Dragun’s Environmental Site Assessment and Remediation Webinars Available Here:
Vapour Intrusion from TCE – The Politics and the Science
One of my colleagues in our US office recently completed presenting a series of five environmental seminars that spanned several months. The seminars were part of continuing education classes for a group of real estate professionals. His role was to provide an update on some of the more recent environmental regulatory developments. One of the main points he focused on was vapour intrusion (VI). My colleague said, “The group had some lively dialogue at these seminars about VI.” It seems anytime we do a seminar that involves VI, the...
read moreEnvironmental Site Assessment Essentials for Remediation Success
As a geologist with more than two decades of environmental experience, I am admittedly biased, but I will tell you, without hesitation, that if you have any hope of succeeding in your environmental remediation efforts, you must spend the necessary time up front in assessing your site. In fact, if you have ever been to any of our seminars or webinars or have read any of our articles, you know that the Dragun culture is one based on being very meticulous. While it may seem somewhat extreme, if you assume everything you do during site...
read moreChemicals Management Plan Approaches the Third Phase
Triclosan, mentioned in our July 17th blog, is just one of thousands of existing chemicals and compounds that are being assessed under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA). CEPA has been called the “catch all legislation” because it is meant to address chemicals and compounds that were already in use in Canada that may not have been assessed. These 23,000 existing chemicals and substances are found on the Domestic Substance List. Substances not on this list would be considered “new” and must be reported prior to importation or...
read moreEnvironmental Enforcement at Dry Cleaners
On July 8, 2014, Environment Canada announced that a Vancouver-based dry cleaner had plead guilty and was fined $9,500 under the Tetrachloroethylene Regulations (SOR/2003-79). The offences included two open containers of wastewater, one open container of sludge waste, and the absence of proper secondary containment around these three containers. Dry Cleaners Will be Inspected If you have dry-cleaning operations in Canada, you would do well to pay attention to this and other recent actions by Environment Canada. Several months ago, my...
read moreToxics Reduction Act — Are You Compliant?
Prior to the deadlines for the Toxic Substance Reduction Plan (TSRP) under the Toxics Reduction Act, the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) conducted a number of educational and outreach programs. These were done in order to “help ensure compliance with the act and regulation.” Now that the deadlines have passed, the MOE is focusing on activities to ensure facilities are in compliance. Wait – What is a TSRP? Essentially, a TSRP starts with a review of your inventory of reportable, toxic substances that you submitted to the MOE and the...
read moreSave Hundreds-of-Thousands of Dollars? No Trouble!
I remember when I first interviewed for my job in 1993 with Dr. James Dragun, I asked him how he responds when people ask, “Why should I hire your company?” Jim didn’t hesitate when he said, “It’s simple; I tell everyone the same thing – we get you out of trouble, we keep you out of trouble, and we don’t make trouble.” In the subsequent 21 years, I’ve seen my associates at Dragun “execute this philosophy” time and again, including the project outlined below that got our client out of trouble. The Client sells gasoline across Canada....
read moreEnvironmental Fine Approaches Seven Figures
Environmental Fines by Environment Canada According to Environment Canada there were some big environmental fines recently, “Plains Midstream has been ordered to pay $850,000 after pleading guilty to one count under the Fisheries Act and one count under provincial environmental legislation. The charges relate to the failure to notify authorities of a deposit of a deleterious substance into the Red Deer River, which is fish-bearing.” The violation dates back to 2012 when Environment Canada sent officers to a spill of crude oil in the Red Deer...
read moreEnvironmental Forensics: Putting Together the Puzzle Pieces
While there is no cost to attend our September 25th seminar on Environmental Forensics in London, ON, you will have to invest a few hours of your time to attend. So, should you attend? To help you answer this, consider that as we explain how to solve the puzzle, we will also share with you actual examples (mini case studies) where we solved problems others could not! In one case study, solving the puzzle helped our client avoid cleaning up groundwater contamination that was not their responsibility and had stymied other consultants. In...
read moreSoil and Groundwater Sampling – What Can Go Wrong?
Companies have been founded around the idea of providing consumers with dependable data. For example, when you want to buy a used car, you can purchase a report that is nothing more than historical data on the car . . . repairs, accidents, etc. Reports such as this are useful only if the data are accurate. In the environmental business, all projects depend on accurate data; in fact, all projects live and die based on the data! Accurate Environmental Data Needed for Sound Decisions If your data are not accurate and representative of actual...
read moreCanadian Retailer Awarded Millions for Contamination Caused by Neighbour
I believe it was American Poet, Walt Whitman, who said, “If you done it, it ain’t bragging.” While I don’t know if it amounts to bragging, a recent accomplishment by my colleagues that resulted in a very favourable outcome in an Ontario court case was at least very satisfying professionally. Here are the specifics: Source of Groundwater Contamination is Questioned A large Canadian retailer, and one of the most recognizable names in Canada, takes its Corporate Citizenship responsibilities seriously – committed to not only being a...
read more