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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPSD-047-19CJaFbgt011 Staff Report If this information is required in an alternate accessible format, please contact the Municipal Clerk at 905-623-3379 ext. 2102. Report To: Planning and Development Committee Date of Meeting: October 22, 2019 Report Number: PSD -047-19 Submitted By: Faye Langmaid, Acting Director of Planning Services Reviewed By: Andrew C. Allison, CAO Resolution: PD -169-19 File Number: PLN 26.14.1 By-law Number: Report Subject: Clarington Transformer Station - Final Peer Review Recommendations: 1. That Report PSD -047-19-19 be received; and 2. That all interested parties listed in Report PSD -047-19 and any delegations be advised of ❑ R❑❑FLOI l G+LAR_F_ Municipality of Clarington Report PSD -047-19 Report Overview e2 Council accepted funding from Hydro One to retain a hydrogeologist to peer review the Surface and Groundwater monitoring program imposed as part of the approval of the Environmental Assessment by the Minister of Environment and Climate Change now Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP)-7 F1HF0 F1AFLSDQW=EGIJRJ HFOU L -t is providing his peer review for the 2018 report and recent bore hole drilling. 1. Background 1.1 Clarington Council and staff have been involved with the Clarington Hydro Transformer since March of 2012. The Minister of Environment and Climate Change (at the time) approved the project in January of 2014 despite the objections/comments of Clarington Council and residents. 1.2 In June 2014, to address ongoing concerns from community members and residents, Hydro One proposed to Clarington to fund a peer review of their Surface and Groundwater monitoring program. The peer review consultant, SLR Consulting (Canada) Ltd. were retained and have been working with the residents, staff, Hydro One consultants and G360 group of scientists since late October, 2014. The contract expired this October 2019. 1.3 In September 2014, Council approved a road use agreement contingent on the drilling of a deep monitoring well. The hydrogeologists agreed that the MW 5-14 site on Hydro One property was the most relevant location for this borehole and monitoring well. The MW5-14 site already has monitors at 4 metres, 7 metres and 40 metres; the deep borehole monitor at 112 metres and another monitor at 52 metres are the result of drilling the deep borehole. This provides multi-level monitoring (or a nested cluster of boreholes and monitors). 1.4 In April 2015, Council approved funding as a contribution to the rotosonic drilling of up to $25,000, by resolution #C-136-15. These funds have been disbursed to CLOCA for the borehole drilling that happened in July 2019. 1.5 In February 2016, Council approved funding for tritium testing of up to $10,000 by resolution #C-030-16, as amended in May 2017. To date an interim payment of $5,000 was provided to G360 for sampling and tritium analysis on private wells and the interim report received in July 2016. A final report will be provided once the newest borehole drilled in July has cleared to allow for testing. 1.6 In November, 2016 CLOCA entered into agreements with Hydro One which allows access to the site and deep well for ongoing monitoring under the conditions set out in the agreement. CLOCAL Memorandum of Understanding with G360 allowed for the drilling that occurred in July and any scientific work by G360. CLOCA is host to the Oak Ridges Moraine Groundwater Program, they are the legal entity for the agreements. The Municipality is not party to the agreements. Municipality of Clarington Report PSD -047-19 e3 1.7 The Clarington Transformer Station became fully connected to the Hydro One Bulk Electrical network on April 30, 2018. Hydro One reports that the Enfield TS construction is complete and it came into service in May, 2019. Works to complete the on-site constructions (e.g. road works and habitat plantings are to be completed in 2020. 2. Summary of the Peer Review Findings 2.1 The SLR report reviews the present state of the existing information and purposely does not address the process by which it was achieved. Their review includes information from all parties, being Hydro One, Stantec, G360 scientists, Enniskillen Environmental Association, the Conservation Authority, Clarington, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and the Oak Ridges Moraine Groundwater Program. SLR staff conducted two site visits, attended one public meeting, and reviewed the 2017 Annual Monitoring Report (by Stantec on behalf of Hydro One) R1111I10LUL:J\R_ Hf DD_LNo new well owner complaints were received in the reporting period. The results are outlined below, their more detailed report is Attachment 1. 