PROJECT TYPE
- Phase 2 Supplemental Environmental Site Assessment
- Groundwater Monitoring
- On-Site Remediation (ex-situ)
- On-Site Remediation (in-situ)
- Remediation Certificate
Role
Lead Consultant
Project Budget
$735,000
Project Summary
Clear-Site Remediation conducted a full-scale assessment and development of a customized in-situ remediation gallery design and telemetry-based monitoring and injection control system for a highly congested pipeline corridor and fueling station in Edmonton, Alberta. With four separate Oil and Gas industry players, two Pipeline right-of-way (ROW) corridor owners, multiple City infrastructure (sewer/water/gas and electrical), overhead power lines and fire-hydrant water works the Site was congested providing a complex network of disturbed soils, and preferential flow-paths.
Clear-Site Remediation developed a fully remote in-situ remediation gallery with live data-sonde analysis and injection control system. Developed with an internationally recognized robotics engineering firm the system allows for complete control over injection rates, pressure, inoculant volume control, and live data response. The proprietary software is world-leading and was made commercially available in 2024. With over a million data points of information collected per minute, the system provides dedicated control over the volume of inoculant and system optimization. The direct results are more accurate distribution, higher efficiency, and lower cost.
Clear-Site Remediation secured the full-scale remediation solution over several competitors by offering a dedicated support system that achieved more than a 97.9% cost reduction over the previous consultant’s remediation methods. A remediation certificate application was applied for in Q4 of 2024.
Preamble
Clear-Site Remediation was retained by an international insurance company to support closure of a long-standing environmental claim for a client in Edmonton, Alberta. The project was taken over by Clear-Site Remediation from two previous consultants with a compulsory budget cap based on what was remaining from the original claim. In addition, there was a requirement to progress the project site to remedial closure in a tight timeframe and address deficiencies remaining from incomplete work execution (open excavation etc.). Several complexities existed at the site including limitations with the historical datasets, congested third-party negotiation, and high-pressure pipelines running through the centre of the plume area. Clear-Site Remediation acted as the prime contractor for all aspects of the program. Which included, Phase 1 ESA update, Phase 2 Supplemental ESA, Guideline Recalculations, Groundwater Monitoring Installation and Assessment (k-testing/site survey, etc.), Remedial Gallery Installation, development of a proprietary remediation system and telemetry-based monitoring system.
Assessment Phase
The team at Clear-Site Remediation managed and completed all aspects of the in-field investigation. This was inclusive of having to acquire road closure permitting (OSCAM), implementation of high-risk drilling procedures (V-trenching for investigation within a high-pressure gas-line ROW), injection gallery installation, remediation system design and implementation as well as ex-situ remediation supervision and backfill quality assurance. In addition, Clear-Site Remediation managed all aspects of client liaison and claim processing, third-party independent audit, and reporting.
Remediation Phase
Embarking on an innovative remediation project utilizing biological amendments to address hydrocarbon contamination, our bioremediation strategy relied heavily on continuous monitoring of various parameters to provide inference of the biochemical processes occurring underground. These parameters included Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Oxidation-Reduction Potential (ORP), and Specific Conductance, each measured by data capture technologies provided by Clear-Site Remediation.
- Dissolved Oxygen (DO) is crucial for assessing the availability of oxygen for aerobic microbial processes. High oxygen levels generally indicate an active microbial metabolism, which is essential for the aerobic degradation of hydrocarbons.
- Oxidation-Reduction Potential (ORP) measures the electron activity in the soil or groundwater. This parameter helps in understanding the prevailing redox conditions, which influence the types of microbial processes that can occur—either oxidative or reductive pathways, each vital for different degradation mechanisms.
- Specific Conductance is indicative of the ionic strength of groundwater. Changes in conductance can signal shifts in groundwater chemistry, often because of metabolic activities of microbes or dissolution of mineral phases during bioremediation.
In collaboration with our Clear-Site AI&ML team the data was seamlessly curated and utilizing an ML script and our integrated data sonde collection (installed in two separate groundwater monitoring wells within the area of injection/inoculant distribution) the following digitized data was collected (Figure A).
Figure A. The significant activity seen immediately after the first injection is indicative of an effective initial engagement of the biological amendment with the hydrocarbons, promoting active degradation. Over time, as observed from late September into October, the smoothing out of parameter fluctuations suggests a stabilization of the subsurface conditions. This could imply a reduction in available hydrocarbons for degradation, either due to successful biodegradation or a limitation in the capacity of the remaining hydrocarbons to engage in further rapid reactions. By the end of October, the relative calm in parameter changes might suggest that the bulk of easily degradable hydrocarbons had been addressed, leaving behind either more recalcitrant compounds or significantly reduced concentrations of degradable materials [AIML generated script update].
Conclusion
The dedicated team of environmental, engineering, robotics and Clear-Site AI&ML specialists presented the client with an opportunity to progress the site to complete remediation under a fixed timeline and budget. Following the implementation of our strategic remediation design we attained a 97.9% cost reduction in remediation spending versus the previous consultant’s methodology for addressing residual impact. This project fully embraced Clear-Site Remediation vision of conceptualize, innovate and deliver.