Location: Golden Horseshoe, Ontario, Canada
Client: Confidential
Year: 2020 to present (on-going)
Monitoring Network Purpose: During the expansion of a wastewater treatment plant, soil sampling indicated subsurface contamination of the soil. Contaminants of concern are PCBs, petroleum hydrocarbons, metals, VOCs and PAHs. The municipal government requested the contractor perform air monitoring to ensure adjacent sensitive receptors and the general population are not exposed to hazardous materials. Additionally, industrial hygiene monitoring is being conducted whenever construction workers are in contaminated areas.
Sampling protocols/siting criteria: Airzone performs continuous monitoring of site conditions with real-time air quality equipment that is outfitted with dust sensors and meteorological equipment. Furthermore, a perimeter of Hi-vol samplers has been situated around the site to allow for monitoring dust conditions gravimetrically. These samples are then sent for metals analysis at a third-party CALA accredited laboratory. Adjacent to the Hivol samplers, integrative samples are taken for VOCs and PAHs. These samples are analyzed at our own CALA accredited lab.
Data management/flow: Real-time samplers transmit data via cellular modem and internet to cloud storage. We download and QAQC the data on a weekly basis. Reports with data are provided along with weekly reports of site conditions. Furthermore, an alarm system has been configured allowing site staff to be notified when a dust exceedence occurs. This enables real-time mitigation of contaminated soil being suspended and subsequently causing adverse exposure events for staff and the general population.
Daily wind-rose plots are provided to analyze the wind patterns and level of dust originating onsite or from offsite.