Case Study: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, Victoria, BC

Corey Miller, B.Sc., BITSNC-Lavalin Inc., Environment Division (SLE)

PROJECT PARTICIPANTS

Rae-Ann Sharp (Public Works & Government Services Canada)Graham Smith (Department of National Defence)Jeff Nyman (SLR Consulting Ltd.) David Kettlewell (SNC-Lavalin Inc., Environment Division)Corey Miller (SNC-Lavalin Inc., Environment Division)

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

• Phase I ESA of the five Dockyard properties of CFB Esquimalt to identify current APECS and PCOCs and document known AECs and COCs

• Identify, collate and provide limited data to PWGSC for inclusion in an environmental GIS being created for use by environmental departments within DND

Site – Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt

Encompasses:

• 5,000 hectares of land

• 23 sites ranging from Masset to Matsqui

• 1,500 buildings

North Naden, Naden, Yarrows, Signal Hill and Dockyard Properties

• located approximately five kilometres west of downtown Victoria

• home to the Canadian Pacific Naval Fleet

Site – Overall History• Royal Navy facilities established in 1855

• a hospital and small wharf located west of original location of Esquimalt Village

• a graving dock was completed in 1887

• by 1900, industry supportive of Royal Navy and graving dock activities was established on the peninsula

• the Esquimalt Village was relocated to the east in the late 1930s

Site – Overall History (cont’)Historical activities have included construction, maintenance and repair of naval vessels including:

• blacksmithing

• coal storage

• waste incineration, machining

• petroleum hydrocarbon fuel storage

•sandblasting, painting, electroplating

• explosives storage

• solid waste disposal and bulk handling of solid and liquid hazardous wastes.

Site – North Naden• first developed for residential / agricultural / recreational purposes

• subsequently acquired by DND for veterans cemetery, housing and recreational fields

• currently contains a medical / dental clinic, 14 private married quarters and administrative offices

Site - Naden• developed in 1858 as base for HBC surveying crews

• acquired by the Royal Navy as second location for the naval hospital

• in the 1920s and 30s the Naden property was expanded as its purpose shifted to educational

• 1970s and ‘80s saw the infilling of Lang Cove

• currently home to the Canadian Forces Fleet School Esquimalt, a museum, ice rink and sports fields

Site - Yarrows• developed in the 1890s as a marine railway & ship yard

• operated as a shipbuilding facility until 1994 when land and remaining infrastructure was transferred to DND

• several large remediation programs were completed at Yarrows by DND in the late 1990s and 2000s

• currently used for parking and storage of small vessels and ship repair materials

Site – Signal Hill• developed in 1890s by civilians as shipbuilding and repair facility

• the ‘hill’ was developed by the Royal Navy for communications equipment and gunneries at same time

• extensive filling of Constance Cove occurred in the 1950s and 60s to increase the land available for activities accessory to the Yarrows shipyard

Site - Dockyard• historic activities related to naval engineering, ship repair and maintenance include:

• Blacksmithing• coal storage• waste incineration• machining• petroleum hydrocarbon fuel storage• sandblasting• painting• electroplating• explosives storage

• Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Breton remains the main repair and maintenance facility for Canada’s West Coast Naval Fleet

Previous Investigation• earliest available environmental assessments date from 1990s including the following:

• GCG Dillon, 1992, Environmental Baseline Study (all properties)

• Thurber, 1992, FMG Building Site Environmental Assessment (Dockyard)

• SRK Robinson, 1993, Environmental Investigation (Yarrows & Signal Hill)

•ERMO, 1996, Contaminated Sites Record Review (all properties)

Previous Investigation (cont’)Environmental Age

• awareness of environmental issues garnered increased attention starting in 1980s

• baseline studies and EAs at CFB Esquimalt in 1990s identified many large contaminated sites

• subsequent 20 years of environmental investigation was largely focused on the contaminated sites identified in the 1990s

Previous Investigation (cont’)Regulatory Regime and Site Boundary Changes

• previous Phase I ESAs pre-date CWS and significant changes in BTEX & PAH guidelines

• property boundaries had changed since last Phase I ESA

• previous Phase I ESAs used a variety of naming conventions for APECs and AECs

Previous Investigation(cont’)Influential Reports

• ERMO (1996) consolidated investigative efforts to date into seven AECs

• investigation and remediation efforts to 2011 focused on those seven AECs

Standards & Guidelines

• change over time

• provincial vs. federal

Phase I ESAReturn to First Principles

• thorough site visit

• evaluate the entire site

• review all available previous reports

• interview all available persons with historic knowledge of the site

• apply current, applicable standards and guidelines

Phase I ESAFirst Principles

• re-assess all APECs that have been written off as green sites – especially if last assessment was more than 10 years ago

