Innovative Remediation Solutions Workshop - 2007

Executive Summary

This Workshop was undertaken as a pilot to introduce remediation technology vendors with the issues facing custodian departments at federal sites and to familiarize custodian departments with the remediation technologies, most specifically the innovative technologies available to address these issues. Further information is available from Anne Thompson by email or by telephone at (902) 426-9306 or Sebastien Yelle by e-mail. This report was prepared by Duerden and Keane Environmental Inc.

Industry Canada, Public Works & Government Services Canada and Environment Canada sponsored a Workshop in Halifax, Nova Scotia in February 2007, focussing on Innovative Remediation Solutions for federal contaminated sites in the Atlantic Region. The objective of the workshop was to facilitate an awareness, interaction and collaboration between vendors of innovative technologies and custodians of federal contaminated sites in the Atlantic Region, as to the contamination issues faced by custodians and the innovative remediation solutions available to address these issues.

The Workshop encompassed:

• Technical Presentations on innovative technologies
• Discussion Groups on Barriers and Challenges to the Use of Innovative Technologies at Federal Sites
• A Panel on Custodian Site Remediation Issues
• Trade Show and Poster Displays

These Workshop activities were supplemented by:

• A Workshop Program which included an Overview of the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Program;
• A Synopsis of Atlantic federal custodian site issues;
• Case Studies on applications of innovative technologies at federal sites;
• Technology Profiles of both innovative and proven technology vendor attendees; and,
• Workshop Evaluations.

Technical Sessions

Technology vendors provided technical presentations on a range of innovative technologies addressing many of the contaminated site issues previously identified by custodian departments in the Atlantic Region. These presentations addressed:

• Ex-Situ Remediation of Contaminated Soil and Sediments
• Electrokinetic Remediation
• R&D and Natural Approaches to Heavy Metal Contamination
• Permeable Reactive Barrier Technology
• Bioremediation Solutions
• Mobile Soil Washing
• Acid Rock Drainage (this presentation was cancelled due to weather.

These technical sessions coupled with the Technology Profiles and Trade Show/Poster displays provided both relevant information and background relating to remediation technologies, as well as insights into and a more complete understanding of which innovative technologies might be applied at regional sites.

Panel Discussion

A panel discussion was held to provide participants with insights into the types of issues faced by federal custodian departments with respect to managing liabilities associated with contaminated sites. Panel members were Bill Kelly, Maritime Forces Atlantic; Sarah Cook, Royal Canadian Mounted Police; Tasha Andrews, Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Eric Parsons, Public Works & Government Services Canada. Each Panel member provided a short summary of the relevant programs within their respective agencies and the floor was then opened to questions and comments.

Some of the key points noted by panel members were:

• The challenge for Maritme Forces Atlantic is to deal with its remediation projects in a more sustainable manner, using greener and more innovative solutions. They must make a concerted effort to get away from the traditional "dig and dump" solutions.
• There is a need within the federal government to push policy initiatives and to include innovative solutions in the design and procurement stages of remediation solutions.
• In the Atlantic region, DFO has major sites, light stations and small craft harbours contaminated with various types of pollutants. However, because of logistical reasons it may be more practical to deal with contaminated light stations using a Risk Management Approach.
• At Small Craft Harbours the contaminant of real concern is Petroleum Hydrocarbons.
• The major contaminant of concern at RCMP facilities is Petroleum Hydrocarbons, mainly from small residential tanks. Because there is a real human health component to the presence of contamination on its sites, the RCMP places a high priority on identifying and cleaning up their contaminated properties.
• The major technical issues which PWGSC sees with contaminated sites remediation include determining background levels of contaminants; dealing with free product; flexibility in FCSAP funding; screening criteria; land transfer, and off site impacts.

Break Out Groups

Participants identified topics related to barriers and challenges to the use of innovative technologies at federal sites for discussions in breakouts. These suggestions were then grouped into five main Themes for in-depth discussion in facilitated Break Out Groups.

Group One: How do we identify and use innovative techniques to address special technological needs at contaminated sites?

Key Conclusions:

• Special technical needs at federal contaminated sites in the region (residual hydrocarbons after MPVE extraction; Petroleum Hydrocarbons beneath infrastructure; heavy metals in groundwater) could likely be addressed using innovative remediation solutions.

Group Two: What are the opportunities / barriers for bioremediation technologies based on "augmented" or "engineered" microbial communities

Key Conclusions:

• Bioremediation offers excellent opportunities to reduce liabilities on contaminated sites, especially using isolated microbial cultures and/or genetically modified organisms but the regulatory regime in Canada is not conducive to the advancement of these techniques.
• Relevant and promising research is delayed by difficulties in obtaining funding to take technologies from research to commercialization. (Note that the challenges and barriers facing bioremediation mirror many of those facing other innovative environmental processes).

Group Three: How can we provide support and direction on how to implement demonstrations and feasibility studies at federal sites?

