| Site Characterization: Environmental Laboratory Services |
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 Environmental Laboratory Services If a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment reveals the likelihood of site contamination, as designated by the Qualified Person (QP) in charge of the project, the services of an environmental analytical laboratory will be required as part of the site characterization (Phase II ESA). The properly accredited laboratory, depending on the state or province in which the ESA is taking place, will be required to conduct the analysis and reporting of all samples representative of the contaminated site. What Brownfield Remediation Practitioners Should Know about Laboratories and Accreditation: Accredited Laboratories under Ontario Regulation 153/04 Record of Site Condition What role do laboratories play in protecting our environment? The Record of Site Condition (RSC) - Part XV.1, O. Regulation 153/04 made under the Environmental Protection Act, in force October 1, 2004, requires that the analysis of samples taken for the purpose of assessing a contaminant as part of a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment or Risk Assessment or for the purpose of indicating the maximum concentration of a contaminant in, on or under the property in an RSC, be conducted by a laboratory that has been accredited by an internationally recognized accreditation body [e.g., Standards Council of Canada (SCC), or Canadian Association for Environmental Analytical Laboratories (CAEAL)] in accordance with the International Standard ISO/IEC17025. What is laboratory accreditation? Accreditation is granted by the accrediting body (i.e., SCC, CAEAL) after they receive proof of successful performance from available Proficiency Testing (PT) studies, have conducted an on-site assessment of the laboratory’s competence to carry out specific tests, and are found compliant with the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025. Proficiency Testing programs are developed and made mandatory as a requirement of accreditation, when there are sufficient accredited laboratories performing that analysis. In this way, valid statistics can be applied to identify acceptable and unacceptable analytical performance for a specific parameter. How will Qualified Persons know which accredited laboratories to use for RSC analysis? The Qualified Person may ask a laboratory to produce their “Scope of Accreditation”. This is a list of all parameters accredited by the SCC and CAEAL, in a specific matrix. To analyze RSC samples, the laboratory must hold accreditation for the parameters for which SCC has required proficiency testing. The parameters and matrices listed in Tables A and B are current as of the date of publication of this bulletin. A larger listing of laboratories and their accreditation scopes can be found on the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) and the Canadian Association for Environmental Analytical Laboratories (CAEAL) Web sites at www.scc.ca and www.caeal.ca, respectively. (Source: Government of Ontario, Reproduced with permission from the Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2007) For more details on Laboratory Accreditation Requirements under Ontario Regulation 153/04 please click here (PDF). SGS Environmental Services (Analytical Laboratories) General Enquires Contact: SGS is the world’s leading inspection, testing and verification company with over 50,000 employees and 1000 offices and laboratories worldwide. We are a recognised global leader in providing defensible analytical data with a superior level of quality, services and expertise. With 4 laboratories in Canada and 2 laboratories in the United States, SGS Environmental Services is well positioned across North America offering guidance and assistance in complying with environmental regulations and in assessing environmental performance. We provide clients with state-of-the-art laboratory facilities, knowledgeable project specialists, customized data reporting and fast turn around time. This is backed by our highest ranking accreditations and continuously improving QA/QC protocols. This level of excellence together with localised support provides our clients with a complete service approach of Quality, Service and Efficiency within budget. SGS has transferred many new technologies internationally bringing soil analytical capabilities to the forefront. These include an advanced extraction set-up for extractable organic analysis using ultra-trace sampling preparation and processing techniques that decrease the extraction time for expedient delivery of results to our customer. This new technology has been both accredited provincially and EPA approved. SGS’ state of the art instrumentation includes gas chromatography (GC-ECD, FID, MS, MS/MS), HRMS, Ultra trace metals by ICP-OES, ICP-MS, Atomic Absorption, X-ray Fluorescence, Ion Chromatography, and a variety of online instrumentation for classical chemical techniques. For an overview of SGS locations, please click here (PDF). Click on the following PDF links for details on SGS’ capabilities in: |