Niagara Region Quarry Road Landfill Leachate Management Upgrades Virtual Public Information Centre Slide 1: Quarry Road Landfill Leachate Management Upgrades Hi everyone! Welcome to our virtual Public Information Centre for the Schedule C Environmental Assessment for the Quarry Road Landfill Leachate Management Upgrades project. My name is Carolyn Chan. I am one of the project engineers for GM BluePlan Engineering and I will be narrating this slide show. Slide 2: Welcome! The purpose of this information centre is to inform the public about the project, gather information, and solicit feedback. Display materials can be reviewed online in multiple formats, including this narrated video presentation. A transcript of the narration is also available. We welcome all your feedback, as your opinion is very important to the completion of the study. Please fill out a comment form or feel free to contact the project team by email or telephone. Contact information is provided at the end of this slide show and on the project webpage. Please provide comments and questions by October 13, 2020. Slide 3: MCEA Planning and Design Process This project is following a Class Environmental Assessment process, which is a decision-making process that all Ontario municipalities follow for infrastructure projects. This project is following Schedule C, meaning that four phases must be completed. Currently, the project is in Phase 3. Slide 4: Environmental Assessment Process & Timeline This slide shows the project timeline. This project was originally initiated in August 2019 via a Notice of commencement. The project team identified and evaluated alternative solutions which were reviewed in Public Information Centre #1 in November 2019. During Phase 3, the project team identified and evaluated alternative design concepts for the preferred solution and conducted pilot testing activities, leading to the current Public Information Centre #2. The Environmental Assessment process is intended to conclude in November 2020 with a detailed design proceeding in 2021. Slide 5: Background and Study Purpose Some project background information. The Quarry Road Landfill is located at the rear of 3768 Quarry Road in the Town of Lincoln. The Landfill was closed in 2000, and the Region installed a constructed wetland for treatment of leachate-impacted groundwater in 2009. However, the wetland system has experienced issues with leakage and exceedance of environmental compliance objectives. Also, the current rated capacity is not sufficient to capture and treat the entire plume of leachate-impacted groundwater. The problem and opportunity statement for the project is that the existing leachate management solution be improved to minimize adverse environmental and property impacts while ensuring environmental compliance and improvement of downstream aquatic habitat and water quality conditions, in order to: provide a long-term leachate management solution, ensure environmental compliance objectives are achieved, and improve downstream aquatic habitat and water quality conditions. Quarry Road Landfill Leachate Management Upgrades Project – Virtual Public Information Centre #2 Page | 1
Slide 6: Public Open House No. 1 – Your Feedback Public Open House #1 was held on November 28, 2019. Its objectives were to introduce the study, present the list of alternative solutions, and present the evaluation criteria. From the attendees, we heard general interest in the outcome of the study and staying informed, and no specific comments on the proposed evaluation criteria or alternative solutions. Slide 7: Results of Phase 2 of the EA Process This slide shows the results of Phase 2 of the EA Process, which were presented at Public Open House #1. Six alternatives were identified: first, Do Nothing. Second, Upgrade Existing Treatment System. Third, Haul Leachate to Campden SPS. Fourth, Pump Leachate to Campden SPS. Fifth, In-situ Treatment within Landfill Mound. Sixth, In-situ Treatment with Groundwater cut-off Wall. Based on the evaluation, Alternative 2 – Upgrading the Existing Leachate Treatment System was chosen as the preferred solution to achieve project objectives. Therefore, Phase 3 of the EA Process is dedicated to developing and evaluation alternative design concepts for upgrading the existing leachate treatment system. We note that the display boards from Public Open House #1 are available on the project web site for more details on the Phase 2 alternatives and the evaluation. Slide 8: Quarry Road Landfill Site Location For context, this slide shows the site location including an areal photo. The landfill is located at the edge of the Niagara Escarpment near the Bruce Trail. The wetland is adjacent to the landfill. Slide 9: Existing Treatment System This slide shows a schematic of the existing treatment system. As you can see, there are two main treatment steps: pre-treatment in an aerated settling tank, and polishing through a constructed wetland. The objective of the treatment system is ensure that the water discharged to Stream D meets specific water quality standards. The water quality parameters of concern are: Iron, Manganese, Zinc, Phosphorus, Un-ionized Ammonia, and Dissolved Oxygen. All of these substances are naturally occurring, but at the wrong concentrations they have negative impacts on aquatic life. The system is able to provide some treatment of the water, but as highlighted previously, there have been chronic issues with the system. For one thing, impacted groundwater is able to bypass treatment by flowing through the aggregate underdrain layer below the wetland and discharge to Stream D. A sump and pump were installed to capture this flow and direct it to the treatment system. However, this additional flow exceeds the original design capacity of the system. Another issue is the wetland liner, which has consistently leaked despite multiple attempts at repair. Finally, the system struggles to meet water quality objectives consistently for all parameters, with the worst offender being zinc. Zinc concentrations actually increase across the wetlands. This may be due to the fact that there are baffle plates made of galvanized steel within the wetland, intended to direct the flow path of the water. Galvanized steel is coated with zinc for corrosion protection, and this zinc may be leaching into the water. Slide 10: Decision Making Evaluation Criteria The purpose of this phase of the study is to identify and compare alternative design concepts for upgrading this system to address these issues. The alternative design concepts are evaluated based on six different criteria shown on this slide: impacts to the natural environment, regulatory implications, economic impact, social and cultural impacts, technical feasibility, and Stream D mitigation. Quarry Road Landfill Leachate Management Upgrades Project – Virtual Public Information Centre #2 Page | 2
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