Environmental Monitoring Program Design

Depending on the rate of sulphur and nitrogen emissions from an industrial facility and the sensitivity of the receiving terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems to acidification and/or eutrophication, indirect impacts to the environment present an ecological and regulatory challenge to operators of industrial facilities. Waterline’s soil and water quality subject matter experts recently supported a large consulting firm on a subcontract to design the Aquatic Environment Monitoring Program and the Soils and Critical Loads Determination components of a Terrestrial Environment Monitoring Program for a gas plant in northeastern British Columbia. The project involved reviewing the existing permit conditions and adapting British Columbia Ministry of Environment’s Air Emissions Impact Assessment for Liquefied Natural Gas Export Terminal Facilities - Guidance for the Assessment of Acidification and Eutrophication of Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecosystems to a gas plant on a major river system. 

The assessment involved building on the initial screening work then retrieving and interpreting publicly available hydrometric and soil chemistry/classification information to develop a conceptual understanding of the soil and water system. Soil and water sampling locations were selected in consultation with the vegetation ecologist and then Waterline’s team established the sampling frequency and parameters to determine the critical loads of acidity for the area. Waterline’s subject matter experts routinely support larger consulting firms where there is a gap in experience or expertise on a specialized issue. In this way, Waterline offers its clients peace of mind and strong professionalism so they know they are in good hands. This is true whether our clients are larger firms that might also be competitors on other projects, project proponents or government agencies directly.