• re-assess all APECs to identify instances where one of the following apply:

1. large APEC should be divided up to reflect PCOCs and their sources

2. Small APECs should be merged if they are less than 30 m distant and have same PCOCs and source

Phase I ESAOutcome using Dockyard property as an example:

• two risk managed areas and nine AECs were confirmed

• three areas previously considered to be under risk management were re-assigned as AECs

• six APECs where some investigation had occurred were carried forward

•11 new APECs were identified

Phase I ESA (cont’)Outcomes – Incomplete Investigation

APEC DY-5 Central Heating Plant:• four historic fuel USTs• records show removal of three USTs• Phase II ESA program included:

• 3 boreholes between tanks prior to removal• analysis for TEH & MOG in soil -detectable but no exceedances of provincial criteria of the day • groundwater / soil vapour not investigated• recommendation was for no further investigation

• no further investigation at DY-5 to date• reinstated as an APEC • needs to be assessed against CWS and current BTEX/PAH guidelines

Phase I ESA (cont’)Outcomes – New APEC

DY-20 – Former USTs at Building DY11:

• decommissioned boiler equipment and repaired concrete in the basement of this building

• search for documents relating to installation / removal of petroleum hydrocarbon ASTs/USTs unsuccessful

Phase I ESA (cont’)Outcomes – Risk Managed Area

reinstated as AEC

DY-1AA – DY100 Area:

• contaminated soil partially remediated during building construction in 1993

• risk assessment at the time suggested risks to human, terrestrial and marine ecological receptors were acceptable

• identified gaps in the risk assessment included:

• soil vapours and sediment quality should be evaluated

• groundwater monitoring should be continued

Phase I ESA (cont’)GIS Used to Manage ESA:

• large volumes of data and have be amassed by investigators over past 20+ years

• older reports are not in electronic format

• hard copy reports not always available to contemporary investigators

• environmental departments within DND may need to make decisions regarding the allocation of limited investigation / remediation budgets with incomplete knowledge

Phase I ESA (cont’)GIS Used to Manage ESA:

• a GIS was developed that consolidates 20+ years of investigation / remediation work

• reports are linked to polygons representing individual RMAs, AECs and APECs

• analytical results are linked to points that correspond to sample locations

• a DND environmental manager can select an area of a property and retrieve a list of historical reports and analytical data

Phase I ESA (cont’)Consolidation of RMAs, AECs, and APECs:

• context of previous investigations may not have considered the bigger picture for the area

• areas consolidated or eliminated based on current information and previous investigation / remediation work

• provides a snapshot of current conditions

• allows site managers to focus on most important issues

Conclusion• for large complex sites it may be useful to go back to square one with the investigation

• use first principles to re-assess all previous investigations and currently available information regarding the environment of a site

• consolidate / eliminate AEC, APEC, and RMAs as needed to provide a current viewpoint of the issues

Conclusion (cont’)• develop a file storage / retrieval system (GIS is perfect for this) to make all this re-assessed information available to managers and subsequent investigators

•GW monitoring program being modified based on results of this Phase I ESA

• anticipated that several Phase II ESA programs will be competed at newly identified APECs

• liability and contingent liability will be updated based on current Phase I ESA

Thank You!

Questions?

ReferencesAerial photographs:1954 (BC1670:33), 1986 (30BC86003:178), 1992

(15BCB92141:309), 2005 (ME05439C:0100) obtained from the University of British Columbia Geographic Information Centre.

Environmental Risk Management Office (ERMO, 1996). CFB Esquimalt Historical Review for Contaminated Sites

GCG Dillon Consulting Limited (GCG, 1992). National Defence Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt Environmental Baseline Study

Levelton Associates Consulting Engineers (Levelton, 1993). Preliminary Environmental Assessment of Tank Farm Area. Building 209 - CFB Esquimalt, BC

Thurber Environmental Consultants Ltd. (Thurber, 1992). Fleet Maintenance Group Building Site Remediation Plan.

SNC-Lavalin Environment & SLR Consulting (Canada) Ltd. (SLE-SLR, 2011). Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, Dockyard, Signal Hill, Yarrows, Naden and North Naden Properties of CFB Esquimalt, BC