RÉALISATION

Phase 2 – Environmental Site Assessment

Client:

City of Longueuil

Objective:

To determine the environmental quality of soil and groundwater as part of an application for a certificate of authorization submitted to the MDDEP, in order to continue snow dumping activities on one of their properties.

Scope of work:

The site has primarily acted as a snow depot for the City of Longueuil since the 80s, but in previous years was occupied by railway operations conducted by Grand Trunk Railway of Canada and Canadian National. Consequently, problems were identified during the preliminary characterization regarding poor backfill quality and the presence of slag. The aim of the mandate was to determine the distribution and quality of these materials.

A grid system was designed in order to assess the property in a systematic/simple random sampling approach and a single test pit was conducted within each cell. A total of 80 test pits were performed in winter conditions, until refusal. Information obtained onsite along with analytical chemistry results were used to classify backfill material and to calculate volumes of contaminated soil and residual material present on site.

A final report was compiled, presenting conclusions and recommendations which were submitted to the Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs du Québec.