2.2. The Ministry required a ground and surface water monitoring program. No significant adverse conditions were reported in the 2018 annual monitoring report. No requests to SLR from residents for interpretation or clarification were received. The MECP required monitoring period is over at the end of 2019. 3. Community Liaison Committee Request 3.1 The members of the Enniskillen Environmental Association made a request to Council in June of 2019 regarding re-establishment of the Community Liaison Committee and other related items as set out in resolution in Attachment 2. The Community Liaison Committee was a requirement in the Environmental Assessment approval which has been met by Hydro One. 3.2 The Ministry and Hydro One are willing to answer questions from residents but they do not see the need to re-establish the Community Liaison Committee. The responses to the request by Hydro One and the Ministry are contained within Attachment 2. 4. Research Bore Hole 4.1 The G360 research group were able to install the additional borehole for long-term monitoring at the MW5-14 site in July of 2019. The researchers are waiting until the sediment within the well settles to allow for the tritium sampling. 4.2 In 2018 the G360 research group conducted tritium sampling and analysis on local wells. They have found the presence of tritium (an indicator of age and not a contaminant) in the shallow wells as anticipated, and also in some but not all of the deeper wells. Some surficial contaminants like salt and short lived bacteria are also present at depth. This information points to a likelihood of insecure well casings. CLOCA, through Dr. Gerber sampled the aquitard wells in the deep well Municipality of Clarington Report PSD -047-19 e4 cluster on site for tritium and found very little. These deep wells are scientifically constructed to preclude casing leakage. 4.3 The cluster of wells (multi-level) at MW5-14 will allow long-term research to be carried out by G360 in concert with Dr. Gerber from the Oak Ridges Moraine Ground Water Monitoring Group. 5. Private Well Monitoring 5.1 Part of the Enniskillen Environmental Association request in June was that the monitoring program for private wells continue beyond 2021. Hydro One had already committed to monitoring the private wells for 2 additional years beyond the t1HTLLLJ-P HLWiP SR_HG_E_0WHL0 L L AAe ADSSU?_DO11_I_I 5.2 ❑ EGR2 EHM HI-SR❑d-IFFt❑I$ \ ®W P H❑ IIL�YIENMW EL8[WHEEJ;QAUKDU committed to extend the private well monitoring to participating well owners until 2022, they do not believe further monitoring is warranted. 5.3 For the private wells monitoring by Hydro One, SLR has been available to answer questions and review the findings. However each review has corroborated the findings of Hydro Od-IT1EFR__LW_ 6/ 5 1FD=RV)lD11E1FD8AU;P LLHAGALts during the past year. 5.4 In summary, SLR continues to maintain that the wells are not at risk from the Transformer Site. 6. Concurrence Not applicable. 7. Conclusion 7.1 The purpose of retaining a peer review consultant was to assist with understanding the technical information and to have an independent advisor monitor the practices and methodologies being employed during the construction of the Clarington Transformer Station. To date, the observations, recommendations and conclusions by SLR Consulting (Canada) Ltd have required additional work by Hydro One and their consultants to demonstrate that the conclusions of the Environmental Assessment and Permit to Take Water are reasonable and conservative. 7.2 Council and residents were concerned for the safety of private residential wells in the vicinity of the transformer construction and Farewell Creek. The Clarington and Enfield Transformers are now complete. Hydro One consultants, Ministry and peer review consultant have concluded that the transformer construction is not putting residential wells at risk. 7.3 Hydro One has offered to continue to monitor local wells for an additional 2 years. Municipality of Clarington Report PSD -047-19 e5 7.4 Much has been learned about the hydrogeology of the site over the past few years providing additional scientific knowledge for the G360 researchers, and the Oak Ridges Moraine Groundwater Program. 