IN THE PROVINCIAL COURT OF ALBERTA CRIMINAL DIVISION HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN. -and- MCCOLMAN & SONS DEMOLITION LTD.

Transcription

1 IN THE PROVINCIAL COURT OF ALBERTA CRIMINAL DIVISION Docket No.: P1 BETWEEN: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN -and- MCCOLMAN & SONS DEMOLITION LTD. BEFORE THE HONOURABLE ) On Wednesday, the 23rd day JUDGE ) of January, AT EDMONTON, ALBERTA ) ORDER PURSUANT TO SECTION 234(1) of the ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION & ENHANCEMENT ACT WHEREAS MCCOLMAN & SONS DEMOLITION LTD. stands convicted of one offence (as amended) under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, to wit: Count # 1 On or between the 28 th day of January 2008 and the 27 th day of May 2010, both dates inclusive, at or near Edmonton, in the Province of Alberta did knowingly commence or continue any activity, that is designated by the regulations as requiring an approval or registration, or that is redesingated under section 66.1 as requiring an approval without holding the required approval or registration contrary to section 60 of the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act and did thereby commit an offence contrary to section 227(j) of the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, evidence of the said offence having come to the attention of the Director on September 4, 2009 AND WHEREAS MCCOLMAN & SONS DEMOLITION LTD. stands convicted of a further offence (as amended) under the Water Act, to wit: Count #5 On or between the 28 th day of January, 2008 and the 10 th day of May 2010, both dates inclusive, at or near Edmonton, in the Province of Alberta, did commence or continue an activity without an approval or as otherwise authorized under the Water Act, contrary to section 142(1) (h) of the Water Act, evidence of the said offence having come to the attention of the Director on September 4, 2009

2 AND WHEREAS counsel for both the Crown and for MCCOLMAN & SONS DEMOLITION LTD. has proposed a joint submission to this Honourable Court; AND WHEREAS MCCOLMAN & SONS DEMOLITION LTD. has restored the wetland area to the satisfaction of Alberta Environment; AND WHEREAS in addition to a penalty of $10, on each count, inclusive of the victim fine surcharge, for a total penalty of $20, for which time to pay has been granted to, and, having regard to the nature of the offence and the circumstances surrounding its commission, the parties propose that this Honourable Court additionally impose a stop order and a remediation order in respect to count # 1; AND WHEREAS the maximum period of time that a stop order can be in effect under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act is three years; AND WHEREAS this Honourable Court notes that MCCOLMAN & SONS DEMOLITION LTD. will have to apply for the proper approvals from Alberta Environment and other proper government entities following the cessation of any stop order should MCCOLMAN & SONS DEMOLITION LTD. desire to again operate a landfill; IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT: 1. Pursuant to the provisions of section 234(1) (a) of the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, MCCOLMAN & SONS DEMOLITION LTD. shall cease operation of a landfill on lands described as 9-NE W4M and 10-NE W4M and is further prohibited from operating a landfill on the said lands for a period of three years. 2. Pursuant to the provisions of section 234(1) (b) of the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, in order to remedy the harm to the environment that results or may result from the act that constituted the offence, the company shall comply with the terms of the Waste Remediation and Monitoring Plan attached as Appendix A to this Order. 3. That where the Waste Remediation and Monitoring Plan requires that a report be submitted to Alberta Environment, that the report shall be provided to Jeff Toering, District Compliance Manager Northern Region, and Hanneke Brooymans, Environmental Investigations Liaison Officer, Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development. 4. In the event that any of the conditions of this Order cannot be satisfied or that an issue arises between the parties as to the performance of the stop or remediation orders, MCCOLMAN & SONS DEMOLITION LTD and Alberta Justice have leave to appear before this Honourable Court for further direction.

