|
|
|
|
EXPERIENCE MONARCH Environmental Consulting Ltd. is an environmental consulting company, incorporated in the province of Ontario. MONARCH's team of engineers and scientists bring years of environmental experience and professional training to their work, providing a wide range of professional services. Len Cherry, P. Eng. leads the team with over 20 years of experience in conducting Phase I, II and III Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs), Phase II Subsurface Investigations to assess contaminated sites, remediation, project management, expert witness, compliance auditing, and hazardous materials management in Ontario and the USA. His specialties are managing the removal of chemical or residential fuel oil underground storage tanks (USTs), and drilling investigations for the three types of sites most commonly found contaminated in commercial and residential areas – gasoline service stations, automotive service garages, and dry cleaning outlets. His experience dates back to 1993 when the first regulations and guidelines were emerging in Ontario titled “Interim Guidelines for the Assessment & Remediation of Petroleum Contaminated Sites in Ontario”, which were adopted by the Gasoline Handling Code under the Gasoline Handling Act. These guidelines were to be used in conjunction with the 1989 Ontario Decommissioning Guidelines and 1991 Interim Canadian Environmental Quality Criteria for Contaminated Sites. Since that time, MONARCH has worked for or against almost all of the major gasoline service station companies in Ontario to investigate and/or remediate gasoline spills and leaking piping, dispensers and USTs. More commonly now, MONARCH represents property owners or purchasers of the gasoline service stations involved in a real estate deal or securing a new mortgage (including residential properties adjacent to gasoline service stations), applying for redevelopment of the site, or conducting ongoing soil/groundwater testing for owners that have a gasoline service station leasing a portion of the property (i.e. and overseeing the decommissioning of the gasoline service station for the owner after their lease is not renewed). Don’t trust the gasoline service station to hire their own consultants and provide you with their report. It will be biased. Retain MONARCH at the early stages of the transaction to look out for your best interests. We are now faced with stricter legislation that came into force December 30, 2009 (with an 18 month transition period that ended June 30, 2011). The new stricter legislation is the result of a better scientific understanding of the effects of contaminants on human health and the environment. The legislation has good intentions but the reality is that it may lead to more brownfield sites, where contaminated sites are left abandoned because they are too expensive to clean up. It may eventually lead to more contaminated residential areas that are in close proximity to these contaminated sites because the contaminants spread to neighbouring properties through the subsurface soil and groundwater, depending on site specific geologic and hydrogeologic factors. If you are a residential property owner adjacent to a gasoline service station (or where one was located in the past), hazardous gasoline gases may be migrating into your basement through cracks or degraded mortar in the foundation or through a sump collection pit, or may be entering your drinking water well. MONARCH can design an investigation to assess contamination at your site. The good news is that MONARCH has had success in some situations at recovering costs, when we can prove that a neighbouring gasoline station has impacted you. Mr. Cherry is a licensed Professional Engineer in the Province of Ontario and a Registered Qualified Person (QP) by the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE) for assessing contaminated sites. His educational background is a civil/environmental engineering degree from Queen’s University specializing in contaminant hydrogeology and post-graduate studies in contaminant hydrogeology at University of Toronto. He carries specialized 40 hour HAZWOPER safety training and POST safety training specific for petroleum contaminated sites. Records of Site Condition must be signed by a QP and may be required by a Municipality prior to issuing building permits for new developments. The Record of Site Condition provides assurance that the property was assessed for potential contamination and remediated (if applicable) by a qualified professional prior to development. The Record of Site Condition also provides protection for municipalities, developers, and lenders against future MOE orders (with some exceptions such as off-site contamination) but offers no protection against civil lawsuits. The Technical Standards & Safety Authority (TSSA) has also adopted the requirement for a QP. Since January of 2006, any reports that require submission to the TSSA must be prepared by a QP. TSSA governs the handling, use, storage and distribution of fuels in Ontario. Therefore any gasoline service station decommissioning or investigation/remediation of fuel underground storage tanks (USTs)/piping/dispensers will require retaining the services of a QP. MONARCH recommends retaining a QP for all Phase I, II, and III Environmental Site Assessments and Remediation associated with fueling depots or development properties. MONARCH also recommends retaining a QP for real estate transactions to ensure that your reports are prepared by professionals and will retain their value through possible future developments. The associates of MONARCH have built a solid client base, with experience providing a full range of environmental services to:
All MONARCH reports are privileged and strictly confidential to the client. We do not release reports or information obtained during our investigations to anyone unless given written authorization to do so by the client. When we are on-site drilling and retrieving samples, we conduct field screening observations for contamination, including visual, olfactory and organic vapour testing using a MiniRae 3000. These tests are conducted in private and not released to anyone except the client. MONARCH reports are issued in written and pdf formats. MONARCH carries Professional Liability Insurance. The Professional Liability Insurance for environmental site assessments is sufficient for coverage against liability associated with the following: assessing contamination areas, conducting sampling programs to determine the presence or absence of subsurface contamination or other potential environmental liabilities, interpretation of laboratory results, and correspondence with clients regarding the results of intrusive and non-intrusive chemical tests for contamination with reference to the current environmental legislation. The professional insurance offers protection with $2,000,000 per loss, and an aggregate limit of $2,000,000. |
|
|
|
MONARCH
Environmental Consulting Ltd. Woodstock (serving Southwestern Ontario) 19 Winston Place,Woodstock, ON N4S 2M6 Tel (519) 421 5998 Fax (519) 537 5380 Toronto (serving Greater Toronto Area) 37 Rivercove Drive, Toronto, ON M9B 4Y8 Tel (416) 653 3727 Fax (416) 853 1194
|
|
|
|
|
