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The offsite migration of contaminants from a typical service station and into adjacent utility corridors or rights-of-way is a common concern with former service station site redevelopment. Municipalities may delay the redevelopment of a typical service station due to liability issues associated with the potential offsite migration of Contaminants of Concern (COCs). Municipalities and property owners should work cooperatively to develop a clear and well understood protocol for managing offsite migration.
For any site undergoing risk assessment, any potential offsite "impact" (exceeding the applicable generic site condition standards) must be stated in the risk assessment. MOE can still accept the risk assessment, and a RSC can be filed using the standard specified in the risk assessment, because it has been accepted by the Director. For sites undergoing remediation to generic site condition standards, the RSC form requires identification if "impact" was present within three meters of the property line.
Municipalities should consider the use of site-specific agreements (e.g. letters on file) between the Municipality and the property owner that identifies the COCs, offsite migration concerns and mechanisms for addressing public and environmental safety concerns. These agreements should include the owner accepting responsibility for offsite contamination and their commitment to manage, monitor, and address offsite contamination as recommended by a Risk Management Plan. The Redevelopment Framework provides examples where municipalities have developed site-specific agreements with owners that allow COCs to remain under road-access and right-of-ways, provided that the owner maintains responsibility for monitoring, management and remediation as required to ensure public health, safety, and risk and liability protection.
Municipalities should develop an understanding regarding the potential issues related to co-mingled plumes at service station sites. The Canadian Petroleum Products Institute (CPPI) has developed a Draft Protocol to address Co-mingled Plumes by providing best management practices to assist in the timely and cost effective resolution of complex offsite contamination when two CPPI member companies are involved. Municipalities should consider the use of this tool to manage co-mingled plume issues. The CPPI Draft Protocol focuses on the following:
- Establishment of a national "best management practice" process to assist in the timely and cost effective resolution of complex offsite contamination matters involving two or more CPPI member companies
- Reduction of potential regulatory and civil liability exposure and associated legal costs
- Providing a flexible framework that can be tailored to site specific situations
- Protecting legal rights of individual companies while providing a constructive process for collectively assessing and addressing co-mingled contamination
- Obtaining CPPI member company commitment to follow the protocol (e.g. signature at senior CPPI committee level)
- Including non-CPPI companies that commit to the Protocol
Municipalities should develop and maintain a process for information sharing and management related to contaminated site work in the municipal jurisdiction. This resource can be available as an internal and possibly external database to provide workers with information on site work, contaminant levels, potential concerns related to the COCs. Municipalities should ensure that they have the appropriate risk and liability protection measures in place.
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