3 DATED this day 23rd day of January, 2013, in the City of Edmonton in the Province of Alberta. Judge of the Provincial Court of Alberta

4 APPENDIX A McColman & Sons Demolition Ltd. WASTE REMEDIATION AND MONITORING PLAN McColman & Sons Demolition Ltd. ("M&S") had engaged in landfill operations on the following two parcels of land ("M&S Lands"): Plan 5769HW Parcel (B) Containing 9.61 hectares (23.75 acres) more or less Excepting thereout:.441 Hectares (1.09 acres) more or less for road On Plan Excepting thereout all mines and minerals Referred to hereinafter as "Parcel B" Plan Block Z Containing 20.6 hectares (50.9 acres) more or less Excepting thereout: Hectares (Acres) More or Less A) Plan Right of Way Area A Excepting thereout all Mines and Minerals Referred to hereinafter as "Block Z" M&S has prepared this Waste Remediation and Monitoring Plan to remove landfill materials, monitor, and remediate the specified lands in accordance with the terms and actions set out in the following action plan. 1. M&S will remove materials ("Removed Materials"), in the area as indicated by hashed lines set out on Schedule "A" located on both Parcel B and Block Z. 2. The Removed Materials will be sorted and stockpiled for inspection and metals, concrete and other salvageable materials will be collected for further recycling. 3. The remaining Removed Materials that are not salvaged for further recycling and are suitable for Class 3 disposal will be transported to Cholla Landfill, located in Parkland County for disposal or such other landfill with proper approvals and authorizations as will be identified. 4. All Removed Materials transported to Cholla Landfill or elsewhere will be accounted for and tracked using M&S haul cards and receipts issued by Cholla Landfill or such other landfill as may be involved. 5. Excavation of the Removed Materials will commence on January 15, Excavation and transportation of the Removed Materials will be completed by January 1, 2015.

5 7. M&S will retain EBA Engineering Consultants Ltd. ("EBA Engineering") or such other accredited professional consulting engineer as will be indentified ( Consulting Engineer ) to provide consulting services, including the performance of periodic inspections, monitoring and verification to ensure that the Removed Materials are being handled and disposed of in the proper manner, in accordance with the verification plan set out in Schedule "B". 8. The Consulting Engineer will provide a detailed remediation plan outlining specifics of the removal and disposal of the Removed Materials by January 31, The Consulting Engineer will provide quarterly reports to M&S and Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development ("AESRD") discussing the removal and disposal activities completed by M&S. 10. Goldbar Creek crosses through Block Z and portions of the riparian area of the creek have been impacted by concrete rubble which has been transported to Block Z for recycling. M&S will remove concrete and restore the natural area in accordance with an agreed inspection and action plan developed between EBA Engineering and AESRD.

6 Schedule "A" Boundary of Excavation Map

7 Schedule "B" WASTE VERIFICATION PLAN Objectives of Verification EBA Engineering would have the following objectives in sampling the Removed Materials: 1. To identify contaminants in the Removed Materials pile 2. To verify that the contaminants are disposed of appropriately EBA Engineering will have three challenges to verify the process: 1. McColman will remove and process the Removed Materials over an extended period (currently scheduled to start December 3, 2012 and to be complete December 1, 2014). 2. Processing of the Removed Materials will be undertaken with industrial machinery at a scale which will make verification activities difficult and potentially unsafe. 3. The Removed Materials that will be processed are heterogeneous and of a scale that will make sampling difficult. Guidance ASTM provides us with guidance in the following documents: D Guide for General Planning of Waste Sampling D Guide for Sampling Strategies for Heterogeneous Wastes D Guide for Sampling Waste Piles D Guide for Sampling Unconsolidated Waste from Trucks Proposed Methodology to be completed by EBA Engineering The technical guidance from ASTM describes the difficulty of developing realistic and repeatable sampling protocols in heterogeneous waste piles, particularly where large size inconsistencies occur: In our case, finding small objects in large piles of multidimensional concrete rubble. This is exacerbated by our inability to excavate into the rubble pile. ASTM's recommendation is to spread or pile wastes and use a visual approach to identifying contaminants. Clearly, it would be an inefficient use of resources to have the sampling technician on site while the Removed Materials pile is being excavated and prepared. Therefore, EBA Engineering proposes to excavate the Removed Materials and place it in piles before being processed. These piles can then be examined and photographed and contaminants can be marked for removal. Objects identified by operators during the excavation and stockpiling process can be set aside for examination, documentation and appropriate disposal.

