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Follow-up petition on a contaminated site in New Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador

Petition

February 26, 2008

Ron Thompson
Interim Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development
Office of the Auditor General
240 Sparks Street
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0G6

Re: Supplementary Petition on the impact of PCB contaminated waste buried at residential landfill site

On September 28, 2007 I forwarded a petition (No. 218) to your office concerning the treatment of PCB contaminants from transformers buried at the New Harbour landfill site in New Harbour, Trinity Bay, Newfoundland.

In that petition I posed a number of questions to the federal department of Environment. I received a response from the minister of environment on Feb. 2, 2008.

I found the minister’s response to my questions totally biased in favour of the provincial department of Environment.

The following is my Supplementary Petition to Petition 218.

One of my most important questions to the Minister of Environment was: Will the federal government act and hold the Newfoundland Department of Environment responsible for breaking federal regulations? (No. 8). In his response, the minister seems to think I am inferring that both the Makinsons site and the New Harbour landfill were storage sites. That was not my intent. Neither were the words “storage site” used in my petition. The regulations I was referring to were the ones inacted in 1977, where an inventory and labeling process became mandatory to keep track of PCB containing equipment. Dispersal of PCBs, liquid or solid, was prohibited in concentrations over 50 parts per million.

In Question 9 I asked if the federal government would seek to find out why no report of the 1985 cleanup could be found. If not, why not? The response from the Minister of Environment states: Environment Canada will not be investigating to determine why there was no report on the 1985 cleanup. It would be unusual to have any sort of significant report associated with a cleanup of this type.

The reason given is that a letter sent to a local resident from [name and position withheld], Newfoundland Department of Environment stated the 1985 cleanup was limited to the removal of scrap material.

It seems obvious that Federal Environment Minister John Baird has made his decisions based solely on the information he received from the Newfoundland Department of Environment. He has chosen not to consult with the company owners who were contracted to transport and landfill this PCB contaminated waste that was trucked from Makinsons to the New Harbour landfill site (at night). Both have stated in the public media, this material was mainly transformers that still contained oil.

The Newfoundland Department of Environment covered up by simply classifying this material as scrap metal (after all, it did come from a scrap yard.) When the owner of the scrap yard bought those transformers and other PCB contaminated electrical equipment, he bought it as scrap. This man was never told those transformers still contained oil. But they did. This man was buying PCB contaminated waste.

The proof is found on Page 7 of the report on the Makinsons cleanup of 1994, in Item One, under the heading, Introduction. It is stated: The yard was used to salvage copper from electrical transformers. During its operation transformer oil containing PCBs was routinely discharged to the soil surface.

Once it was discovered this method of disposal posed environmental hazards, the salvage yard was closed down by the Newfoundland Department of Environment.

The department now had a problem—how to dispose of a huge stockpile of PCB contaminated waste. It is obvious what they did. They simply classified it as scrap metal and disposed of it on the New Harbour landfill site, all 228 tandem loads, in violation of the 1977 regulations.

No inventory, no labeling, no testing of any sort and no way to keep track of this material.

A letter sent to then MHA John Efford dated 1986/06/19 by P.J. Marrie, environment officer, informs him that the area where the transformers were once stored would now be fenced by the department of Environment.

The waste brought to the New Harbour landfill, Mr. Efford was informed, would be land filled in the near future.

It is quite clear why the Newfoundland government footed the bill for the 1985 cleanup. They were protecting themselves, not the public. They definitely were not protecting the citizens in this area.

It also should be noted: The Newfoundland government owned the utility company that owned the PCBs. When this PCB contaminated waste was buried, the evidence and truth were buried with it in a 15,000 square foot area on the New Harbour landfill site.

Excavation of that area would reveal the evidence and the truth.

The last testing for PCBs on the landfill site consisted of two holes being dug. The location of those holes was picked by a member of the committee that was appointed by government to do its will. They have absolutely no expertise in this field.

Most people feel the testing being paid for by government is also controlled by government.

The provincial Department of Environment has lost all credibility with the people of this area.

On behalf of the people, I will ask the Federal minister of Environment to reconsider his response to my petition and I ask the following questions:

1. Will the minister use his authority and order the total area where the transformers and other PCB waste is buried completely excavated, and have the area tested in a proper and professional way. If not, why not? If yes, when?
2. At the very least, will the minister consult with the individuals who owned the companies who were contracted to transport and landfill this PCB contaminated waste, to get their version of the truth? If yes, when? If no, why not?

I look forward to receiving the minister’s response.

[Original signed by Allan Williams]

Allan Williams
P.O. Box 146
New Harbour, NL
A0B 2P0
Tel: 709-582-3349

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Minister's Response: Environment Canada

26 February 2008

Mr. Allan Williams
P.O. Box 146
New Harbour
Trinity Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador
A0B 2P0

Dear Mr. Williams:

I am pleased to provide Environment Canada’s response to your Environmental Petition No. 218-B, to the Interim Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, concerning materials disposed of in the New Harbour landfill site as a result of remedial efforts at the Makinsons salvage yard. Your petition was received in the Department on March 31.

