Environmental Services
Today’s regulatory environment can be complicated and difficult to navigate, but is a key factor in the success of a project. Our biological sciences team can help with Environmental Assessments, permitting for projects in and around water, environmental management plans, fish and wildlife salvage and construction monitoring. Our environmental team also provides services in the contaminated sites sector, including Phase 1 or 2 Environmental Site Assessments (ESA) for property transactions, detailed site investigations, movement of contaminated soil and site remediation.
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Western Water Staff have considerable experience in baseline studies and environmental permitting for the mining industry, as well as for disposal of treated sewage for commercial/industrial applications regulated at the provincial and federal level. Baseline studies include climate and water quantity, plus water quality surveys and automated monitoring systems, as well as hydrogeological characterization including drilling, hydraulic response testing, monitoring well and vibrating wire piezometer installations. Some staff have worked extensively in northern Canada and overseas on mining projects.
Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessments (ESA)
Are generally conducted for a commercial property during a real estate transaction. A phase I ESA is a nonintrusive historical study on a property to determine the potential presence of contamination from historical activities on or off-site.
Phase 2 ESAs
To follow up on areas of potential concern identified. These typically require soil and/or groundwater testing. Drilling or testpit programs can be conducted to confirm the presence of any onsite contamination or assess the potential for contamination to have migrated from surrounding properties. Soil and groundwater samples are compared to the provincial or federal standards appropriate for the site.
Underground Storage Tank (UST) removals / Confirmatory Sampling / Spill Response.
Coordination with local contractors and disposal facilities can be quickly achieved to remediate all forms of chemical spills. Field testing is utilized to determine the extent of contamination during remediation and confirmatory samples can be analyzed on a rush basis to avoid the possibility of remobilization of equipment.
Waste management sites regulated by the provincial government such as wastewater treatment facilities and landfills require ongoing environmental monitoring and reporting. The WWAL team has experience designing, managing and reporting annual monitoring programs for various regional governments in the B.C. interior. We are able to provide superior cost effective environmental database management and water quality and vapour sampling interpretation by using a custom database management tool. We provide GIS-based temporal and spatial interpretation so that our clients are aware of exactly what is occurring at their waste management sites. We provide similar services in conducting baseline water quality assessments.