Tidal Implications for Remediation of a Coal Waste Pile in Union Bay, BC

Tidal Implications for Remediation of a Coal Waste Pile in Union Bay, BC

Tidal Implications - Remediation of a Coal Waste Pile in Union Bay, BC Ian Mitchell, M.Sc, P.Geo., Jim Malick, Ph.D, R.P.Bio, P.Ag. SEACOR Environmental Inc.

Outline Site Description and History Environmental Investigations Detailed Hydrogeological assessments Remediation/Reclamation Plan

Site Description 13 ha waste coal pile in Union Bay, BC

Site Description 13 ha waste coal pile in Union Bay, BC Bounded to north and east by Pacific Ocean

Site Description 13 ha waste coal pile in Union Bay, BC Bounded to north and east by Pacific Ocean Bounded to west by Hart Creek

Site Description 13 ha waste coal pile in Union Bay, BC Bounded to north and east by Pacific Ocean Bounded to west by Hart Creek Future land use: golf course

Site History Coal Processing Facility 1888 to ~ 1960 Historical photographs from BC Archive at www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca.

Site History Coal Processing Facility 1888 to ~ 1960 Historical photographs from BC Archive at www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca.

Site History Coal Processing Facility 1888 to ~ 1960 Historical photographs from BC Archive at www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca.

Environmental Investigations Waste Coal Pile and adjacent properties, Baynes Sound and Hart Creek Samples of waste coal, native soil, groundwater, sediment and surface water analysed for PCOCs PCOCs include metals, PAHs, sulphate ABA, kinetic testing and other geochemical parameters

Waste Coal Pile - Results Waste Coal: arsenic, copper, naphthalene and phenanthrene > standards Native soils: < standards Groundwater: cadmium, cobalt, copper, nickel, zinc and sulphate > standards for aquatic life; PAHs < standards Hart Creek - Results Surface Water: < criteria Sediment: PAHs and metals > criteria in 1 sample

Baynes Sound - Results Waste coal present to > 30 m offshore Iron staining present in sediments north and east of coal pile in areas of groundwater discharge Sediment: PAHs and metals > criteria Seep water: Metals > criteria

Detailed Aerial Photography SW 11 SW 9

Geochemistry Geochemical characterization conducted by SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. Static and kinetic testing indicated that all material is potentially acid generating and some already acidic Geochemical Profile Sulphide sulphur present throughout Accumulation of sulphate within top 2 m Increasing ph and NP with depth Under existing conditions, acidification expected to continue for decades to a century

Detailed Hydrogeology Assessment Phase 1 Stratigraphic characterization Groundwater chemistry Hydraulic Conductivity Tests Analysis of tidal effects/gradients Groundwater flow assessment Infiltration tests at pile surface Climate data evaluation Numerical modelling (HELP) Detailed evaluation of water balance Conceptual hydrogeological model

Phase 1 Conclusions Waste coal hydraulic conductivity an order of magnitude higher than underlying native soil; promotes seepage at base of pile Upgradient side of pile not recharged by Hart Ck. Tidal influence extends to back of pile, however mixing of groundwater with saline water limited to 20-75 metres inland from foreshore Upgradient groundwater flow through pile is a relatively small component of overall discharge

Conceptual Model Seeps Q 3 Q 2 Seeps Q 1

Conceptual Model Q 2 Q 1 Dispersive Mixing Dilutive Mixing Q 3? Salt Water Wedge

Water Balance PRECIPITATION 139,000 m 3 /yr EVAPORATION 56,800 m 3 /yr INFILTRATION 78,000 m 3 /yr RUNOFF 4,200 m 3 /yr STORAGE BASEFLOW 14,000 m 3 /yr SEEPAGE

Detailed Hydrogeology Assessment Phase 2 Literature Review Spatial and temporal characterization of seepage chemistry Evaluation of seepage flowrates Shallow depth porewater profiling in the intertidal zone Coastal dispersion modelling Seawater dilution evaluation Update conceptual hydrogeological model

