Niagara Region Quarry Road Landfill Leachate Management Upgrades - - PDF document

Quarry Road Landfill Leachate Management Upgrades Project – Virtual Public Information Centre #2 Page | 1

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

• pinion 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 | 2

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

• f 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

• ccurring, 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 | 3

Slide 11: Development of Long List of Alternative Design Concepts First, a long list of eight alternative design concepts was developed and screened at a high level to create a short list. We’ll note that, in order to remove all the parameters of concern efficiently, we’ll need more than one treatment step. So, our long list consists of different combinations of the types of treatments typically used for at least some of these parameters. The treatment steps we considered are: settling, aerated settling, liquid chemical oxidation, ozone oxidation, physical filtration, adsorption, and wetland

• treatment. Wetland treatment would involve a complete rebuild of the wetlands with a new liner and no

galvanized steel components. In initial discussions with the Region, we identified that liquid chemical oxidation was not preferred because of the risk of chemical release into a sensitive environment, which ruled out the third and fifth alternative design concepts. The remaining alternative design concepts were screened based on their technical feasibility and probability of consistently meeting the effluent water quality objectives. Slide 12: Existing System – Observed Performance (2010-2019) Alternative Design Concept #1 is essentially a rebuild and upsizing of the existing system, so we reviewed the observed performance of the existing aerated settling tank and wetlands. The chart shows that the performance of each of these treatment steps has been highly variable, and although the system

• verall has met most parameters most of the time, the performance overall has been unreliable, so some

additional treatment step would be required to consistently meet objectives. Also, the upsized system may not fit in the available space. Therefore, Alternative #1 was screened out. Slide 13: Pilot Testing – Greensand and Zeolite Adsorption Media The Region commissioned a series of pilot tests to determine the potential performance of other treatment steps. Golder conducted a pilot test in October 2018 of a system including greensand and zeolite adsorption media. The greensand treatment step was able to remove Iron and Zinc but Manganese removal capability was quickly exhausted. The Zeolite treatment step was able to remove Ammonia by 30-50%. Slide 14: Pilot Testing – Ozone Oxidation and Physical Filtration Aclarus conducted a pilot test of ozone oxidation and physical filtration in April 2020. The photos show the pilot set-up and a visual comparison of the raw and treated water. The results showed a high removal of iron, manganese, and phosphorus, moderate removal of zinc, but did not remove ammonia. Slide 15: Pilot Testing – Novel Adsorption Media Finally, Sirati Partners conducted pilot testing of a novel graphene-based adsorption media. The results showed a high removal of iron and zinc, low removal of manganese, and moderate removal of ammonia. Slide 16: Screening of Long List of Alternative Design Concepts Essentially, the historical data review and pilot testing showed that there was no one silver bullet solution effective against all parameters. Three alternative design concepts were short-listed which combined multiple treatment steps to increase the probability of achieving effluent objectives. Slide 17: Alternative A – Settling, Ozone Oxidation, Physical Filtration, Wetland Let’s look further at each alternative design concept. Alternative A consists of settling, ozone oxidation, physical filtration, and wetland treatment. No aeration is proposed prior to settling in order to simplify the treatment system. Compared to the other shortlisted design concepts, Alternative A has the lowest lifecycle cost and moderate capital cost. However, from a technical feasibility perspective, this alternative has the largest spatial footprint which makes it more difficult to implement. If the re-built wetland is not able to consistently remove all parameters, there is less flexibility to adjust the system to improve

Quarry Road Landfill Leachate Management Upgrades Project – Virtual Public Information Centre #2 Page | 4

• performance. As with all alternative design concepts considered here, construction has the potential to

negatively impact the natural and social environment as there will be disturbances and excavations in the Niagara Escarpment area near the Bruce Trail which will be mitigated as much as possible during the project. Slide 18: Alternative B – Settling, Ozone Oxidation, Physical Filtration, Adsorption Alternative B consists of settling, ozone oxidation, physical filtration, and adsorption. Compared to the

• ther shortlisted design concepts, Alternative B has a moderate lifecycle cost and moderate capital cost.

As the system does not rely on a constructed wetland for treatment, it has a smaller footprint and is relatively easy to implement. The system is also flexible in that the filters and adsorption media can be adjusted within the treatment building based on experience to get optimal treatment of all parameters. Slide 19: Alternative C – Aerated Settling, Ozone Oxidation, Physical Filtration, Adsorption, Wetland Alternative C has the highest number of treatment steps, consisting of aerated settling, ozone oxidation, physical filtration, adsorption, and wetland treatment. With so many treatment steps, this system theoretically has the highest treatment capacity. However, as it depends on rebuilding the wetland for treatment, it is more difficult to implement than Alternative B, and has the highest lifecycle and capital cost. Slide 20: Comparison of Short-Listed Design Concepts The three short-listed design concepts were compared based on the six evaluation criteria. Overall, Alternative Design Concept B is preferred as it avoids the technical challenge of rebuilding the existing wetland and has flexibility to adjust filters and media if needed to achieve required performance. Slide 21: Preliminary Process Flow Diagram This slide shows a preliminary process flow diagram for the preferred alternative design concept. Based

• n feedback from the Region, the wetland is shown as available for contingency use, for example during

power outages or major maintenance of the primary treatment train. This diagram will be refined during the detailed design phase after this environmental assessment is finalized. Slide 22: Next Steps Thank you for attending this virtual Public Information Centre for the Quarry Road Landfill Leachate Management Upgrades project. Following this Public Information Centre, the project team will be available to answer your questions and document your feedback until October 13, 2020. At that point, we will review and consider stakeholder input received, develop the Environmental Study Report with finalized recommendations, and post the report for 45-day public review. Please let us know your thoughts by filling out the comment form available on the project web site, or by contacting the project team directly by email or telephone. Your feedback will be reviewed and considered during the evaluation process. Key contacts are provided on this slide. Jamie Kristjanson is the Project Manager representing Niagara Region and Grant Parkinson is the project manager representing GM

• BluePlan. Please feel free to reach out and contact us with any questions or concerns. Thanks, and we

hope to hear from you.