Key Conclusions:

• Significant barriers exist in the implementation of demonstration and feasibility studies to test innovative technologies on federal contaminated sites, some of which are related to funding for such projects and others to the lack of a consistent process and policies to facilitate such demonstration and feasibility studies.
• Possible solutions for these issues could include 100% funding through FCSAP of innovative technology remediation; selection of sites representative of pervasive contamination issues or sites with logistical or technical issues.
• Government (particularly through the Interdepartmental Working Groups and the Technology Advancement Working Group) needs to address this issue and develop a workable process for selecting sites for demonstration projects. The Group recommended an approach involving the identification of sites by the IRWG and the selection of sites by the TAWG to represent different contaminant types and in different regions of the country.

Group Four: How does (should) the use of innovative technologies work within the government bidding process (competition versus shared risk; federal policy to allow premiums to be paid for demonstrations)?

Key Conclusions:

• More technical criteria are required up front in contracts in order to create a level playing field between proven methods and innovative technologies and a more consistent evaluation process for innovative technology contracts is required. The federal leader in this effort could be the Technology Advancement Working Group.
• A balance between encouraging the use of innovative technologies and protecting public funds needs to be created. The development and implementation of an Unsolicited Proposals Program could provide this balance.

Group Five: How do we factor "green" technologies in the contracting process and ensure we are not just accepting the lowest bid?

Key Conclusions:

• The current Request for Proposal process is inhibiting the use of innovative technologies. Performance based specifications could be a better vehicle for encouraging the use of innovative technologies.
• The Environmental Assessment process under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act could be a much more effective planning tool.

Workshop Evaluations

Workshop participants were asked to provide comments on the Workshop format, content and recommended next steps in an Evaluation Questionnaire which was distributed by the Workshop Facilitators. Two separate questionnaires were developed, one for custodians and one for industry representatives. Respondents rated their answers to questions, as detailed in the full report. The workshop evaluations were all very positive, with custodians ranking the Workshop very high in terms of:

• providing an effective forum for exchange of technical information on innovative technologies between custodians and vendors;
• accessing knowledgeable industry representatives;
• obtaining relevant information on applicable remediation technologies; and,
• gaining insight and understanding of applicable.

Vendors also expressed satisfaction with their ability in effectively:

• gaining insight into the contaminated sites issues facing custodians;
• providing information on their technical abilities to custodians;
• accessing custodian decision-makers;
• gaining insights into issues related to fast-tracking contracts for cleanup using innovative technologies; and,
• dialoguing usefully both with custodians and other vendors due to the format and content of the Workshop.

A significant percentage of custodians indicated that they:

• have previously considered using innovative technologies (82%);
• would consider using such technologies as a result of the workshop (88%); and,
• would be prepared to offer their site(s) for a feasibility study to assess the effectiveness of innovative technologies (70%).

Recommendations

An assessment of Break Out Group discussions, responses to the Evaluation Questionnaires, and other discussions throughout the workshop, identified four key issues (funding, procurement, policies and processes and communication) which should be addressed in order to facilitate the use of innovative technologies on federal contaminated sites. Workshop participants made very useful and specific recommendations for addressing these barriers throughout the workshop sessions.

Funding

A lack of funding and inherent inefficiencies in the funding mechanisms for the use of innovative technologies were identified as significant barriers to the use of innovative techniques on contaminated sites.

Recommendations for moving forward on this issue included:

• implementing multi-year funding under FCSAP (note: multi-year funding is in fact now available)
• developing an Innovative Technology Fund to be administered under FCSAP; and/or,
• having FCSAP fund 100 percent of innovative technology projects, not just 80 percent.

Procurement

Participants agreed that the current procurement process is inhibiting the use of innovative technologies. As well, the Open Bidding System and the Standing Offer process present problems for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) since these types of industries either do not qualify for, or are screened out in, the bidding process.

Recommendations to address this issue included:

• expanding the Request for Proposal process to allow more flexibility in assessing innovative technologies;
• developing Performance Based contract specifications; and,
• implementing an Unsolicited Proposal Program

Federal Policies and/or Procedures

The lack of clear federal policies and/or procedures to provide direction and guidance in particular areas of innovative technology use was identified as a significant issue. This lack of direction was considered to be a factor in inhibiting the use of innovative technologies on federal sites and preventing the implementation of demonstration/feasibility projects.

Recommendations to address this issue included:

• instituting a consistent process for selecting sites for innovative technology demonstration projects through an Interdepartmental Regional Working Groups (IRWG) and Technology Advancement Working Group (TAWG) collaborative effort; and,
• developing an explicit federal policy regarding the use of innovative technology at federal contaminated sites.

Communications

The technical complexity of contaminated site remediation and innovative technology topics was perceived as a challenge for federal custodians who need to understand the issues (e.g. technical, political, regulatory, economic, social) in order to make informed decisions.

Recommendations to address this challenge included:

• convening more Workshops of this type;
• facilitating dialogue between technical experts, regulators and custodians (through the IRWGs); and,
• educating the remediation community on the successes of demonstration projects with credible, third party evaluations of such projects.

In conclusion, the evaluations of both custodians and vendors indicated that the Workshop certainly met the objective of facilitating an awareness, interaction and collaboration between vendors of innovative technology and custodians of federal contaminated sites in the Atlantic Region.