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Part 1 - Kaufman Footwear, Kitchener, ON (former owner)

In 1998, XCG Consultants Ltd. (XCG) conducted an extensive hydrogeological investigation for Kaufman at a 1.7-hectare (4.3-acre) industrial property where naphtha had leaked from an underground storage tank. The hydrogeological investigation involved the installation of 45 monitoring wells (10 m to 24 m deep) both on-site and off-site.

Part 2 - Ernst & Young Inc. (receiver for Kaufman)

After Kaufman declared bankruptcy in 2000, XCG was retained by the court-appointed receiver to conduct all the additional environmental work needed to sell the property. This included a Site-Specific Risk Assessment (SSRA), an evaluation of remedial options, a detailed design of the preferred remedial option, and an estimate of the remedial cost.

The SSRA assessed the public health and ecological risks associated with all of the potential receptors including on-site workers, off-site workers, and off-site residents. Potential contaminant migration pathways included soil vapor migration into indoor air, and ground-water migration to nearby water supply wells. The predicted future concentrations of naphtha constituents in indoor air were assessed using the Johnson and Ettinger soil vapor migration model. The predicted future concentrations of naphtha constituents at the nearby water supply wells were assessed using the Visual Modflow computer simulation model. Reverse modeling was conducted to develop risk-based clean-up criteria that are fully protective of public health and the environment. The SSRA was peer reviewed as required by the Ministry of Environment (MOE) protocol.

An evaluation of all of the potentially feasible technologies for recovering the naphtha contamination was conducted. These technologies included conventional methods such as free product skimming and emerging technologies such as Multi-Phase Extraction (MPE), which is also known as bio-slurping, and Monitored Natural  Attenuation. Computer modeling and pumping tests revealed that conventional skimming would not provide efficient recovery of the free product naphtha. XCG designed and implemented a MPE pilot test to recover the free product naphtha. MPE is an emerging technology that is capable of simultaneously remediating free product, soil vapor, and groundwater.

Based on the successful MPE pilot-scale demonstration, XCG recommended MPE as the optimal full-scale remediation technology to recover the free product naphtha beneath the subject site.

XCG completed a detailed design of the MPE remedial system. XCG also estimated the cost to construct, commission, and operate these systems until site closure.

The environmental work conducted for Ernst & Young was peer reviewed by several potential purchasers and their consultants, all of whom agreed with XCG’s findings and conclusions.  At this point the environmental liabilities were understood well enough to support both sides of the purchase and sale agreement.

Part 3 - 410 King Properties Ltd. (purchaser)

The purchaser of the subject site was impressed with the work conducted by XCG. The purchaser retained XCG to assist with the due diligence work prior to closing the deal and to manage the naphtha remediation project.

During the due diligence period prior to closing, XCG clearly presented the findings, conclusions, and remediation plan to the City of Kitchener, the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and the MOE. XCG successfully convinced all the stakeholders that the degree and extent of the contamination was fully understood and that the selected remedial approach would work as designed. XCG’s thoroughness and attention to detail was the reason that all the data required by the purchaser and the other stakeholders was available in the Phase II Environmental Site Assessment and SSRA documents. If all the proper data had not been assembled by XCG the deal may have fallen apart at this stage.

XCG completed an application for a Certificate of Approval which was submitted to the MOE. Since naphtha is a Class 1 flammable liquid, the naphtha recovery system was designed in conformance with the National Fire Code, the Electrical Code, and the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The remedial equipment has been operating since December 2002. The free product has been recovered and groundwater remediation of the dissolved-phase plume beneath the subject site is on-going.

XCG provided value to our clients because of our superior in-house experts. Our staff is continually aware of the latest emerging technologies and the field conditions in which each of them are applicable. With the naphtha remediation project, XCG had the expertise to conduct the required computer modeling and pilot-scale demonstrations to prove that the MPE system would work well at the subject site.

The 200,000-square foot, five-storey, former factory building on this Brownfield site is being redesigned for residential use

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