It is important to understand the geological condition of a property in order to evaluate the environmental liability of a proposed facility on a property and to also determine the migration pathways of a contaminant. For example; a fueling facility poses an environmental liability alone but the type and density of the geology of the property can increase or decrease the severity of impact in the event of a spill.
If a spill occurs, geotechnical investigation provides tracking of the spill migration and examines potential areas of plume migration due to specific soil and groundwater characteristics.
Projects
Geotechnical Investigations are used in conjunction with Phase I, II Environmental Site Assessments (ESA), remedial action plans and remediation design. These investigations utilize rotary drill rig or direct push soil core methods to undergo subsurface exploration of a property.
Investigation
Investigation of sub-surface soils and water begins by boring several holes (boreholes) on a property which can isolate specific areas or a specific area of concern on the property (e.g. previous area of buried tanks) or sub-surface investigations can be randomized to represent the overall environmental condition of a property. Soil cores are obtained at various intervals below surface in order to examine the soil characteristics. The soil samples are tested to determine soil type, colour, density and moisture content. These characteristics can help predict rate of movement through a soil type and different transport pathways. Each borehole is logged by depth to properly present the findings and indicate at what depth groundwater was encountered. Borehole logs are mapped as a cross section in order to connect soil layers to predict the contaminant movement both horizontally and vertically across a property.
Professional Service
Comco Canada Inc. has a unique team of chemical engineers, environmental engineers and hydrogeologists who, with their combined expertise, in their respected fields, provide in-depth knowledge of plume delineation and migration mapping. Comco performs each aspect of the geotechnical study including study design, placement of boreholes, collection of samples for analysis, analyses of soil samples indicated to be higher than accepted by the Environmental Protection Act Standard, cross section mapping, prediction of contaminant migration and provision of a detailed report with recommendation for remediation to our clients.
Comco Canada Inc. is fully licensed and registered with both Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) and Association of Professional Geologists Ontario (APGO), and offer to our clients best practices service for a fair cost, and one that will meet all current Regulations of the Technical Standards & Safety Authority, Fuels Safety Branch of the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Control for the Province of Ontario.