RE: Proposed Regulatory…

RE: Proposed Regulatory Changes for the Beneficial Reuse of Excess Soil at Pits and Quarries in Ontario
-- ERO No. 019-4801

2419787 Ontario Inc. is Licensee under the Aggregate Resources Act for a below water table pit operation under Licence ID 4090 located near Kanata in the City of Ottawa.

The ownership of 2419787 Ontario Inc. also owns and operates Badger Daylighting Ottawa Limited, a franchisee of Badger Daylighting Infrastructure Solutions. Badger is North America’s largest provider of non-destructive excavating services, accomplished through the use of hydrovac technologies. Badger Ottawa’s clients primarily include infrastructure services, utility/telecommunication companies and municipalities, and our service area covers Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec. Our work locations are typically in areas where there is a concentration of underground power, communication, water, gas and sewer lines, particularly in large urban centres. These are locations where safety and economic risks are high and therefore non-destructive excavation provides a safe alternative to meet the needs of our customers.

Hydrovac is a non-destructive excavation technique which involves using highly pressurized water to liquefy soil, creating a slurry-type mixture. Simultaneously, the Badger vacuum system extracts the slurry into a truck-mounted tank. This excavation process allows for increased safety and much reduced risk of damage when excavating to uncover utility services such as electrical cables or pipes.

We are providing these comments as a hydrovac operator and pit operator/licensee. The comments have been prepared in consultation with our engineering and aggregate planning consultants. We thank you in advance for your attention to these comments and are available to discuss this with you further, and provide additional background and context.

Main Comment:
We respectfully request the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry (NRF) reconsider and not proceed with the following aspect of the proposed policy provision, or any related ARA regulation change:

Liquid soil will not be authorized for importing under the Aggregate Resources Act.

If an aggregate site approval holder wishes to import liquid soil to be processed for use, they should continue to seek authorization under the EPA for this activity, which is to be conducted outside of the licensed area. Operators should be aware that other restrictions may apply (zoning, site alteration bylaws, partial site surrender).

We request that liquid soil from hydrovac operations/operators be treated as a special case, for the reasons described below, and be allowed to be received/managed at ARA licensed sites within the current MECP Excess Soil regulation.

In our experience, Liquid Soil generated by the hydrovac industry is acceptable for importation to an ARA site as it can be done in accordance with the MECP Excess Soil regulation (406/19); and, is in accordance with direction provided by MECP.

Reasoning:
• A Licence under the ARA is a designated “instrument” under Reg. 406/19;
• The importation, management and processing of Liquid Soil is completely in common with activities that normally occur at ARA sites;
• Notwithstanding that our own experience is that dried soil resulting from Liquid Soil does meet Table 1 criteria, there are techniques and tools available to verify the quality of Liquid Soil while it is in liquid form and held within a vessel or chamber. We understand that such techniques are in-use at a Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville site which receives hydrovac liquid soil;
• By the nature of the material excavated in a hydrovac process and their usage, there is more assurance of acceptable quality of dried soil from hydrovac operations than soil from other locations;
• The dried soil that results from Liquid Soil can be used for purposes of rehabilitation, aggregate recycling/blending or on-site landscaping/berming, thereby providing for a beneficial re-use of Excess Soil. Doing so eliminates the very high financial costs of the subject material being handled at other purpose-built locations or being disposed of at other approved treatment or storage facilities (e.g. landfill);
• Not only does the NRF proposal go above and beyond the MECP Excess Soil regulation, whereas the intent should be to align with the MECP regulation, it is contrary to allowances/advice provided by MECP itself; and,
• The proposed outright prohibition on importing Liquid Soil will result in a failure to take advantage of the obvious economic and environmental benefits of having Liquid Soil be managed at sites located in near-urban areas and therefore in close proximity to where the Liquid Soil is generated. The net result of this will be increased costs to the public sector which ultimately pays for the construction, repair and maintenance of the utility infrastructure any modern society depends on to function reliably and economically.

Background:
Liquid soil is deemed ‘waste’ under O. Reg. 347, however, Liquid Soil generated through the hydrovac process it is not a ‘hazardous’ or ‘subject’ waste. Once the water is separated from the soil, the dried soil needs to be tested in accordance with Excess Soil requirements. If the testing demonstrates that the soil meets the appropriate requirements for rehabilitation, onsite re-use (eg. berming), or recycling (blending with native material), then it should be allowed to be imported to an ARA site for those purposes.

For the project sites where we operate (i.e. source sites), the majority of the soil is recovered in the form of a water slurry from utility infrastructure construction and maintenance activities. These activities are typically located in within the limits of the road allowance or a utility corridor/easement and much of the soil is composed of aggregate material that was installed as part of infrastructure construction. We note that aggregate material itself is not soil and the Excess Soil requirements do not apply to it.

Based on years of soil testing data for sites that we operate, the soil meets the importation for rehabilitation criteria for the majority of the soil (over 90%). The soil that does not meet the criteria is disposed of off-site. These data clearly demonstrate that liquid soil from hydrovac operations can and should be allowed to be received at licensed sites which have facilities in place where water can be removed and the dry soil can then be available for rehabilitation, reuse or recycling activities. There is no technical reason why hydrovac liquid soil should not be allowed to be received and processed at ARA licensed sites.

Many aggregate sites have ancillary operations and facilities included in the licensed area and this is an appropriate location to import and manage liquid soils. Restricting liquid soil import into licensed areas that are ancillary or accessory to the aggregate operation is not reasonable or appropriate. Additionally, as long as soils are managed in accordance with MECP Excess Soil requirements, there is no need to further regulate a material by requiring a Waste ECA in an already Provincially regulated area.

Doing so at an ARA licensed site would be fully contrary to the allowance under the Excess Soil regulations provided by an ARA licence being a designated “instrument”. This provision is designed to eliminate duplicative permitting requirements and confusion to municipal agencies which have by-laws governing such sites.

Further, in MECP Excess Soil Webinar Series – 6 – Vac Trucks and Liquid Soil Management (Nov. 19, 2021), import of liquid soil to an ARA licensed site is specifically discussed and permitted, subject to it being authorized under the ARA (see slide 27 … image copied below) … i.e. there is no prohibition of the activity. This is directly contrary to the position being taken by NRF in the proposed regulation/policy.

Sincerely

Todd Chayka
on behalf of 2419787 Ontario Inc and Badger Daylighting Ottawa Limited
2650 Carp Road
Ottawa, Ont
K0A-1L0
613-229-9348