LAND280 Introduction to Contaminated Sites

Managing contaminated sites is vital to maintaining the health of land and water in BC. This course is an introduction to the contaminated sites process in British Columbia, with specific attention paid to the Upstream Oil and Gas Industry in Northeast BC. The course offers an overview of the governing Regulatory bodies and Acts that provide the framework in determining what constitutes a contaminated site in BC. This is followed by a presentation of the Source – Pathway – Receptor model and how contaminants enter and move through the environment. The course provides an introduction into engineering soil classification, hydrogeology, and contaminant migration through soil, groundwater and soil vapour. Quantification of contaminant concentrations in each media will be presented with reference to the BC Contaminated Sites Regulation and Oil and Gas Activities Act, and both numerical and risk based standards will be discussed. Investigation methodologies will be discussed for various stages of environmental investigations, and students will gain hands-on experience in environmental drilling, soil sampling and groundwater sampling methods.