether on-site concentrations of metals posed unacceptable risks to human and/or ecological receptors, derive ecological site-specific target levels, and provide recommendations for future work. The project provides a valuable case study for currently operating mines that are actively managing environmental liabilities.
3M exits PFAS business amid flurry of contamination lawsuits
After some six decades and more than 3,000 lawsuits over claims of ground and water contamination, 3M has announced the end of production for...
SANEXEN awarded environmental cleanup of former Quebec aluminum plant
Nearly three years after a former aluminum plant was demolished in Quebec, a contract has been finalized to environmentally remediate the property.
The contract for...
Ontario used oil refinery fined $140K for odour release incident
An Ontario court has fined used oil refinery and parts washing company Safety-Kleen Canada Inc. $140,000 for causing the discharge of sulphur compounds into...
Quebec company pleads guilty to improper PCB storage
A Quebec numbered company that works creating layouts for capacitors and ballasts, operating as Action-Éco Environnement, has been fined $15,000 for improperly storing polychlorinated...
Hydrochloric acid breach at Ontario auto parts plant sends 23 to hospital
Twenty-three workers were taken to hospital last week following a hydrochloric acid spill at an automotive steering and suspension parts plant in St. Catharines,...
The problem with PFAS waste incineration
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) released a memo placing a moratorium on the incineration of materials containing PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). According to the memo, the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act requires the ban until the DOD issues guidance implementing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) interim guidance on the destruction and disposal of PFAS. And, what does the EPA’s current interim guidance say about incinerating PFAS-containing waste? It is best summarized this way: “More research is needed.”
Calgary gas producer fined for acidic release during failed transfer
Calgary-based natural gas processing company Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure Ltd. has been fined $100,200 by the Alberta Energy Regulator for an acidic water release...
Environmental groups call for new CEPA to include greater protection against toxics
Environmental action groups are urging the federal government to maintain Senate amendments made around the cumulative impacts of toxic chemicals for Bill S-5 following...
York researchers make headway using enzymes to degrade groundwater contaminants
A York University research team is developing an enzyme-based technology for emerging contaminants in groundwater, and has so far found success in removing petroleum...
Ottawa considers incentives to help swap out heating oil fuel tanks to protect source...
A City of Ottawa committee is recommending council approval of the home heating oil fuel tank incentive program to help eliminate contamination threats to...
Nunavut fined $100K for high school diesel leak into Hudson Bay
The Nunavut government has been fined $100,000 for a diesel fuel leak at a local high school that flowed into Hudson Bay, according to...
BC Cold War fallout bunker set to undergo contaminated soil cleanup
The area surrounding a Cold War nuclear fallout bunker in British Columbia is set to be remediated, according to a federal tender for the...
Three BC engineers reprimanded over Mount Polley tailings disaster
Eight years after the Mount Polley tailings disaster, three engineers have been penalized following disciplinary proceedings by Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia.
Nova Scotia tenders investigations into impacts of more than 70 former mines
Last March, after Nova Scotia identified nearly 70 sites it plans to assess and potentially remediate, officials have now added five more sites to...
Hamilton’s Randle Reef remediation wraps up Phase Two
One of the most notable remediation projects in North America, for its sheer scale of underwater contamination on the Canadian side of the Great...
Nova Scotia gold mine fined $250k over dumping charges
An investigation into a Nova Scotia open-pit gold mine has uncovered seven incidents of illegal dumping that has led to fines totalling $250,000.
Atlantic Mining...
Researchers find decades-old nanoplastics in ice from Earth’s poles
An international team of scientists identified significant quantities of nanoscale plastic particles in decades-old ice samples from Greenland and Antarctica as part of a...
Brownie Awards celebrate brownfield and remediation projects across Canada
A number of significant brownfield remediation projects took the spotlight at the recent Brownie Awards, where award winners ranged from Whitehorse’s thermal conduction work...
PFAS lawsuits continue as California sues 3M for groundwater pollution
California's largest groundwater agency is suing 3M and a series of other companies it believes are responsible for “knowingly” polluting groundwater with perfluoroalkyl and...