7.5 The last annual report by Hydro One will be issued in the new year. SLR will analyze the report, cross-check numbers and provide a peer review as an information report in 2020. This final report from SLR should be able to include an update on the results of the tritium testing as well. Staff Contact: Faye Langmaid, Acting Director of Planning Services, 905-623-3379 ext. 2407 or flangmaid clarington.net Attachments: Attachment 1 ❑ Clarington Transformer Station Peer Review Attachment 2 LI August 29, 2019 Update Memo from the Acting Director of Planning Services The following is a list oI:WHLVtHARG-SDWdHu_1RLEH❑ F?A HG_R _❑ R❑❑FI9D LG+L1R❑❑ Denise Jamal, Hydro One Clint Cole, Enniskillen Environmental Association Drs. John Cherry and Beth Parker, G360, University of Guelph Dr. Rick Gerber, Oak Ridge Moraine Groundwater Program Chris Darling, CLOCA Steven Usher, SLR Consulting (Canada) Ltd SLR"` 15 October 2019 Ms. Faye Langmaid Municipality of Clarington 40 Temperance Street Bowmanville, Ontario L1 C 3A6 Project No.: 209.40261.00000 Dear Ms.Langmaid: RE: CLARINGTON TRANSFORMER STATION - PEER REVIEW FINAL REPORT The purpose of this letter is to report on our activities on your behalf and at your direction in the above noted matter. This report covers the period of May 2018 to September 2019. In this period few new issues have arisen, others remain ongoing. We speak to each of these in the following paragraphs, and include: 1. Annual Report Review (2018) 2. Deep Well Logistics 3. Liason with residents and private well requests Over this reporting period, SLR Consulting (Canada) Ltd. (SLR) have attended Planning and Development Committee on June 4, 2018. There have been no further Community Liaison Committee meetings mandated since 2017. The Clarinton Transformer station has been on line for several years. The Enfield Transformer Station was put in service in May of 2019. As the site has been commissioned and is in operation, no further site visits have been requested of, nor conducted by SLR in the reporting period. 1.0 ANNUAL REPORT REVIEW In the spring of 2019, SLR reviewed the 2018 Annual Monitoring Report prepared by Stantec Consulting on behalf of Hydro One. Consistent with recent years we have found that the monitoring programs were being followed as outlined. The monitoring results continue to reflect our understanding of the site, in that water levels were not affected by the presence of the transformer construction or its subsequent operation, and water quality was consistent with before. Similar to last year, this again includes the presence of bacteria and nitrate in many shallow wells, and also in some deep private wells. These are minor natural or anthropogenic exceedances of some parameters, which as we pointed out in 2018, is not uncommon in Southern Ontario. SLR Consulting (Canada) Ltd. 200 - 300 Town Centre Boulevard, Markham, ON L3R 5Z6 T: 905.415.7248 F: 905.415.1019 www.slrconsulting.com Municipality of Clarington Project No.: 209.40261.00000 Clarington TS 2018-2019 Update Report October 2019 2.0 DEEP WELL LOGISTICS In 2016, Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority (CLOCA) and Hydro One negotiated an agreement, which included the ability for the G360 group to drill an additional deep well (using rotosonic methods) for the purpose of installation of a multilevel well system. This system is to be used to study the aquitard, as a research opportunity. Clarington has previously committed funds to this project and therefore SLR have been called upon to assist staff by providing technical support. G360, in collaboration with CLOCA drilled an 88 m deep borehole at the MW5-14 location between July 03 and July 09, 2019. Installation of the Multi -Level System (MLS) was conducted between July 10 and July 22, 2019. Technical reporting on the work is not yet available, however the following details have been ascertained. G360 did not use the Rotosonic technique as originally proposed due to rig unavailability, and opted for a rotary method using a DR12 drilling rig provided by Aardvark Drilling. This method does not provide undisturbed samples, but rather returns a slurry of soil and water. The drilling water and MLS installation water was tagged with bromide in a similar fashion to the 2015 drilling program conducted by Stantec on behalf of Hydro One. An 8 -port mutli-level groundwater monitoring installation was established between depths 50 and 85 m below ground level. The devices are currently recovering from installation, and until a static water pressure is achieved in each, testing will not be underatken. Once ready, they will be tested for hydraulic conductivity, and then initial groundwater samples can be taken. Six of the monitoring intervals are set in the lower portion of the glacial till aquitard where there are numerous sand lenses, and the two deepest ports are set in more permeable horizons corresponding to the underlying Thorncliffe Formation, (as established in the original drilling programs). No monitoring intervals were established in the more competent upper portion of the Newmarket Till. A Hydro One groundwater monitor (MW5-14-1) was previously established in this portion of the aquitard at about 40 m in depth. The intent of the devices is to provide long term monitoring capability of the aquitard, and they will be managed for scientific purposes by CLOCA. We anticipate that G360 will report on their results and future monitoring results at some point in the future, and it is recommended that the Municipality examine those results at that time