Location: Victoria, BC

QMLP was retained to complete stage one of a three stage multi year remediation project at the Rock Bay Site in Victoria, BC.

The eight acre site was located on Victoria’s harbour and a large part of the property consists of infilled harbour and low lands. Through the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, the eight acre site was home to a gas company that produced, stored and distributed coal gas. Since then, the site has been used for many purposes, including storage for liquefied gases.

A detailed environmental assessment of the site concluded that approximately 85% of the foreshore and upland areas were contaminated with coal tar, metals and other hydrocarbons. The site was also littered with brick, wood waste, concrete and other miscellaneous materials.

The client’s intention was to fully remediate the site to BC standards through several stages. Environmental concerns on this project included air quality, noise disturbance, ground & surface water, wetlands & fish habitats, vegetation and wildlife, soils and heritage & archaeological concerns.

The scope of work for the first stage included the following:

• Creation of a detailed Contractors Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) including a materials management plan, a water handling plan, a vibration monitoring plan and an emergency response plan;
• Design and construction of an on site waste water treatment facility. Once treated, the water was discharged through the City of Victoria’s Sanitary Sewer;
• Dewatering and subsequent treatment and disposal of approx 7,000,000 L of hydrocarbon and metal impacted groundwater;
• Installation of a low-permeable barrier using a bentonite modified concrete to prevent re-contamination of remediated areas of the site via contaminant migration from off site;
• Design and installation of a shoring system along 3 property lines to facilitate vertical excavations up to 8.5 m deep;
• Design and Installation of a clay berm barrier to prevent inflow of contaminated marine water in excavations up to 6m below sea level;
• Excavation and restoration of approximately 40,000 Tonne of special waste hydrocarbon and metal impacted soil and special waste wood waste to approximately 8 metres in depth;
• Excavation and restoration of 60,000 Tonne of non-special waste soil and materials. Materials included waste and commercial level soils, underground Gasometer structures, asphaltic concrete, concrete slabs, metal piping and debris, building foundations and creosoted timber pilings;
• Excavation and break down of all reinforced and un-reinforced substructures including concrete tanks. Treatment and off site disposal of concrete, rebar and other materials. Backfill and compaction of remaining structures, where appropriate, including four gasometers;
• On site stockpiling in an engineered, lined holding facility while soil analysis was completed;
• Transportation and disposal of approximately 70,000 Tonne of soil with various types and levels of contaminants. The soil was transported to three separate treatment facilities located on the Island and the Mainland by barge and/or truck;
• Collection, containment and disposal of over 110,000 L of Non Aqueous Phase Liquid (NAPL). This material was shipped to a petroleum recycling facility for reprocessing;
• Vertical slot excavation adjacent to several historic buildings to remove contaminated soil. QMLP also backfilled these slots with a low-permeable concrete barrier to contain contamination beneath these structures for long term management;
• Site security and Installation and maintenance of on site facilities for decontaminating personnel, their equipment, trucks & other machinery; and
• Backfill and compaction of all excavated areas using a combination of imported granular material and clay to provide groundwater and tidal flow controls

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