Canadian researchers enhancing wetland microbes to clean oilsands wastewater
A Canada-wide team of researchers is looking to harness the power of ecosystem services in the natural environment to clean up process-affected water from...
Cleanup continues for one of California’s worst ever oil spills
An initial investigation into one of the largest oil spills in California's history appears to show evidence that an underwater pipeline was damaged by...
CCME issues soil, groundwater quality guidelines for PFOS
The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) has published soil and groundwater quality guidelines for perfluoroalkyl substances, widely known as PFOS.
The guidelines...
CN Rail nets second fine over spraying pesticides on tracks near B.C. river
The Canadian National Railway Co. has been fined $2.5 million under the Fisheries Act for spraying pesticides on a rail corridor that runs along...
UWaterloo researchers map worldwide mining disasters as a new tool
Researchers at the University of Waterloo have used historical satellite imagery to map a database showing 63 tailings flow incidents that have occurred worldwide...
First Nation signs $20M compensation deal over impacts from NWT Giant Mine
The federal government has agreed to set aside up to $20 million over the next decade as compensation for how the historical operation and...
Microbes biodegrade diesel fuel in Labrador Sea, study finds
Marine bacteria in the frigid waters of the Labrador Sea may be capable of biodegrading fossil fuels following diesel or crude oil spills from...
Quebec team studies new class of electrodes to degrade PFAS in water
A new research project team in Quebec hopes to create innovative solutions to decontaminate waters containing harmful chemical compounds like perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances...
Canadians should not pay for industry’s abandoned well cleanup, report says
“It’s highly questionable” whether oil and gas companies should be leaving taxpayers on the hook for expensive cleanup costs around Alberta’s abandoned wells, says...
Feds fund Mercury Care Home to treat Ontario First Nations poisoned over decades
New federal funding of $88.4 million for a First Nations care home will offer specialized treatment for at least 22 northwestern Ontario residents suffering...
North Bay signs $20M cleanup deal with DND over airport PFAS contamination
North Bay has finalized a landmark agreement with the Department of National Defence (DND), which will provide nearly $20 million over six years to...
Treatment options for PFAS contaminated groundwater
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of chemical compounds that have been used in the manufacturing of a wide variety of consumer products since the 1940s. Due to growing public awareness and an evolving political climate, widespread changes to government regulations and enforcement are imminent.
Denmark exhumes culled COVID mink due to groundwater contamination fear
After the Danish government culled and buried some four million farmed mink in late 2020 due to a COVID-19 mutation, officials have begun to...
Understanding the testing requirements under Ontario’s new excess soil regulation
The premise of Ontario’s Regulation 406/19 is that soil is a precious and limited resource and, as with any limited resource, excess soil generated from construction and earthmoving projects needs to be properly managed.
Energy companies fined $1.5M for chlorinated water leak that entered North Saskatchewan River
An Alberta energy partnership faces a $1.5-million fine some seven years after chlorinated water leaked for three days from one of its fire suppression...
Catching spills before they hit the ground will cut costs
The unintended underground of crisscrossed avenues provides an effective avenue for any seepage that “came down the crack” on the concrete slab. Releases of solvents and chemicals “eat away” at these between-slab expansion joints. As such, an annual inspection and recaulking may be a good investment.
Calgary oil company battles Christmas Day pipeline spill
Calgary-based oil and gas producer ARC Resources Ltd. experienced a Christmas Day spill of about 400,000 litres of produced water from an oilfield pipeline...
Improving vapour barriers and installation practices allows safer development
Over time, best practices have been developed into standard operating procedures to ensure that contaminant vapour barriers will function as intended over their service life. A vapour barrier installation best practice program involves properly training installers on the latest best practices for installation and validating a barrier’s proper installation through QA/QC testing.
Eco-groups call for new monitoring of creek contamination from former B.C. mine
Community eco-action groups in British Columbia are calling on the province to increase its monitoring of mining metals and compounds that a new report...
low-energy extraction wells for removing contaminant plumes originating from lined landfills
In some low hydraulic conductivity settings, using one or more low-capacity wells could be advantageous, by decreasing the chance of excessive drawdown associated with higher capacity wells.
