The Excess Soil Regulations…

The Excess Soil Regulations should have consideration and include additional requirements for excess soil sites located in Wellhead Protection Areas, established under the Clean Water Act. At present, there is no specific regulatory framework for overseeing importation of excess soil within wellhead protection areas, where municipal water supply sources are at greater risk of quality and quantity impacts from excess soil sites. Legislative and regulatory gaps in the Excess Soil Regulations, Aggregate Resources Act, and Clean Water Act should be addressed. An excess soil site located in the Wellhead Protection Area for a shallow, overburden water Well, in particular would pose an increased risk to the quality of municipal groundwater.

The excess soil regulation being reviewed should include specific protective requirements for excess soil sites located in Wellhead Protection Areas. Specific management measures and best management practices such as the requirement for groundwater monitoring and sampling at the destination site, and annual reporting on groundwater quality should be included in the regulations.

The current oversite mechanism is to rely on Qualified Persons (QPs) hired by the source and destination soil sites to ensure all regulation requirements are being met. This oversight mechanism is not sufficient for sites in wellhead protection areas, where the risks to critical water supply resources are greater. The Ministry should consider taking on a greater oversight role at such sites, including requiring Ministry review and approval, and the requirement to obtain an ECA or other provincial instrument that will allow Ministry staff to directly oversee excess soil sites in wellhead protection areas. A clear process for litigating and charging excess soil sites that impact municipal groundwater supplies should be established in the regulations.

The importation of excess soil at existing aggregate sites is a particular concern in wellhead protection areas, where the deposition of excess soils may be below the water table and serve as a conduit to municipal supply aquifers. Consideration should be given to amend the Aggregate Resources Act to require additional approval requirements for aggregate sites intending to import soils in Wellhead Protection Areas.