| | Cleaning Up the Mess
(Excerpt from ECO Canada - Newsletter) The
Canadian contaminated sites sector has grown quickly over the past few years,
driven by a combination of regulatory and economic pressures. In 2008, ECO Canada's
Contaminated Sites Report - When Supply Does Not Meet Demand - affirmed that between
2004 and 2019, the federal government would commit up to $4 billion to clean up
properties that it owns or that fall under federal responsibility. This includes
more than 4,400 federal contaminated sites as well as 28,000 non-federal properties. In
conjunction with high profile cases such as the BP oil spill, these industry-wide
changes have led to heightened awareness on issues relating to contaminated sites,
encouraging countries around the world to develop and implement stricter guidelines
and standards for the investigation, mitigation and remediation of contaminated
sites. However, like most environmental work, the skills needed to clean up these
sites are multidisciplinary and require a unique set of cross-sectoral competencies
from employees. There
are a number of environmental training facilities currently operating in Canada,
but GOwen ENVIRONMENTAL is the only facility in the world that offers a one week
indoor-outdoor course covering all issues related to managing subsurface contamination,
from theory to practice. The fifteen instructors leading the course come from
all across North America with backgrounds in academia, private industry and government,
and are recognized as leading experts and educators in their respective fields. The
course is a joint project between GOwen ENVIRONMENTAL, the Association for Environmental
Health and Sciences and the International Association of Hydrogeologists and was
founded to provide leading-edge environmental training and networking through
courses, conferences and workshops. This year will mark the 16th anniversary of
its annual Contaminated and Hazardous Waste Site Management Course, a comprehensive
course that provides a solid theoretical and practical foundation in contaminated
site management. The course integrates several different disciplines and has been
developed specifically for individuals who manage, regulate, investigate, remediate
or are impacted by contaminated sites. Below
is one comment of the many comments we have received about the course.
Subject:
Great Course in Toronto !!
Please
go to www.contaminatedsite.com to check-out the course coming-up in Toronto. This
is truly a world-class course .... and this year it is held right in Canada! Perry
Sarvas and Kip Hawley both attended and it was the best training they have ever
had. This year looks even better! Feel free to call Perry or Kip if you want a
participants perspective. I strongly recommend this course, especially for
those who want some in-depth contaminated or hazardous waste site management training,
contaminated site program or project management or risk-assessment. If you
having been waiting a long time for training, I think you will be very pleased
with this course.... fill-out your 15-11 form today since there is relatively
little time to process your request!
Jim Gehrels
Groundwater Group
Leader
Northern Region
Ministry of Environment & Energy
Introduction Over
the last 30 years, countries around the world have developed and implemented guidelines
and standards for the investigation, mitigation, and remediation of contaminated
properties. In all sectors of the economy, high profile contaminated sites,
human health issues, litigation, and enormous cleanup costs have heightened the
awareness of environmental issues relating to contaminated properties. Contaminated
soil, sediment or groundwater in prime real estate and sensitive ecological locations
has resulted in the loss of millions of dollars due to lack of development or
ineffective management of these properties. GOwen
ENVIRONMENTAL was founded to provide specialized and leading-edge environmental
training and networking through courses, conferences, and workshops. This
Course was developed to provide a medium for the transfer of unbiased information
and technology to clean up contaminated properties. The Course has evolved over
the last fourteen years into an internationally recognized solution-based training
program that brings together participants, regulators, consultants, and academics
from across the globe. International
Association of Hydrogeologist (IAH) (www.iah.org)
is an an international organisation for scientists, engineers and other professionals
working in the fields of groundwater resource planning, management and protection.
It was founded in 1956 and has grown, with the increasing social and environmental
importance of groundwater, to a membership of more than 3500 members in more than
135 countries. The
Course is firmly established as far as content and instruction. The Course is
sponsored by one of the largest environmental associations in North America and
largest groundwater resource protection associations in the world. Over the last
fourteen years, the Course has received support and sponsorship from major environmental
associations world-wide. The instructors represent academia, government, and the
private sector; all are leaders in their respective fields. This framework provides
for an unbiased transfer of information that provides individuals who own, regulate,
investigate, remediate or are impacted by contaminated properties with a solid
theoretical and practical foundation in contaminated site management. The management
of these sites is a multi-disciplinary task. This course integrates all the disciplines
necessary to successfully, efficiently and economically manage or make decisions
regarding these sites. Course
participants will receive theoretical and practical foundations, as well as
important information regarding regulatory compliance aspects of contaminated
site management. This knowledge will be coupled with a hands-on approach to understanding
the tools and techniques for managing contaminated sites. Some experience is helpful,
but not necessary, as the Course teaches basic principles before addressing more
advanced topics. This
is the only one week indoor-outdoor course being offered globally that covers
all issues related to managing subsurface contamination, from theory to practice.