Conceptual Loadings Flushing Loading to Water Table Dilutive Events April October April

Conceptual Particle Tracking 0 hrs 25 hrs +1 m 1 m 0 m -1 m 5 m 10 m

Porewater Profiling Intertidal Zone Porewater Dissolved Iron Depth Profiles 0 0.25 0.5 Depth (m) 0.75 1 1.25 SW9 NE PT SW11 1.5 1.75 2 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 Dissolved Iron Concentration (mg/l)

Porewater Profiling Intertidal Zone Porewater Dissolved Chloride Depth Profiles 0 0.25 0.5 Depth (m) 0.75 1 1.25 SW9 NE PT SW11 1.5 1.75 2 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 11000 12000 13000 Chloride Concentration (mg/l)

6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Iron vs Chloride Seepwater Trend Evaluation SW9 Dissolved Iron vs Tidal Cycle 55.0 50.0 Tide SW9 - [Fe] 45.0 40.0 35.0 30.0 2/9/06 18:00 2/9/06 12:00 2/10/06 6:00 2/10/06 0:00 2/10/06 12:00 2/10/06 18:00 2/11/06 6:00 2/11/06 0:00 2/11/06 12:00 Date and Time Tide Height (m) Dissolved Iron Concentration (mg/l) 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 SW9 Dissolved Chloride vs Tidal Cycle 10200 10000 Tide SW9 - [Cl] 9800 9600 9400 9200 9000 8800 8600 2/10/06 12:00 2/10/06 6:00 2/10/06 0:00 2/9/06 18:00 2/9/06 12:00 2/11/06 6:00 2/11/06 0:00 2/10/06 18:00 2/11/06 12:00 Date and Time Tide Height (m) Dissolved Chloride Concentration (mg/l)

6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Iron vs Chloride Seepwater Trend Evaluation SW11 Dissolved Iron vs Tidal Cycle 240 230 220 Tide SW11 - [Fe] 210 200 190 180 170 160 150 140 2/10/06 0:00 2/9/06 18:00 2/9/06 12:00 2/10/06 6:00 2/10/06 12:00 2/10/06 18:00 2/11/06 6:00 2/11/06 0:00 2/11/06 12:00 Date and Time Tide Height (m) Dissolved Iron Concentration (mg/l) 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 SW11 Dissolved Chloride vs Tidal Cycle 6000 5500 Tide SW11 - [Cl] 5000 4500 4000 3500 3000 2/10/06 6:00 2/10/06 0:00 2/9/06 18:00 2/9/06 12:00 2/10/06 12:00 2/11/06 6:00 2/11/06 0:00 2/10/06 18:00 2/11/06 12:00 Date and Time Tide Height (m) Dissolved Chloride Concentration (mg/l)

Groundwater Seepwater Trend Evaluation Dissolved Iron Concentration over Tidal Cycle 6 900 800 height of tide (m) 5 4 3 2 1 0 2/8 12:00 2/9 0:00 2/9 12:00 2/10 0:00 2/10 12:00 2/11 0:00 2/11 12:00 2/12 0:00 2/12 12:00 Elapsed time (hours) 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 000 Dissolved Fe [mg/l] Tide (m) BH16 BH20 SW9 SW11

Groundwater Seepwater Trend Evaluation Dissolved Chloride Concentration over Tidal Cycle 6 12000 height of tide (m) 5 10000 4 8000 3 6000 2 4000 1 2000 0 000 2/8 12:00 2/9 0:00 2/9 12:00 2/10 0:00 2/10 12:00 2/11 0:00 2/11 12:00 2/12 0:00 2/12 12:00 Elapsed time (hours) Dissolved Cl- [mg/l] Tide (m) BH16 BH20 SW9 SW11