to see if they are consistent with the present understanding of the site. 3.0 RESIDENT LIAISON No outreach from residents to SLR were made in the reporting period. No further requests from residents to review the reported results on their wells were received by SLR from Clarington in this reporting period. We understand that two request were made of Stantec by a homeowners, one related to water quanity in September 2018, and one related to surface water flow in March 2019. Clarington/SLR were not asked to review the reports or responses. SLR Municipality of Clarington Project No.: 209.40261.00000 Clarington TS 2018-2019 Update Report October 2019 4.0 IN CONCLUSION We trust this report adequately covers the activities SLR has performed on Clarington's behalf. It is our opinion that there have been no adverse effects of the Transformer Station construction and operation on private wells for the reasons cited above. The existing groundwater monitoring program will conclude in October of this year (2019). It is our understanding that Hydro One has offered a two year extension of the private well monitoring program for interested residents. One final annual report, for 2019 is expected to be issued by Hydro One in early 2020. The contract between Clarington and SLR originally set Oct 31, 2019 as it's end date. However, an extension will be required to complete the following areas : x Review of the Habitat Creation work, once complete x Review of the 2019 Annual report in 2020 x Review of the G360 results for consistency with the predicted conditions. Thank you for allowing us to have been of service, please contact the undersigned should you or other reviewers have any questions. Yours sincerely, SLR Consulting (Canada) Ltd. 11 1 nIkl-e Steven Usher Project Manager SJ U/su SLR Clatiagton Memo Planning Services Department If this information is required in an alternate format, please contact the Accessibility Co-ordinator at 905-623-3379 ext. 2131 To: Mayor and Members of Council From: Faye Langmaid, Acting Director of Planning Services Date: August 29, 2019 Subject: Clarington Transformer File: PLN 26.14.1 At the June 10, Council Meeting Council ratified the following resolution #C-230-19 from the June 3 Planning and Development Committee. As indicated in an email of July 17th, 2019 to Mayor and Members of Council, I had received a response from MECP and Dr. Gerber of CLOCA regarding two of the items in the resolution and was waiting for a response from Hydro One. The email also provided an update on the drilling of the additional borehole at the Clarington Transformer MW5-14 site by G360 Group and the Oak Ridges Moraine Ground Water Monitoring Group. I requested an update from the research group on the tritium/helium sampling of the boreholes at MW5-14 (the private well sampling occurred in 2016). I have now received responses to all of the inquires and they are outlined below That Council receive the communication from Clint Cole Chair of the Enniskillen Environmental Association regarding Groundwater Protection Issues surrounding the Clarington Transformer Station; That the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks be requested to re- establish a Community Liaison Committee to share new information and provide transparent, public reporting by Hydro One to the community; Please see Attachment 1; That Hydro One be requested to do the following: a) Extend the existing groundwater monitoring program for private wells beyond 2021; b) Participate in and facilitate the re-established Community Liaison Committee; c) Provide replacement wells for residents that have experienced supply and contamination issues; and The Corporation of the Municipality of Clarington 40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville ON L1 C 3A6 1905-623-3379 Page 12 d) Provide additional arm's length professional oversight private well of the monitoring which is being done by Hydro One's consultant. Please see Attachment 2; That Staff are to confirm with CLOCA the arrangements for the monitor at well MW5-14 and to clarify the monitoring by the Oak Ridges Moraine Groundwater Program and G360 drilling of the air rotary well and access to the site. Please see Attachment 3, my email from July 17 outlining CLOCA's agreement; The drilling was completed last month. The researchers are allowing the installations to "settle" and are monitoring groundwater levels until they stabilize. 