resolute bay environmental assessment

8/3/2019 Resolute Bay Environmental Assessment

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EnvironmentaliteAssegsrnentndSpillResponsePetrolerumroducts ivision ankFarmFacility, esoluts, unavutDrafrReportSection : Discussion

I DTSCUSSTONBased n ourcurrentundenttandingf theSiteand he nformationathered uringhisassessrnent,Nunami ffers he ollowing iscussion bout he results.-*-d'tavt JoLD La-)

SoillCatchmentBasinDuring he sitevisit,productwas observedon topof the ice n the spill catchmentbasin. Severalfissureswer, bservedwithin he snowand ce nthe basin. Basedon thecomparisono referencestandardsasdiscussedn Section .6), heproducts similar o a typeof gasoline nd s notsignficantlyweathered.Initially smallamount f productwas observed n the northem ortion f the basin;hotever, afiera two day storm, argeramountsof fudwerc observedon topof the ice. Without headditionof nerrproduct o the cell, oneexplanation s to thedifferencesnthe amountof fuelatopof the icecoutdbedue o the additional eightof thesnowof the storm;causing nyof theproductloating etweenthewater ice nterfaceo bepushedup through he fissures.Due o the absenceof a protectiveayerof gravelabove he iner, Nunamidid not adrrance oreholes o et/eluatehe presenceof wateror fuelunder he ice.As a result,Nunamicalculatedhebuoyancy equired or the ice to be displaced ownward nd or the product o be pushedup throughthe issuresnthe spillcatchment asin. Basedon hesecalculationshespillcatchmentasinwouldneed o containa minimumof 0.53m ofwaterBasedon our ield measurements ith respecto thefuel on top of the ice,and our calculatione fthe estimatedolumeof fuefunderand'withinissuresnthc ice,approximately9,000 to 67,600Lof gasolinemay havebeencontainedwithin hespillcatchmentbasinat the timeof theassessmeril.A summaryof the estirnatedangeof gasoline olumeswithin he spillcatchmentbasinareprovidedin Table -1 in Appendh l.Soil moactrThree nainareasof soil mpads were dentified n-site,as illustratedn Dr:awing o.3 inAppendixA. These ncludchearea mmediatelydjacento therelease rea TP11-01,P11-05,TP1 -06,TP1 -07,TPI 1-08andTP1 -09) nd uro reas astof he spill atchrnentasin TP1 -20andTPI 1-121. determinationf the contaminantype nthe majority f soilsamples ollectedouldnotbe madeas he samples ontained HCs onsistent ithbothgasoline nddiesel.However,ncomparisono theprcduct ample ollectedrom he spillcatchment asin, t wasconcludedhat he

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EnvironmentaliteAssessrnentndSpillResponsePefoleum roducts ivisionankFarmFacility, esolute, unavutDraftReportSeclion:Discussion

soilsamples ontainEd ainlygasoline omponenls.Twoexceptionso thisconclusionilereidentified.Firstly,hesampleg ollectedromTP11-01 ontained eavier ndPHC rnpactsnadditiono the gasoline omponents. econdly, lthoughhe soilsampleTP11-08 ontainedmaintygasoline omponents,he samplehadsignificant eduction f theearlypeaks n its chrornatograrn.Twoareaseaetof thespillcatchmentasin TP11-12 ndTP11-20) adelevated oncentnationsfPHC9exceedingheapplicable egufatory riteria. Basedon thecomparison f thesamplechromatogEmso thc refcrencc tandard,he mpacts hared imilaritieso gasoline.Howevcr,Nunamis unableo determine hen hacontaminationccuned;t is possiblehat he mpacts reassociatedwith previous pillsat the Site. Due o the presence f hydrocarbonmpactsn Tp11-,12,horizontal elineationf impactsnthigareawagnotachiewd.Due o thesizeof the spilt eported,he typeof materialonsite coarse ompac{ed ravel)andsubzeroemperaturesesultingn frozenground onditions, roduct onding houldhavEoccurred.However,imitedpondingwasreportedwithin hecontainmentellhousingo Tanks103and 104.Due o the presenceof snowcoveron-site,Nunamicouldnotconfirma definitepathwayhat wouldenable he ransport f produc{rom hecontainmentellto he spillcatchment asin.n addition, olinerwasobservednthisarea.A linerwasobservedn theareaof TP11-08ocated pproximately40 m eastof Tank1(X.Consideringhat heproductrorn hecatchment asin ssimilar o the mpactsound nthe soilsamples,t is possiblehd the fuelfrom hespitlcatchmentasinoriginatedronr he release ite.Therefore,he possiblepathwaysof flowwould iketybe east by southeast which sconsistentwiththe topography f the Siteas observedduring he Site visit(iltustratedn Drawing {o. 6 inAppendh A). Product ouldhave lqred overfand r wilhin hesurfrcial ravelto hebermon whichthe uelmanifolds resupported nd henprecededhrough r underhe berm.Further nvestigations requiredo confirmhepresence f a potentialtransportathway, s imitedworkcouldbe caniedout in the areaduring hesite assessment ue o the frozengroundand heavysnowcover. Additionally, ur analyses ouldhavebeenassistedwilhaccuratedesigndrawingsofthe Siteand acilities.Evaoorationof FuelStatemenlsnadeby Mr.Kheraj,Mr.Alamgir nd he RCMPofficernotedhat he spilloccunedbetween12:00am on October 7,2011and 7:00am onOctober28,2011. ess han24hoursater,gasolinewas observednthe spillcatchment asin.As no evidenceof impacts o the top of thesnow ayerwasobseryed,he gasoline s speculatedohave raveledbetweenhe permafrost nd hesnow ayers rom he spill ocation o thespillcatchment asin. Theproductwould henhavecoltectedn the spiltcatchment asinwhere t wascoveredby snow 1.5m of snow n somesections f the spillcatehmentasin).As such, hegasolinewasexposed irectlyo the atmosphereora veryshort imetine.Sonreevaporation ouldhaveoccurred s the uelexiled he ankventanddropped o the surface elow he tank;however,the volume hatpotentiallyvaporatedsestimated ot o be significant.