How natural processes are changing the way we manage petroleum contamination
Most of the petroleum non-aqueous phase liquid at the majority of contaminated sites is expected to exist in residual form that remains largely unrecoverable via conventional remediation techniques.
Careful planning required to deal with asbestos during facade renovations
By Hassan Ktaech
While even the most experienced commercial construction and renovation companies may be well versed in how to remove asbestos safely from walls,...
Ontario’s new regulation on excess soil highlights new in-demand skills
Ontario’s new excess soil regulation points to skills that will be in demand in the future. With the increased density of cities and the popularity of high-rise living, there has been a growing volume of excavated soil.
Two Quebec companies fined for environmental violations
Following guilty pleas, two Quebec companies are facing fines for violations of federal environmental rules.
Seleine Mines, a division of K+S Windsor Salt Ltd., is...
Environmental forensic tools help answer legal, groundwater contamination problems
Recent court decisions have interpreted regulatory liability for contaminated lands in ways that expand the liability of polluters and, in some instances, innocent owners of contaminated sites.
Creating a closed-loop process to recycle 99% of lead batteries
East Penn and Terrapure have developed a closed-loop solution to recycle East Penn’s batteries. The two companies decided a “tolling” agreement was the best way to ensure a circular life cycle.
B.C. town begins phase two of metal remediation for pond by former airport
The federal government has awarded phase two of British Columbia’s Reay Creek sediment remediation project to QM Environmental for $1.14 million, as officials work...
East Penn Canada and Terrapure win environmental award for innovative lead battery recycling
Terrapure Environmental (Terrapure) and East Penn Canada announced that they received an Environment + Energy Leader Award for "Project of the Year" for their...
Forestry company spills diesel during failed fuel transfer process on B.C. coast
As the result of a failed fuel transfer process, a forestry company has claimed responsibility for spilling some 4,500 litres of diesel fuel into...
Alberta fuel supplier fined $1.25M for Battle River fish deaths
An Alberta-based fuel supplier has been fined $1.25 million after pleading guilty to a solvent spill that killed fish in a creek that flows...
U.S. PFAS Bill passes House, but faces major hurdle in Senate
The House of Representatives passed the PFAS Action Act, to protect the environment and clean up areas affected by PFAS, but it must now pass the Senate.
Trailer park and aerosol company face environmental fines
Northwest Territories-based Hay River Mobile Home Park Ltd. has pleaded guilty to a fuel truck spill that occurred in October 2016 on Hay River.
The...
Using eDNA technology to help plan primary resource industry projects
Environmental DNA (eDNA) detection has great potential in characterizing biodiversity over the life cycle of primary resource industry projects. The extreme sensitivity of eDNA technology is essential in gaining confidence that species are present or not present at sites.
Nunavut-based mining company fined $50K for effluent violation
A Nunavut-based mining company has been fined $50,000 for depositing a harmful effluent into a creek at its gold mine 685 km northeast of...
Gas vapour mitigation system used for site remediation project
A 123-acre brownfield site was selected for a casino development. Before construction could commence, developers needed to remediate heavily contaminated soil, which contained harmful gas vapours.
Federal government unveils $2.2B northern mines remediation program
A new federal program will invest $2.2 billion over 15 years to remediate contamination in eight of the largest high-risk abandoned mine projects in...
Quebec dry cleaner fined and ordered to study chemical management
The owner of a Quebec-based dry cleaning company has pled guilty and has been fined $77,000 for contravening a series of federal environmental laws...
Marine transport firm fined $2.7M for 2016 British Columbia spill
A British Columbia court has fined Kirby Offshore Marine Operating LLC $2.7 million after the Texas-based company pled guilty to three charges in relation...
Husky fined for 2016 pipeline leak into North Saskatchewan River
Husky Oil Operations Ltd. has been ordered to pay a $3.8-million fine as the result of a blended heavy crude oil pipeline leak into...
Major contract awarded for Faro Mine remediation
Faro Mine, one of the largest contaminated sites in Canada is moving ahead with the next phase in its remediation.
On May 31, 2019, the...