8 monitoring ports were installed within a single borehole between depths of 170 to 300 feet below ground surface. This gives the researchers monitoring ports within the lower part of the Newmarket till that extends from ground surface, and monitoring ports within the underlying Thorncliffe Formation aquifer. The researchers are currently compiling the information collected during the drilling program and will issue an update when they are finished collating all of the data. Any groundwater sampling (such as tritium/helium sampling) and lab analysis will not occur until after the monitoring system has stabilized The final report from our Peer Review consultant, Steve Usher of SLR Consulting is due in October of 2019 and we anticipate that by that time there will be additional information to share from Hydro One's annual report and the work of G360 Group. Yours truly, J Faye Langmaid, FCSLA, RPP Acting Director of Planning Services /JP cc. Enniskillen Environmental Association CAO and Department Heads G360 Group Steve Usher, SLR Consulting Attachment 1, email from Celeste Dugas, MECP Attachment 2, letter from Daniel Levitan, Hydro One Attachment 3, my email from July 17 outlining CLOCA's agreement Attachment 1 Langmaid, Faye From: Dugas, Celeste (MECP) <Celeste.Dugas@ontario.ca> Sent: June 19, 2019 9:56 AM To: Langmaid, Faye Subject: RE: Request regarding Clarington Transformer Faye, Construction of the Clarington Transformer Station was completed in the first quarter of 2017 and the station was fully energized and operational as of October 6, 2017. Condition 5.1 and 5.2 of the Minister's Decision state the following; 5.1 The Proponent shall be responsible for the formation of a Community Liaison Committee, should members of the public or other parties be interested in participating. The CLC shall be established by the Proponent within 6 months of the Minister's decision of the Part II Order requests for the Project. The CLC shall be established for the purposes of disseminating and exchanging information and monitoring results relevant to the project during detailed design and construction, and discussing any.issues or concerns raised by CLC members. 5.2 The Proponents shall invite representative(s) of the Enniskillen Environmental Association and members of the public that expressed interest in the Project. Meetings shall be held as may be required or on an annual basis until Project operation. A notice of the CLC meeting shall be posted on the Proponent's website two weeks prior to the meeting, and sent to all CLC members On November 9, 2017 the ministry notified Hydro One that following the IastCommunity Liaison Committee (CLC) meeting, which was held on November 23, 2017, the requirements under Conditions 5.1 and 5.2 of the Minister's Decision were satisfied and no further CLC meetings were required. Although Hydro One has met the requirements of the Minister's Decision and are no longer required to hold CLC meetings, Hydro One can choose to continue to engage and meet with community members and to re-establish the CLC. I understand that you will also be reaching out to Hydro One with this request for their consideration. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss further. Sincerely, Celeste Dugas District Manager York Durham District Office Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks 230 Westney Road South, 5" FIoor Ajax, ON LIS W5 celeste.du ams tDontario.ca Phone: (905)442-3105 From: Langmaid, Faye <flanemaid@clarinRton.net> Sent: June -05-19 9:34 AM To: Dugas, Celeste (MECP) <Celeste.Dugas@ontario.ca> Subject: Request regarding Clarington Transformer Hi Celeste On Monday evening Council had a request from the Enniskillen Environmental Association that the Community Lisiaon Committee for the Clarington Transformer be re-established as follows: That the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks be requested to re-establish a Community Liaison Committee to share new information and provide transparent, public reporting by Hydro One to the community; There were also requests of Hydro One which I will be sending to them. Happy to discuss further so that you understand the context of the EEA request. Faye Langmaid Manager of Special Projects Planning Services Department Municipality of Clarington 40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville ON L1C 3A6 905-623-3379 ext. 2407 11-800-563-1195 www.clarington.net Hydro One Networks Inc. 483 Bay Street Tel: 416-345-4321 hydro South Tower, 6" Floor Email: Daniel.Levitan@HydroOne.com Toronto, Ontario M5G 2P5 one www.HydroOne.com v Daniel Levitan Director, Government Relations and Public Affairs Dear Mayor and Council: August 29, 2019 On behalf of Hydro One, thank you for the opportunity to respond to the resolution brought forward by the Enniskillen Environmental Association regarding Clarington Transformer Station (TS). Please find below our responses to each of the requests outlined in the resolution. 