Site Assessment, Remediation and Reclamation
Environmental risks as a result of business operations are important to our clients and to society. The Site Assessment, Remediation, and Reclamation practice at Matrix focuses on assisting our clients to manage their liabilities and obligations using both tried-and-true and innovative approaches. Our diverse project teams, consisting of agrologists, biologists, chemists, engineers, geoscientists, technologists, and others, work together to address challenges in the soil, groundwater, surface water, sediment, and air. Every site, setting, and project is different and presents its own set of parameters and challenges – it is never boring!
Matrix’s integrated teams, apply their expertise for projects in a variety of sectors across Canada, including oil and gas, pipelines and midstream, mining, utilities, commercial, and industrial sites. Partnering with regulators and other stakeholders, we strive to address our clients’ challenges by offering a multitude of services; from Phase I and II environmental site assessments and emergency spill response to groundwater investigations and in situ and ex situ remediation. Matrix is a trusted consultant for site decommissioning and surface reclamation services, site-specific risk assessments, and due diligence liability assessments.
Site Assessment, Remediation and Reclamation Services
Environmental Site Assessments
Spill Response
Remediation
Site Reclamation Services
Liability Assessment & Management
Risk Assessment & Management
Meet our Technical Director for Site, Assessment and Remediation
Scott Purves
What has been the most rewarding part of your career working in site, assessment and remediation?
Our clients provide us with some really challenging contaminated sites problems. It can be tough to see the condition of the sites, but historical environmental practices across all industries was not what it is today, unfortunately. The most rewarding part of my career has been collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to solve these problems for our clients. There really is no feeling like working with a team of talented, caring people to restore a heavily impacted site back to a healthy, productive state.
What attributes make for a strong practitioner in site assessment, remediation, and reclamation?
A strong practitioner needs to be a great communicator and collaborator. You need a big team to make progress on large, contaminated sites or even on a large portfolio of simple sites. These projects can take years to complete and there are certain timing windows that you must hit to stay on target. So, as a practitioner, your clients and teammates are relying on you to do your part. Therefore, an ability to plan your work well in advance and anticipate what comes next is critical. These attributes all hold true whether you are the most senior person running the program or are a brand-new junior practitioner to the team.
What advice can you provide for someone who wants to pursue a career in site assessment, remediation, and reclamation?
Go for it! As you start your career, my advice would be to spend as much time as you can being on sites, learning the various assessment, sampling, remediation, and reclamation techniques, but also the logistical challenges that come with each site and work type. That experience will form a powerful base for you to become a leader in our industry.
Related Projects
Well Site Abandonment, Remediation and Reclamation Portfolio
An oil and gas producer with operations in southeast Saskatchewan and southwest Manitoba has been progressing a large-scale abandonment program of approximately 50 to 100 well sites annually. Matrix was retained to assist with the management of the abandonment and reclamation program. The goal is to reduce the producer’s environmental liability, return land to equivalent productivity, and achieve regulatory closure for the sites.
Spill Response and Remediation Program Management
Murphy Oil Corporation discovered a condensate release from one of its pipelines at three separate surface locations in April 2015. Our client needed to delineate and contain the spill. Monitoring of wildlife, surface water, groundwater, and atmosphere quality was required to assess for impacts from the release. Once containment was put in place, Murphy needed to remediate and manage risks associated with the spill.
AltaLink Substation Reclamation
AltaLink needed to reclaim their decommissioned Judy Creek Substation located in northern Alberta and apply for a reclamation certificate. A typical substation reclamation project involves determining whether there is soil contamination present due to transformer oil or other contaminates that may have leaked or spilled over the course of operations. Matrix conducted a Phase I environmental site assessment (ESA) and identified some areas of soil contamination that had to be removed in order to meet the natural conditions of the adjacent landscape.