Canada’s top court rejects appeal in Ottawa dry cleaner contamination case
An Ottawa-based dry cleaner found liable for $1.63 million in remediation costs related to the spill of degreaser chemicals between 1960 and 1974 has...
Using multiple lines of evidence helps in the study and remediation of PFAS
Even though PFAS are almost ubiquitous in the environment, their composition and release mechanisms are often different, depending on the source.
Environmental isotopes help solve groundwater issues
Compound-specific isotope analysis has emerged as a line of evidence to assess bioremediation of volatile organic compounds in the subsurface.
Ex situ treatment approach used for soil impacted with cyanides
Two environmental site assessments, subsurface investigation and monitoring programs, have been conducted at a former industrial facility in Guelph, Ontario.
Alberta Environment Minister orders staged cleanup of former wood treatment site
Alberta Environment Minister Shannon Phillips issued a ministerial order that requires a nine-step remediation process to take place over the next nine months at...
Unknown amount of crude oil spilled in Manitoba train derailment
Cleanup crews in Manitoba have built a berm to contain an unknown amount of oil spilled from rail cars around the area where a...
Excess soil is a valuable resource that should not be wasted
Each year, an estimated 26 million cubic metres of construction soil must be managed in Ontario.
Bankrupt energy companies can’t abandon cleanup obligations, Supreme Court rules
Bankrupt oil and gas companies must fulfill provincial environmental obligations before paying anyone it owes money to, the Supreme Court has ruled, overturning a...
Syncrude to pay $2.75 million for great blue heron deaths at oilsands
On January 2, 2019, Syncrude Canada Ltd. pleaded guilty in the Provincial Court of Alberta to one count of violating the Migratory Birds Convention Act,...
Saskatchewan suing Ottawa for more funding on Gunnar mine cleanup
Saskatchewan started motion on a lawsuit to force the federal government to contribute to the $280-million cleanup of the abandoned Gunnar uranium mine.
Latest Husky oil spill may be Newfoundland’s largest ever
Husky Energy officials say a gap in the pipe at its SeaRose floating platform, 350 kilometres southeast of St. John’s, Newfoundland is the likely...
Surfactant technology enhances remediation at contaminated grain elevator site
By Eric Dulle and George “Bud” Ivey
Grain elevators are an enduring symbol of agricultural tradition. Unfortunately, they present environmental problems, due to a legacy...
Transport Canada awards $17M for final remediation of former paint company site in BC
Transport Canada has awarded a $17.6-million contract to a joint venture through QM/JJM Contracting to remove contaminants from the ecosystem around Laurel Point Park...
Alberta may become first province to issue fentanyl cleanup guidelines
The Government of Alberta has earmarked $350,000 to create guidelines for the cleanup of properties contaminated with traces of the powerful opioid fentanyl.
Alberta Health...
NWT, federal government celebrate end of 11-year Tundra Mine remediation
After 11 years and $110 million, the Tundra Mine remediation project in the Northwest Territories has cleared all remaining ore residue at the former...
Alberta levies fine, charges in PCB and pesticide leaks
On August 15, 2018, the Provincial Court of Alberta fined FortisAlberta Inc. $300,000, following the major electricity provider’s guilty plea for violating PCB Regulations...
Saskatchewan First Nations file lawsuit against energy company over 2016 oil spill
Two Cree Nations groups in Saskatchewan have filed a lawsuit against Husky Energy for a 2016 pipe break that spilled oil into the North...
Nexen Energy fined for violating Canada’s Migratory Birds Convention Act
On July 13, 2018, Nexen Energy ULC was ordered to pay a total penalty of $290,000 in the Provincial Court of Alberta, after pleading...
Nova Scotia investigates rural water contamination fears after site owners ignore orders
While residential complaints linger over potential contaminants still leaching into the groundwater from a recycling plant in Harrietsfield, Nova Scotia, the provincial government has...
Confusion still surrounds who will spearhead Thunder Bay harbour cleanup
After going largely dormant in 2014, Thunder Bay is looking to rebuild a steering committee dedicated to remediating an estimated 400,000 m3 of mercury-contaminated...
