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transcript
Esquimalt Harbour Remediation Project - Overview
RPIC FCS National Workshop
16 April 2014
Introductions LCdr Daniel Salvage (DND) • RCN Environmental Officer • Project Director – EHRP
Ms. Lisa Hampson (DND) • ADM(IE) DCSLPD • Senior Project Manager – EHRP
Mr. Graham Smith (DND) • MARPAC Formation Safety Environment Officer • Project Manager - EHRP
Mr. Michael Bodman (DND) • MARPAC Environment Officer • Deputy Project Manager – EHRP
Mr. Andrew Smith (PWGSC) • Senior Environment Officer
Mr. Scott Irwin (DCC) • Team Leader, Environmental Services
Presentation Overview
• Site overview and history • Contaminants of concern • Factors affecting remedial/risk management • Project drivers • Esquimalt Harbour Remediation Project and
proposed phased approach • Opportunities and challenges • Next steps
• Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt is home to the Canadian Pacific Naval Fleet
Site Location
Site Information
• FCSI # 17403 • 354 hectares • FCSAP Class 1
Aquatic Site • Esquimalt
Graving Dock (EGD) Waterlot
• First Nations Lot A
• Publically accessible
Site History
1855 – Royal Navy established Esquimalt as a military station
1887 – Dry dock in Esquimalt Naval Base opened 1910 – Royal Canadian Navy assumed control of
Esquimalt Naval Base 1924 – Six Harbours Agreement designated
Esquimalt Harbour as a Federal Harbour 1924 – Esquimalt Graving Dock opened 1992 – First environmental studies in Esquimalt Harbour
showed contamination
Site History, cont.
2005 – Federal responsibility for Esquimalt Harbour transferred from Transport Canada (TC) to Department of National Defence (DND)
2009 – Department of Fisheries and Ocean issued consumption advisory for various seafood in Esquimalt Harbour
2012 – Royal Canadian Navy initiated Options Analysis Esquimalt Harbour Remediation Project
2012 – Present – Options Analysis is ongoing
Sample Locations
Contaminants in Esquimalt Harbour
• 25 chemicals of potential concern are found in various locations in the harbour including • PCBs • Metals (e.g., arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium) • PAHs
• Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment Sediment Quality Guidelines primarily used as benchmark
• Concentrations in some samples significantly exceed the Probable Effects Level (PEL)
Contaminant Distribution
Harbour Concentrations vs. Reference Average PCDD/PCDF/PCB TEQ Concentrations in Whole Fish Tissue
Esquimalt Harbour (EH) and Reference Area (Ref)
0.00E+00
5.00E-‐01
1.00E+00
1.50E+00
2.00E+00
2.50E+00
3.00E+00
3.50E+00
4.00E+00
Tissue Type
PCDD/PCDF/PCB TEQ
Concentration (ng/kg ww)
Black Rockfish (EH)
Sculpin (EH)
Pacific Cod (EH)
Sole (EH)
Black Rockfish (Ref)
Sculpin (Ref)
Pacific Cod (Ref)
Sole (Ref)
CCME MammalianGuideline (0.71 ng/kg ww)
Bathymetry
Currents
Propeller Wash
Project Drivers
• Human health risks to First Nations and public • Ecological risks to Esquimalt Harbour • Reduction in Government of Canada and DND
liability • Sediment transport and recontamination potential • Sustainment of Royal Canadian Navy operations • Public Works and Government Services Canada
(PWGSC) EGD Remediation Project • TC Victoria Harbour Remediation Project
Esquimalt Harbour Remediation Project Options Analysis • Currently looking at four options:
• Status quo (no action) • Early action to remove hot spots (phased remediation) • Risk manage all sediments (i.e., no dredging/disposal) • Remove all contaminants greater than 2xPEL
Esquimalt Harbour Remediation Project Options Analysis, cont.
• Project currently funded by FCSAP • FCSAP renewal 2016 • FCSAP sunset 2020
Identification Options Analysis
Definition Implementation Close Out
Esquimalt Harbour Remediation Project Proposed Option: Phased Remediation • Recommended option is to develop a phased
approach to address the contamination in Esquimalt Harbour, which will likely entail • Early action to remediate hot spots • Completion of Remedial/Risk Management Plan for
contaminated areas outside the hot spots • Implementation of harbour-wide Remedial Risk Management
Plan • Long-term monitoring
Case for a Phased Remedial Approach
• Hot spots have • Significantly higher concentrations • Greater evidence of impacts to sea life • Greater potential to impact seafood quality • Higher risks of recontamination
• Phased approach is commonly used in other large aquatic contaminated sites (Victoria Harbour-BC, Lower Fox River-WI, Lower Duwamish Waterway-WA, Portland Harbour-OR, Hudson River Floodplain-NY)
Case for a Phased Remedial Approach, cont.
Phase 1 Areas
Phase 2 Areas
Legend
Hot Spot Volumes
Remedial Planning Area Area (m2)
Dredge Volume (m3)
A/B Jetty 37,200 66,700
C Jetty and ML Floats 42,500 77,700
Y Jetty 36,100 72,600
Lang Cove 9,000 11,500
D Jetty 8,800 14,500
F/G Jetty 4,600 10,000
Total 138,200 253,000
Proposed Remedial Approaches
• Open water dredging • Nearshore dredging and capping • Underpier dredging • Enhanced natural recovery • Risk management
Typical Dredging and Capping Cross Sections
Not to scale
Example Dredging and Capping – Plan View
Future Tasks
• Detailed Ecological and Human Health Risk Assessments
• Recontamination evaluation • Determination of significant adverse effects • Environmental Management Plan • Structural assessment • Geotechnical analysis • Authorization and offsetting as required by
Fisheries Act • Detailed remedial design
Opportunities and Challenges
• Establishing appropriate remedial objectives in a largely industrial harbour (how clean is “clean”?)
• Multiple stakeholders • Managing potentially ongoing sources of sediment
contamination • Planning a risk management/remedial strategy in an
active naval base with adjacent industrial uses • Shallow bathymetry • Lack of existing basemap
Opportunities and Challenges, cont.
• Challenges in developing remedial strategies adjacent to older infrastructure
• Coordination with multiple marine infrastructure renewal projects
• Procurement strategy in Options Analysis (multiple contracting authorities and multiple consultants)
• Developing appropriate cost estimates and contingencies in the context of an aquatic contaminated site
• Learning from “like” projects (e.g., PWGSC EGD Waterlot Remediation Project, TC Victoria Harbour)
Next Steps
• DND to endorse preferred option • Complete detailed design and cost validations for
selected option • Ministerial/Treasury Board approval • Implementation within Cycle 3 of FCSAP (2016-2020) • Long-term monitoring (2016-2020+)
Questions? HMS Cormorant at Dry Dock (July 1887)
Photo Courtesy of BC Archives