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EnvironmentafiteAssessmentndSpillResponsePetroleumroducbDivision ankFarmFacility, esolute, unavutDraftReportSection: Discusslon

Evaporationatesof gasolinevarieedependento the temperature: ith ncreased atesofevaporationt higherernperatures. unami alculatedheevaporationate orgasoline onsideringan ambient emperature f -20oCat the timeof the release prodded n Table -2 provided nAppendlx ). Nunamihascabulatedhe evaporationates angebetween to 30 L of per hourpersquaremeterof spillarea(|../h/rn';.Girrenhefact hat he gasolinewas ncorporatedn a matrixofsoil and/orsnowand notan openpoolof gasexposed o the atmosphere, e believe hat he lowerrateof evaporationwo.tHbe a moreaccurate alue. Using he lorer rateof evaporation ndanapproximate reaof 50 m2of impacted urfaceexposedo the atmosphere pproximately ,400L offuefcouldevaporaten a24 hourperiod.

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EnvironrnentaliteAssessmentndSpillResponsePetroleumroductrsivision ankFarmFacility, esolute, unavutDraltReportSection9: Conclusions

9 CONCLUSIONSBasedon our reviewof the environmentaleports, he Gorremment f the Northweet enitoriesHazardousMaterialsSpillsDatabase nd hc rcsultgof the site nvestigation,t is apparent hatsignificant ydrocarbonmpactsexist n soilat the TankFarm Fac1ity.Several enificanthydrocarboneleaseshaveoccurredat the facilitysince at teaet he 1970s theGovernment f theNorthwest enitoriee ecordsgo back o the 1g70s).9.1 GeneralConditionsAt the timeof ourarrivalto the site he areawas snowcoveredand hetemperatures yergbelow0oC.Day ightwas limiled o a few hoursof twilightbetween10amand 1pm. Trrvo tormsoccunedduringout sitevisitanda significantolumeof snowaccumutatedcrosshe studyareaand n thespillcatchmentasin. This imitedhe abilityo carryouta visualnspectionf thesoil hroughestpitsor othersubsurface ssessmentechnique.Thegrcund urface n thes eandsunoundingtacomisted f compecldrawr, hesurfaca f


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EnvironmentaliteAsso$ment ndSpillResponsePeuolzumroductDivisionankFarm acirity,esolute,unavutDraftReportSection:Conclusions

o Area3' Thesoillcatchmant asin rcatedeastof theotd tank arm.Visual,offactory ndlaboratory nalysishasconflrmedhe presence f gasolinempactcadsorbedo the snow, yingon he iceand n the issuresnthe cE. Fuelfrom herelease ppearso havemigrated t leastin part o thespillcatchmentasin.Theexac't oute hroughwtrichhegas ook o achbve his snotconfirmed. t wouldappar hat the surfcial lor on the site rom he areaat Tanks103and1O4 s to the eastandsoutheast owards he catchment asin. n addition,here s evidence osuggest hat he surface lowhas mpacledgravels ntestpits o the east of the spifl ocationfurther einforcinghe'directionalvectorf thespill. Fueland uel mpacted now romArea1was reportbdly ollected ndplaced n thEsouthwest ndof the spillcatchment asin. However,the volumeof fuel n the snowand he aa that udoriginatedromTank1(X couldnot beconfirmedn he ieH.

9.3 UncertaintiesTherewereseveral actors hat resulted n a levelof uncertainty bout he impactsof the fuelreportedo havebeen eleased.' The lackof as'builtdrawingsof the facilitypreventedNunami rom ullyunderstanding otentialtransport athways nd ull nvestigationf someareas e.g., hespillcatchment asin).Nunamidid notwent o drillthroughhe iner n the catchmentasinand possibly ausemore mpact othe environmenthanalready ccuned.r Soilconditionsboth hegravel ubstrate nd rozen onditions)ndsignificantnor covermade t difficult o excavateest pitsandunderstrandetailed ite opog aphyand drainage.' Cofd emperatures,imiteddaylight andblizard conditiona nd imitedavailability f eguipmentreduced he amounlof investigationhatcouldbecompletedwhilcon site.

December9,2011ProlectNo. 110218593tv*t -.f-'..t aNU}IAMI9-2

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resolute bay environmental assessment

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