As mentioned in our response to your original petition, Environment Canada was involved in the 1994 remediation project at the Makinsons salvage yard under the National Contaminated Sites Remediation Program. Our responsibility was to provide scientific, technical and financial support to the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Although our role in and knowledge of past cleanups that may have occurred on the Makinsons property is limited, we have done our best to provide answers to your current questions and to provide clarification on some of our responses to questions in your previous petition.

I appreciate the opportunity to respond to your petition, and trust that you will find this information helpful.

Sincerely,

[Original signed by John Baird, Minister of the Environment]

John Baird, P.C., M.P

Enclosure

c.c.: Mr. Ronald C. Thompson, Interim Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development

RESPONSE TO ENVIRONMENTAL PETITION NO. 218-B,
CONCERNING THE TREATMENT OF PCB CONTAMINANTS FROM TRANSFORMERS
BURIED AT THE NEW HARBOUR LANDFILL SITE IN NEWFOUNDLAND

Question 8 of previous Environmental Petition No. 218: Will the federal government act and hold the Newfoundland Department of Environment responsible for breaking federal regulations? If not, why not?

Clarification of Environment Canada’s response to Question 8, relating to labelling and the petitioner’s interpretation of the 1977 Chlorobiphenyls Regulations: The Chlorobiphenyls Regulations published in 1977 controlled the use of equipment containing PCBs already manufactured in or imported into Canada prior to 1977. These regulations were updated in 1980 and again in 1985. In 1985, they were revised to set allowable concentrations and quantity released into the environment: a concentration of 50 mg/kg of PCBs in liquids and a quantity of 1 gram per day in respect of any item of equipment or any receptacle or material containing equipment in the course of the operation, servicing, maintenance, decommissioning, transporting or storage of specified equipment. These regulations have never required labelling or the keeping of an inventory of this equipment.

Labelling, tracking and reporting requirements of equipment containing PCBs in a concentration of 50 mg/kg or more are strictly set under the Storage of PCB Material Regulations, which were put in place in 1988, when this equipment is stored in a PCB storage site defined in these regulations. The response to question 8 from Petition 218 addressed the storage of PCBs and PCB storage sites because of the petitioner’s discussion on PCB labelling and tracking.

A voluntary inventory and labelling program was initiated in 1977 to identify and keep track of equipment containing PCBs in excess of 1 kilogram, such as transformers and capacitors. This initiative is separate from regulatory requirements under the Chlorobiphenyls Regulations or the Storage of PCB Material Regulations.

ENVIRONMENT CANADA RESPONSE TO PETITION 218-B QUESTIONS

Question 1: Will the Minister use his authority and order the total area where the transformers and other PCB waste is buried completely excavated, and have the total area tested in a proper and professional way. If not, why not? If yes, when?

Response: The Province of Newfoundland and Labrador is solely responsible for the licensing of waste disposal sites in the province, which includes specification of the types of waste that may be accepted at these sites. Issues that deal with the operation of these sites also rest with the Province. Environment Canada has been kept informed of the plans and progress at the New Harbour landfill site.

Question 2: At the very least, will the Minister consult with the individuals who owned the companies who were contracted to transport and landfill this PCB contaminated waste, to get their version of the truth? If yes, when? If no, why not?

Response: Environment Canada may choose to conduct investigations, including the interviewing of individuals, at any time, when there is a reason to do so. As the Department is satisfied with the approach being taken by the Province on the management of the New Harbour landfill, it is our position that interviews with companies that were involved with this site in the past would not provide any significant additional information.

As Environment Canada has a narrow role in the regulation of the transportation of waste material, information from interviews would add limited relevant information. The transportation of potentially dangerous goods within the province is a shared responsibility between Transport Canada and the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador under the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act. Through cooperative arrangements that have been in place since 1985, Transport Canada is responsible for off-highway issues, while the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador is responsible for on-highway issues. Environment Canada has never had authority over the movement of potentially dangerous goods from site to site within the province. The responsibility for the transport of wastes to the New Harbour landfill is also the shared responsibility of Transport Canada and the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

BACKGROUND

Proposed PCB Regulations
Environment Canada is committed to minimizing releases of PCBs to the environment, through management of sources of PCBs and destruction of existing PCBs. Following their November 2006 publication in the Canada Gazette, Part l, for comment, the proposed PCB Regulations are being finalized, taking into consideration comments received during this consultation period. The proposed PCB Regulations are expected to be in place this summer. Proposed changes will be consistent with Canada’s international commitments on the end of use and the destruction of PCBs and the elimination of releases to the environment. They include the labelling of equipment containing PCBs in a concentration of 50 mg/kg, and additional annual reporting and record keeping for the use, phase-out and destruction of PCBs. Also, the release prohibition concentration limit will be reduced from 50 mg/kg for liquids containing PCBs to 2 mg/kg.