1) Extend the existing groundwater monitoring for private wells beyond 2021: For the past seven years, we have completed substantive studies and monitoring activities at Clarington TS and remain confident that no adverse effects on the shallow groundwater system or in shallow or deep private wells within 1,200 metres of the station property have occurred. Since the beginning of the project, we have maintained our commitment to ensuring that the Clarington Transformer Station does not adversely affect well water for neighbours in the area during the construction and operation of the station. Throughout RXE1111RENDAMAL ILER '1- &P F PoIG dV:1 commitment through investing in initiatives to study and obtain scientific data directly from the site. While we are committed to voluntarily extend the private well monitoring component of the program to participating well owners until 2022, we do not believe further on determined that well interference has occurred as a result of the construction or operation of the station, Hydro One will ensure a safe water supply is provided for affected homeowners. We remain firm on this commitment. 4) 3 ERYLGH[Df3MM[IDDS :/C®I❑❑WISEM WM-IDORYHNL�l::M [Sd MEII FMP R❑LL A� IIIE In order to conduct the Groundwater and Surface water monitoring program, Hydro One retained Stantec, a professional third party consultant who has completed all monitoring and reporting in accordance with the approved Monitoring Program. In an effort to help community members understand and interpret on-site and private monitoring results, Hydro One has also provided funding for the Municipality to retain an independent peer -reviewing hydrogeological consultant (SLR) who was M1+-UbGW4:?XJ KV9H:0 XCffB WVLSEWX+P HQffiEWFM/4[XQC i P aov/ i available to residents. Additionally, staff from the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP; formerly the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change) were extensively involved throughout the Class Environmental Assessment process and continue to review all studies and assessments throughout the Groundwater and Surface Water Monitoring Program. MECP has attended several site visits (both during hydrogeological investigations and sampling events) and continue to review all of the Annual Reports that Stantec produces as part of the Groundwater and Surface Water Monitoring Program. Our team continues to be available to discuss regarding monitoring results. Thank you again for providing us with the opportunity to address these requests Sincerely, Daniel Levitan Director, External Relations Attachment 3 Langmaid, Faye From: Langmaid, Faye Sent: July 17, 2019 8:55 AM To: Councillors Office; Mayors Office Cc: joe neat (JNeal@neallaw.ca); Allison, Andrew; Greentree, Anne Subject: Clarington Transformer Borehole Attachments: RE: Resolution on Clarington Transformer Hello Councillors The drilling of the additional borehole at the Clarington Transformer MW5-14 site for research purposes by G360 Group and the Oak Ridges Moraine GroundWater Monitoring group that Dr. Rick Gerber is responsible for (through CLOCA) has been underway since Jufy 2. Rick has indicated the major drilling is complete, the set up of the monitoring and finalization of the well capping is underway. The $25K funding that Clarington contributed towards the cost has been sent to CLOCK There is $5K remaining in funding for tritium/helium sampling of the boreholes at MW5-14 (the private well sampling occurred in 2016) 1 have a request into G360 as to when this sampling will occur and the potential dates for lab reports from the sampling. With regard to the resolution Council passed on June 3 (attached), I have a response from the Ministry (MECP) and am awaiting a response from Hydro One. Once I have both responses I will provide Council with a memo. Dr. Gerber has confirmed: ICLOCA has] an agreement (CLOCA is the legal entity) for access to MW5-14 for the duration of Hydra One's on-site monitoring program, which in the agreement was estimated at October 2021. We (CLOCA is the legal entity) also have a MOU for access to the location following the cessation of Hydro One's current monitoring program (again estimated at October 2021). The exact scope of future work is dependent on funding but is expected to at least include measurement of water levels, and periodic sampling for major ion and some isotopic analyses. When Stantec has completed their monitoring program for Hydro One I will look through all of the chemical analyses of the on-site wells and see if there are parameters that were analysed for but were never detected. So for example Stantec are doing complete organic scans for Hydro One, and to my knowledge no detects have been found (on- site). These are very expensive analyses and if not detected then I would probably not do that analysis, because of cost. Note that I am open to change pending funding, priorities, situational changes, etc. Faye Langmaid Acting Director Planning Services Department Municipality of Clarington 40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville ON LIC 3A6 905-623-3379 ext. 2407 11-800-563-1195 www.clarington.net