Assessment and Remediation of Copper Impacted Soils
Schefferville VOR Station, Schefferville, QuebecAEL undertook a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) at a property in northern Quebec. This property had been investigated twice prior to AEL involvement with 30 m3 of copper impacted soils identified. Prior work included a failed excavation of the copper impacted soils in two stages, waiting for analytic results after each stage with copper impacts remaining at the sides of the excavation. Following this work the remediation was put on hold.
AEL undertook a detailed Phase II ESA using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) to delineate copper impacts remaining on site. XRF provides immediate quantitative data on concentrations of 25 metals including copper, enabling AEL to direct the investigation in real time with approximately 175 onsite tests over 3 days. AEL work delineated approximately 2,000 m3 of copper impacted soils. The use of XRF provided a greater understanding of copper impacts at this site, eliminated the need for multiple site visits or waiting for traditional laboratory results and as a result greatly reduced the time and cost of the assessment.
Due to the large volume of impacted material and difficult access to landfill, AEL explored alternative remedial technologies and selected pre-screening of the impacted soils because of the large volume of rock in the soil. By screening the copper impacted material on site, and returning “clean” material for reuse (mostly rock), AEL was able to reduce the material shipped off-site for disposal to less than 100 m3, at a net savings to the client of approximately $200,000. This project was completed over a three year period from 2005 to 2007 due to weather related issues and difficult site access.
