The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) announced a public review and comment period for three volumes of contaminated site characterization guidance.  The guidance will be used by Federal departments in assessing contaminated sites.  It was developed jointly by Environment Canada and Health Canada.  The review period closes November 30, 2012.  The draft documents are available online - Soil Quality Guidelines.

The guidance is a tool for the collection of representative and high-quality data for use in the characterization of contaminated sites and to assess environmental and human health risks posed by contaminated sites. Subjects covered include: site investigation process, conceptual site models for contaminated sites, QA/QC, and sampling of soil, soil vapour, indoor air, groundwater, surface water, sediment, and biological tissue. The material for review consists of a general Guidance Manual (Volume 1), Checklists (Volume 2), and Suggested Operating Procedures (Volume 3).

Please submit review comments to CCME website. For general enquiries about this project:

Contact: Chris Allaway, chris.allaway@ec.gc.ca, 819-934-4117 | Environment Canada, National Guidelines and Standards Office, 200 Sacré-Coeur Blvd., Gatineau, QC K1A 0H3