Seawater Intrusion Feb 10mg/L Dec 10mg/L Sept 10mg/L

Seawater Intrusion Q 3 Q 2 Q 1a Q 1b Q 3

Dilution Assessment Estimated Average Seawater Dilution between Perimeter Wells and Seeps based on Iron Concentrations Location Dissolved Fe (mg/l) September 2005 October 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 BH20 475 400 340 480 750 SW9 110 200 85 30 50 Approx.Dilution 77% 50% 75% 94% 93% BH16 960 710 265 185 320 SW11 60 45 20 200 170 Approx.Dilution 94% 94% 93% 0% 47%

Dilution Assessment Estimated Average Seawater Dilution between Pile and Seeps Based on Water Balance Method Location Combined Seepage Measured Flow Rates (L/sec) Estimated Total Annual Seepage (m 3 /yr) Estimated Pile Groundwater Discharge (m 3 /yr) Approx. Dilution by Seawater North Face 17.0 East Face 9.2 490,000 78,000 84% Spatially Distributed 5.0

Ocean Water Results Feb 2006 279 ug/l 32 ug/l 3220 ug/l 63 ug/l 43 ug/l 292 ug/l 32 ug/l 28 ug/l

Coastal Dispersion Modeling Surface water dispersion model (Lam et al., 1994) used to examine behavior of Fe in Baynes Sound Used to identify distance from and along shoreline from seepage discharges with Fe concentrations > 300 ug/l Table A. Results of coastal dispersion model runs at Union Bay. Parameter Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 M o (μg/s) 629,000 629,000 629,000 k (1/s) 0.00019 0.00019 0.00019 u (m/s) 0.01 0.1 1 E z (m 2 /s) 0.6 0.6 0.6 E x (m 2 /s) 0.2 0.2 0.2 a D x (m) <50 <100 <100 D z b (m) <100 <50 <50 Distance from shoreline (m) at which dissolved iron water column concentration falls below 300 μg/l. Distance along shoreline (m) from the point of release at which dissolved iron water column concentration falls below 300 μg/l. a b Model results indicate rapid reduction of Fe concentrations within 50-100 m from point of discharge (in all directions) Close agreement between sampling results and model results Lam, DCL, Murthy, CR and Simpson, RB. 1984. Effluent Transport and Diffusion Models for the Coastal Zone (Lecture Notes of Coastal and Estuarine Studies, 5). Springer-Verlag, New York, NY. 168 pp.

Phase 2 Conclusions Groundwater discharge occurs primarily within the top 1 metre of saturated materials Seawater intrusion and mixing with groundwater is highly variable but causes approximately 90% dilution at the pile perimeter on a net annual basis Seep flowrate from SW9 and SW11 (combined) is about 6% of the observed seepage discharge Groundwater discharge at north side of the pile is approximately twice as high as the east side In general, dissolved iron is inversely proportional to chloride concentrations

Remediation/Reclamation Plan Waste coal in 4 different zones: Main pile (reclamation) Hart Creek deposit (rechannelling) Intertidal Zone deposit (no action) Subtidal deposit (no action)

Remediation Plan Barrier wall installation around perimeter Contaminated soil relocation to pile Low permeability cover to reduce infiltration Groundwater and leachate treatment as part of ongoing sewage management

Hart Creek Realignment 2006 Hart Creek realigned to reduce erosion of Waste Coal Pile into estuary Before Eroded waste coal material After Hart Creek NOW

Conclusions Groundwater concentrations beneath the pile are expected to remain highly variable Seepage flow rates are not expected to be significantly reduced Seep locations and discharge characteristics may change over time To assess future loadings in a meaningful way, data must be evaluated based on net annual trends as opposed to isolated monitoring events so that short term variability is kept within context

Conclusions Permanent remedial solution for Waste Coal Pile Greater than 90% reduction in annual contaminant loadings to the environment are expected Barrier wall insurable, reduces leachate migration to foreshore Deep soil mixing technology is proven on Vancouver Island and elsewhere for improving soil stability Post-remedial development will provide economic opportunities for local community

Thank You SEACOR