The Department of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Environment has extended the conditional approval for the operation of a construction and demolition (C&D) disposal site in Hazelbrook.
Following review last year under Prince Edward Island's environmental impact assessment process and the Waste Resource Management Regulations approval process, Maintenance Services Limited was granted conditional approval for the Hazelbrook site and given a number of very specific additional requirements to fulfill. That included providing verification from a qualified engineering consulting firm that all work meets or exceeds specifications in the Environmental Protection Act Waste Resource Management Regulations.
Minister of Environment Chester Gillan said the company met all of those additional requirements by the January 15 deadline; however, there is one outstanding matter which the minister wants resolved before he issues an operating permit to Maintenance Services Limited.
As part of the groundwater testing carried out last year, petroleum hydrocarbons were detected in a monitoring well near the north/northeast boundary of the site. Minister Gillan said consulting engineers have concluded that disposal activity on the site is not the source. Two other monitoring wells between the active disposal area and the well that has tested positive show no significant detections of petroleum hydrocarbons.
"To ensure the situation is contained, additional monitoring wells will be drilled so that we can clearly define the area affected. Until that follow-up work is done, I believe the best course of action is for the company to continue to operate the site with conditional approval," said Minister Gillan.
The additional monitoring wells are to be completed by January 31, and conditional approval of the Hazelbrook site has been extended until April 30, 2003.
Under the Environmental Protection Act Waste Resource Management Regulations, anyone operating a C&D disposal site must have approval from the Department of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Environment. Owners of C&D sites must apply annually to the department for an operating permit. The regulations also set out strict design and operational requirements for C&D sites to ensure that materials are not being disposed of in a manner that could threaten the water, soil or air quality in Prince Edward Island. The sites may be used only for disposal of C&D debris, which the regulations clearly define as materials that are not hazardous. That includes soil, asphalt, brick, mortar, drywall, plaster, cellulose, fibreglass fibres, gyproc, and lumber and wood that is not chemically treated.