Sai IPC Site Risk Assessment, Phase 2 Characterization Study and Concrete Analysis

The City of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu wants to rehabilitate the buildings and property of a former factory, International Pigment Color (IPC), abandoned since October 1993, for the purpose of relocating Public Works Department operations in a single location. Studies to find contaminants on the site were done in the past but need to be updated. The city plans to conduct a risk assessment, a phase II environmental site assessment and a concrete analysis, followed by a rehabilitation plan. IPC produced pigments that contained lead and other contaminants and had 4,667 m2 of buildings spread over a 20,436 m2 site in an industrial area. The buildings have caught on fire a number of times. The debris from these fires has accumulated on the ground and the parts that survived the fires are hazardous. Furthermore, the city has used this property for storage, authorized by the Québec ministry of sustainable development, environment and parks (Ministère du Développement durable, de l’environnement et des Parcs, MDDEP), of 7,500 metric tons of lead-contaminated concrete from another former industrial property. The planned studies will be used to determine the value of the contaminated materials and assess the property’s risks for human health, wildlife and plants, in accordance with one of the guidelines in the city’s Environment Policy. Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu also plans to analyze the potential for reusing the contaminated concrete on the IPC site to contain contaminants, which would be an innovative procedure. The city’s preferred approach, which could inspire any other municipality, would reduce the amount of material sent to landfill, reduce off-site transportation costs, and limit extraction of a nonrenewable resource by making use of existing material. (Project description from original funding application)