Remediation and Risk Assessment for the McLoughlin Point Wastewater Treatment Plant Site

The Capital Regional District (CRD) of Vancouver Island will complete risk management activities pertaining to a brownfield site located at McLoughlin Point in the Town of Esquimalt. The site has been chosen as the location for the new McLoughlin Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) which will provide tertiary treatment to the Region’s wastewater replacing the current practice of pumping untreated sewage directly into the Strait of Juan de Fuca allowing the CRD to meet new federal wastewater system regulations. McLoughlin Point was formerly a bulk storage and distribution terminal for Imperial Oil Limited and has been used in various similar capacities since 1910. Fuels and waste oil were historically held in up to 17 storage tanks before being pumped from barges to tanks via a piping system. The site was partially remediated with the majority of impacted soil removed as part of excavating to the design grade of the WWTP. However, groundwater contamination remained and a Detailed Site Investigation (DSI) to further delineate that contamination was required. The DSI is the subject of another GMF grant application (GMF 15822, approved November 2018). This scope of work will follow the delineation phase and comprise of the preparation of a Risk Assessment Report, a Completion of Remediation report, a review of the findings of the risk assessment by a Contaminated Sites Approved Professional (CSAP) Risk Reviewer, and CSAP and Ministry fees associated with obtaining a Certificate of Compliance for the site. The completion of the Risk Assessment Report will determine whether there is any need for risk-based activities such as engineering control measures and monitoring to ensure environmental and human health protection. The indirect benefits of this project stemming from the eventual construction of the WWTP will be largely found in the marine health of the surrounding environment and are in line with the goals outlined in the CRD`s Core Area Liquid Waste Management Plan (2016). Although this project will utilize well-known contaminated site practices, the CRD is considering the opportunity to conduct an onsite pilot project to treat contaminated groundwater through a temporary water treatment plant and/or the completed WWTP. As the facility will be designed to treat wastewater to tertiary standards, this represents a potentially novel solution to the treatment of on-site contamination for major capital water treatment projects. This potential option will be considered as part of the risk assessment and could provide knowledge value for other communities across Canada. (Project description from original funding application)