AEL Environment services

Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs) are used to make informed decisions about property transactions, identify certain baseline environmental conditions, assist in meeting regulatory requirements, and as an initial step in remediation. Generally ESAs follow a staged approach beginning with Phase I. AEL carries out ESA and remedial work in accordance with CSA and ASTM protocols and, in Ontario, the requirements of O.Reg. 153/04. The regulation requires a Qualified Person (QP – generally a Professional Engineer or Professional Geologist with special registration) to complete the ESA.

Environmental GIS, Aerial Mapping, and Aerial Imaging Provide Insight Into Site Conditions. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a toolset that allows for the digital representation of real-world features and the analysis of trends and patterns within that data. In layman’s terms: computerized cartography. At its simplest level, GIS allows for the quick and efficient creation of drawings for aiding visualization of site features. Features can include points (e.g., Boreholes, Monitoring wells, etc), lines (e.g., Roads, Transects, etc), polygons (e.g., Site boundaries, Areas of concern, etc), and surfaces (e.g., Elevation models, Chemical interpolation, etc). During spatial analysis for environmental projects, the overlaying and combining of features can provide insight into spatial trends or other natural phenomena.

The use of on-site testing for soil (and groundwater) provides accurate, real-time results, allowing field staff to confidently direct field work and communicate results without wasting any time or waiting for off-site lab tests. Additionally, the data can be imported into GIS based data management and analysis software to generate real-time site maps and crossections showing contaminant trends and information gaps. This means accurate, efficient environmental work on your sites.

Risk Assessment Manages Your Site’s Unique Challenges. In the environmental assessment process, a property owner retains a qualified person such as an experienced engineer or geoscientist to perform testing as part of the Phase II ESA. The Phase II ESA may reveal contaminants at concentrations greater than generic standards set out in Ontario Regulation 153/04. When these types of impacts are noted, the QP can advise remediation (such as the traditional dig-and-dump method) or can perform a risk assessment which develops property-specific standards and supports the submission of a Record of Site Condition. Risk management (RM) measures may also be required to protect property users and surrounding users and the environment from contaminants remaining on the property.

AEL has been supplying waste management services for small-to-medium sized municipalities and industrial clients for over 15 years. As part of the annual monitoring programs at municipal waste disposal sites and the other impacted sites we are responsible for monitoring, we regularly review the compliance of the sites with regulatory requirements (i.e. MOE, PC of A, etc.). This includes reviewing and/or developing design and operations plans, closure reports, monitoring programs, compliance reporting, landfill gas surveys, and trigger value planning and reporting. Our services include interacting with the MOE to complete and modify regulatory documents.

Because AEL understands that no site deserves a cookie-cutter approach for site clean up and environmental remediation, we develop customized plans based on a site’s unique impacts and characteristics. This generally includes one or several of the following approaches: Contaminated soil removal and disposal. Biological, physical, or chemical treatment for on-site soil, water, or groundwater remediation and clean-up. Development of site specific environmental risk based standards incorporating local site conditions and control measures when clean up may not be 100% feasible.

Ontario’s environmental sector is constantly changing and growing, which brings new challenges and opportunities to stakeholders. In April 2012, the MOE released a draft version of a manual for Best Practices for Soil Management, information which will affect day-to-day environmental decision making for many individuals and companies in the environmental industry.

AEL offers services to commercial, industrial, and residential site owners who require environmental due diligence as part of a transaction or in support of bank financing requests. Whether your site is small or large, simple or complex, local or remote, AEL is able to mobilize a team to help you determine the best path for managing the environmental needs of your site.

Electrical distributions, as owners and operators of kilometers of line, transformers, distribution sites, face unknown amounts of environmental liability. With this substantial investment in real property and equipment, every distribution company owes it to themselves to be informed about the status of their potential environmental risks.