Incorporating Climate Change Adaptations into the Remedial Action Plan at BAF-3 Long Range Radar, Brevoort Island, Nunavut
Thursday, January 23rd, 2025 | 12:00 - 13:00
Ryan Breivik, Public Services and Procurement Canada
Jeffrey McKenzie, McGill University
Tom MacNeil, Stantec
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Speakers:
Ryan Breivik is a Senior Environmental Engineer with Public Services and Procurement Canada. He specializes in delivering environmental assessment and remediation projects, particularly in northern and remote regions, as part of the Government of Canada’s Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan.
Tom MacNeil is an Environmental Remediation Specialist at Stantec with 25 years of experience in a broad range of large and small Phased Environmental Site Assessment and Site Remediation Design and Management projects. He has lead many large remediation projects with a focus on LNAPL remediation and risk management and incorporating climate change considerations into management of contaminated sites.
Jeffrey McKenzie is a Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at McGill University. Jeffrey's research focuses on cryohydrogeology – the study of the interactions between climate change and groundwater in cold regions, with implications for northern water resources.
Abstract:
Stantec was retained by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and Department of National Defence (DND) to complete a Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) at the BAF-3 Long Range Radar Contaminated Site, located on Brevoort Island, Nunavut. The incorporation of climate change adaptation considerations in Remedial Action Plans is an essential step towards resilient management of contaminated sites. The CCRA approach was consistent with the Public Infrastructure Engineering Vulnerability Committee (PIEVC) High Level Screening Guide (HLSG). To complete the CCRA, the site was sub-divided into four main areas, each with unique physical characteristics, to assess elements of the Conceptual Site Model (CSM) that may be sensitive to changes in contaminant transport due to projected climate change hazards, such as permafrost melt, increased coastal flooding/erosion, increased hot days, increased precipitation, and reduced snow/ice cover impacts.
The CCRA recommended that the Remedial Action Plan (RAP) at BAF-3 be carried out based on the evaluation of current climate conditions. It was also recommended that design specifications for the RAP at the Site consider identified future climate risks. As a result, excavation and remediation of petroleum hydrocarbon impacted soil present in the Beach Area and the Freshwater Lake Area will be remediated in on-site biopiles. The excavation and remediation of petroleum hydrocarbon impacted soil in these areas will lower the potential for interaction and exposure of contaminated soil in these areas to the identified climate hazards under current and future climate conditions.
In addition, an applied research project in partnership with McGill University was completed to understand how climate change could affect the active layer water over time. This research increased our understanding of permafrost melt risks with respect to the future migration of contaminant plumes and support future remediation efforts for contaminated sites in Artic and Sub-Artic regions.
The presentation will outline the approach used to complete a CCRA and discuss how to incorporate the findings of the CCRA into adaptation strategies for the development of a RAP for a northern contaminated site. We will present our approach for incorporating complex climate hazards including permafrost melt and sea level rise. In addition, the active layer modelling research will be presented to provide an interpretation of how active layer water and soluble contaminant plumes may behave at northern contaminated sites as the climate warms and cause potential issues to remediation-related infrastructure and contaminant migration.
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