The Course's 15 instructors are from academia, private industry, and government
in North America and are recognized as leading experts and teachers in their
respective fields. These instructors will provide students with access to
a broad base of practical experience and an excellent opportunity to network with
leading professionals. Regardless
of your level of expertise, the combination of information presented during this
Course will not be found elsewhere and will provide you with the knowledge and
confidence to effectively manage contaminated sites. This Course will provide
participants with the competitive edge required in this rapidly evolving field. As
part of the education process, selected case histories of soil, sediment and groundwater
investigations, remediations and risk assessments will be studied to further emphasize
the practical aspects of each lecture topic. While a good number of 2-3 day short
courses are offered on some aspects of contaminated site management, there are
few one-week courses, conferences, seminars or workshops offering the opportunity
for in-depth learning of a more complete range of issues. The extent of recent
developments in the science and technology of contaminated and hazardous waste
site management is such that one would be required to attend many short courses
in order to be brought up to speed. Our intensive one-week course, with additional
workshops and outdoor demonstrations, is an attractive alternative for busy professionals.
This
week-long course allows for a half-day of outdoor seminars to demonstrate the
various site characterization and remediation technologies currently being used
on sites across North America today. Three optional nightly seminars will provide
the attendee with hands-on computer workshops to demonstrate the application of
environmental decision support software, groundwater modeling and risk assessment
modeling tools. The
majority of courses provide two or three instructors to cover an extensive array
of topics in two days and charge the same amount for registration for two days
as this course charges for five. The 15 instructors in this course, along with
the many technology demonstrators, will provide students with a unique access
to a very broad base of practical experience and an excellent opportunity to network
with leading professionals. This
Course provides an unparalleled synthesis of technical information and applied
knowledge in contaminated and hazardous waste site management. Who
Should Attend
The
course is designed for individuals working in the contaminated sites field including
operations, facility management, facility planning, program delivery, brokerage,
senior management, policy development and project management including groundwater
hydrologists, geoscientists, geologists, geophysicists, geochemists, geomorphologists,
earth scientists, hydrogeologists, environmental geologists, environmental geoscientists,
and environmental engineers, technicians, chemists, environmental scientists,
lawyers, municipal/provincial/state/federal regulators, biologists, risk management
professionals, environmental consultants, regulatory or compliance officers, program
managers and project managers for industry and government. Individuals
who are looking for training on theory, techniques and tools used to characterization,
monitor, mitigate and manage contaminated sites/properties as well as to the process
of remediation of pollution causing contamination of soil, sediment and surface
and groundwater. Many individuals have attended or been involved with other environmental
or environmental protection training for contaminated, hazmat or pollution management
through courses, conferences, seminars, workshops and summits and found that the
theoretical, practical and real world learning environment found in this 5-day
and 3 night course was the best that they have experienced. This
is demonstrated that 75% of course attendees each year attend the courses based
on recommendations from previous course attendees and the other 25% through our
advertising. CEUs
- Professional Development Credit
Upon completion of the Course registrants will receive a certificate of participation.
In accordance with the various professional association's continuing professional
development program guidelines, the professional associations recognize one contact
hour as one professional development hour. The allocation is 2.7 CEUs for the
first session, 2 CEUs for the second and 4.7 CEUs for the entire course.
The CEUs are accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education
and Training (IACET). Please see your professional association guidelines and
check with them for more information on your professional development requirements
and on how this course will benefit your professional development plan. Topics
covered in the course include: Contaminant
Hydrogeology, Soil Chemistry of Hazardous Materials, Practical Groundwater Pollution
or Contamination Model Applications for Site Assessment and Remediation, Groundwater
Modelling WorkshopSite Characterization and Conceptual Site Model Development,
Project Management Tools for Environmental Projects including cost estimation
and communication strategies, Sediment Characterization, Human and Ecological
Risk Assessment, Soil Remediation and Groundwater Remediation, Environmental Data
Management Workshop, Environmental Site Assessment or Characterization Tools and
Techniques, Contaminated Site Project Management for consultants and clients,
Environmental Law Applicable to Contaminated Sites, and Health & Safety Training
and equipment for workers at Contaminated or Hazardous Waste Sites. |
