Through the practical…

Through the practical implementation of the excess soils requirements, it has been demonstrated that a significant amount of excess soils generated on typical construction/development projects are being classified as "waste", based on exceedances of applicable ESQSs, including the Table 3 small volume excess soil quality standards for Residential/Parkland/Institutional property uses. These are soils that would have been normally reused on various projects, that are now required to be sent to a landfill as waste. In most circumstances, these are slight exceedances of select parameters (i.e., a small number of chemicals, with concentrations well below the ceiling values), exceedances of extremely low ESQSs like PHC F2, or exceedances based on naturally occurring concentrations where no supporting documentation exists, and/or where, regardless of the source being naturally occurring, a receiver cannot take soil that does not meet their receiving standards (i.e., parameters other than EC and SAR).

While the value of characterizing soil and promoting its proper reuse is understood and supported, the current framework is resulting in significant volumes of soils ending up a landfills in Ontario, which is not in the public interest, and where airspace should be reserved for solid wastes. This includes soils generated on all sizes of infrastructure projects, including large infrastructure projects where overburden (and rock following mechanical crushing, as applicable) often exceed Table 3 small volume excess soil quality standards for Residential/Parkland/Institutional property uses. Further, it is noted that crushed rock, even when it meets the applicable ESQS, is often not geotechnically suitable for reuse on development or construction projects, which further limits beneficial reuse options for this material.