Yukon nears end of public consult for Faro mine remediation
Remediation of Faro Mine in the Yukon, once the largest open pit lead-zinc mine in the world, is estimated to take 15-years and $590-million.
Freshwater oil spill study underway at Ontario’s Experimental Lakes facility
As part of a study, scientists are deliberately spilling oil to determine the impacts of diluted bitumen on freshwater systems.
BC park on former paint site to be remediated by city next to federal...
The British Columbia city of Victoria has approved $3.1 million towards the remediation of Laurel Point Park, where soil and groundwater were contaminated by...
Nova Scotia’s Boat Harbour cleanup plan getting clearer
A provincial plan is slowly being unveiled for Nova Scotia’s largest contaminated site, known as Boat Harbour, where a 140-hectare collection of settling ponds,...
Small Quebec town fined $100K for PCB violation
The small northwestern Quebec Town of Amos has been fined $100,000 and entered into the federal Environmental Offenders Registry after town officials pleaded guilty...
New proposed regulations on excess soil management
On April 16, the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) posted brand new proposed regulations to address the management of excess soils...
Phase 2 underway for massive Randle Reef remediation
At Randle Reef in Ontario’s Hamilton Harbour, one of the most contaminated underwater sites on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes, construction of...
Latest spill shows North still struggling to prevent and control oil events
The Qulliq Energy Corporation (QEC), based in Nunavut, says a faulty automated valve and loose plug were the likely culprits in a March diesel...
Port Hope’s $1.28B radioactive waste removal underway in Ontario
Beginning in April 2018, and continuing through the summer, the first loads of an estimated 1.2 million cubic metres of historic low-level radioactive waste...
Canadian Brownfields Network conducting a survey of the brownfield landscape
The Canadian Brownfields Network (CBN) is launching several initiatives to revisit and update the 15 year old National Round Table on the Environment and...
U.S. firm Parsons wins bid to complete Giant Mine clean up in NWT
U.S.-based engineering services firm, Parsons Inc., has won the latest remediation contract surrounding the cleanup of arsenic trioxide waste at Yellowknife’s Giant Mine in...
Radiation protection for the remediation of historic low-level radioactive waste
The Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI) is the Government of Canada’s response to the community-recommended solutions for the remediation and safe, long-term management of historic low-level radioactive waste in the municipalities of Port Hope and Clarington, Ontario.
Sears leaves Calgary mall and questions amid unfinished remediation
Shortly after Alberta Environment officials announced in December 2017 that remediation efforts are still needed at a former Sears Canada property in Calgary, the...
Ontario food manufacturer fined for offences relating to discharging process water
On January 17, 2018, Sun-Brite Foods Inc. was convicted of two offences under the Ontario Water Resources Act (OWRA), and one offence under the...
Brownfield applications rolling in for Windsor, Ontario, as land prices spike
Freezing taxes for a decade, paying for feasibility and environmental studies, and chipping in for soil and groundwater testing were a few of the...
Canada’s new $80M oil spill protection investment relies on ocean modelling, joint research
A key plank of a new federal government initiative to protect Canada’s oceans from oil spills involves a $45.5-million program to “leverage collaboration among...
Aerospace company fined for failing to notify ministry of oil spill
Aerospace company, Vac Aero International Inc. has been fined for failing to notify the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) of a spill...
Ottawa firm dredging paint contamination out of Victoria Middle Harbour
Ottawa-based Milestone Environmental Contracting Inc. has won a $5.3-million contract to remediate 70 years of paint factory contamination at Victoria Middle Harbour in British...
Reviewing Canada’s cumulative effects assessment guidelines for the metal mining sector
This article examines the regulatory framework for cumulative effects assessment in Canada, particularly as it relates to the metal mining sector.
B.C. announces new spill response regulations
British Columbia unveiled new regulations that require transporters of liquid petroleum products to have provincial plans in place to manage a spill. The regulations...
Latest Articles
EPA issues first-of-its-kind enforcement over chemical maker’s PFAS Ohio River contamination
In its first ever Clean Water Act enforcement action, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ordered chemical maker Chemours to take corrective measures...