8 EBA Engineering suggests this process be driven by a call-out process as excavation and stockpiling proceeds. The operator would call when sufficient stockpiles have been built for the technician to make efficient use of a site visit. To verify that the call-out process is appropriate, EBA Engineering would also visit the site at random intervals throughout the excavation process and inspect scale tickets and progress of the process. Upon completion of excavating the Removed Materials, samples of soils would be taken from the base of the excavation and these will be tested for contaminants of concern to ensure that no impacted soil remains. There may be challenges in collecting these samples if water is ponded in the excavation and if this is the case, samples will be taken from the slopes of the excavation. Depending on the pace of the excavation process, EBA Engineering will submit quarterly reports to document the process of the excavation, observations and materials which have been identified and how they have been disposed of.

9 Schedule "C" Ground Water and Surface Water Monitoring 2.0 GROUNDWATER AND SURFACE WATER 2.1 Objectives 1. To assess chemical quality of groundwater migrating off site to mix with neighbouring surface water and groundwater resources, during and following removal of the Removed Materials from the M&S Lands; and 2. To assess the chemical quality of surface water and groundwater migrating onto the M&S Lands from neighbouring lands. 2.2 Assumptions 1. Surface water in Goldbar Creek enters the reach of the M&S Lands from the east and exits the reach of the M&S Lands along the west side. Prior to flowing onto the M&S Lands, the creek flows past industrial properties that potentially may add soluble elements to the surface water comparable to those potentially introduced from the wastes present on the M&S Lands. 2. Groundwater flow is towards the south in the southern portion of the M&S Lands and to the north in the northern portion of the M&S Lands. This pattern of flow will not change following removal of the Removed Materials and reclamation of the ground surface to pre removal/excavation drainage patterns. 3. The existing network of eleven monitoring wells will lose five wells (MW 11 01, MW11 02, MW11 07, MW12 08 and MW12 11 due to waste removal activities. This will leave MW11 03, MW11 04, MW11 05 and MW12-09 suitably positioned to monitor off site migration. This well network may need to be supplemented by four wells as shown on Figure 1 and the wells will be installed to depths between 6 and 10 metres. 4. All new wells will be tested for hydraulic conductivity. 5. Monitoring of the eight wells will be semi-annual in the spring (May) and fall (October). Monitoring will continue on a semi-annual basis until either chemical concentrations have stabilized or show a declining trend (as defined within AESRD's Groundwater Directive dated October 18, in draft form). 6. Monitoring of the surface water in Goldbar creek will involve three monitoring stations: one located up gradient of the M&S Lands, one at the property boundary, and the third on the downstream boundary of the M&S Lands.

10 7. Chemical analysis will include: i. Hardness ii. iii. iv. Alkalinity Chloride, sulphate and nitrate Ammonia v. Total dissolved solids vi. vii. viii. ix. Total organic carbon Biological oxygen demand Chemical oxygen demand Heavy and trace metals (including mercury, selenium, chromium and zinc) Electrical conductivity and ph will be measured in the field using portable field equipment. 8. Data evaluation. All water quality data will be evaluated relative to the groundwater directives issued by AESRD (draft version dated October 18, 2012). The data evaluation will include establishing upper and lower control limits (once five data sets are available) and ongoing adjustment of the limits as baseline data becomes more prolific. Trends in the data will be plotted and used as a means for establishing either of an upward trend - a possible indicator of worsening water quality, a stable trend indicating that water quality is unchanged, or a declining trend - a possible indicator of improving water quality due to removal of the wastes. Outliers (those results exceeded the control limits) will be reported and evaluated according to a possible error in sampling or analytical results, transcript error or a real environmental change. If outliers are considered a real environmental change, a contingency plan will be developed to investigate the reason for the change and to determine the necessity for implementing remedial action. 9. Reporting. An interim report will be submitted within two weeks of receiving laboratory results on the chemical sampling events. 10. An annual report will be required each year. In the first year the report will include a summary of the regional and local geologic conditions but in subsequent years that information can be reproduced from the prior annual report unless any new wells are installed that alter the description of geologic and hydrogeologic conditions.

11 2.3 Personnel All work will be undertaken under the supervision of an APEGA member and signed and stamped accordingly.

12 NO P IN THE PROVINCIAL COURT OF ALBERTA CRIMINAL DIVISION BETWEEN: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN - and - MCCOLMAN & SONS DEMOLITION LTD. ORDER PURSUANT TO SECTION 234(1) OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND ENHANCEMENT ACT SUSAN McRORY Environmental Prosecutor Specialized Prosecutions Branch Suite 516, Street Edmonton, AB T5J 3W7 Phone: (780) Fax: (780)