Standards
Standards for End of the Pipe Water Based Discharges from the Pacific Place Site
Pollution Prevention and Remediation Branch
Environment and Lands Headquarters Division
Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks
| Approved: |
________________________________
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November 27, 1991
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Deputy Director of Waste Management
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Date
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1.0 Background
In April 1989 the ministry published its "British Columbia Standards for Managing Contamination at the Pacific Place Site". These standards, which addressed contaminated soils and groundwater from the standpoint of site investigation and remediation, were needed to protect residents and the surrounding environment from adverse impacts of contaminants on the site.
Neither the Standards for Managing Contamination at the Pacific Place Site nor the environmental quality standards in the Contaminated Sites Regulation provide guidance on the levels of water-borne substances that are acceptable in discharges from Pacific Place. This document replaces "Standards for Water-based Discharges from the Pacific Place Site," dated November 27, 1991 and presents updated ministry standards for managing end of the pipe water based discharges from the site.
2.0 Scope
The standards are drawn from several sources, including the ministry's Pollution Control Objectives, the Waste Management Act's Special Waste Regulation, and various other criteria for the protection of water quality. They also refer to sewer discharge limits from the Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District and the City of Vancouver.
3.0 Application
The standards presented here are applicable to end of the pipe water based discharges from several sources, including: groundwater which has been collected; effluent from water treatment systems; stormwater runoff collected from contaminated soils and parcels either intended for, or undergoing remediation; wastewater collected from equipment decontamination; and seepage water collected from excavations and dewatering operations. They do not apply to street and other types of urban runoff other than those noted in the previous sentence.
Recommendations on the need for the collection and treatment of water from different sources will appear in remediation plans for the project. Only those substances identified as potential contaminants of concern will need to be addressed. The need for collection and treatment of groundwater will also be based on the potential environmental impacts of the substances discharged, and will reflect an evaluation of environmental loadings. Thus in some situations, it may not be necessary to collect or treat water from a source, because the environmental impact and loading is insignificant.
4.0 Standards for Water-Based Discharges
There are two basic discharge situations that these standards address, and all of the Pacific Place discharges may generally be fitted into either of these categories:
4.1 Discharges from a Special Waste Facility
All discharges from Special Waste Facilities, as described in the Special Waste Regulation under the Waste Management Act, whether to storm - or sanitary sewer or direct to False Creek must meet the effluent quality standards described in Schedule 1.2 of the Regulation. These standards are reproduced in Appendix 1. The effluent discharge standards apply to discharges from a facility that treats special waste, irrespective of the origin of the waste. Section 3.0 describes the types of water based wastes that must be collected and treated at the Pacific Place project, and if any of these wastes qualify as special wastes, the standards in Appendix 1 apply to the discharge from the treatment facility.
Regulatory requirements in the Waste Management Act take precedence over any requirements contained in municipal bylaws, where less stringent standards exist in the bylaws. If a bylaw imposes further restrictions than prescribed in the regulation, this would not be considered to be contrary to the Act unless the Minister so ordered. With the exception of one parameter, currently the Special Waste Regulation effluent standards are more stringent than any bylaw requirements from the GVRD or the City of Vancouver and hence represent the controlling legal standards for effluents from a Special Waste Treatment Facility for all discharge locations. The one exception is for fluoride being discharged to a City of Vancouver sanitary or combined sanitary/storm sewer, where the 10 ppm limit from the City is more stringent than the 15 PPM limit in the Special Waste Regulation.
4.2 Discharges Not From a Special Waste Facility
Discharges that are not from a Special Waste Facility on the Pacific Place site may be deposited into a sanitary sewer, a storm sewer, or direct to False Creek. The following sections provide the standards for two situations: 1) discharges to sanitary or combined sanitary/storm sewers, and 2) discharges to storm sewers or direct to False Creek.
4.2.1 Discharges That Are Not From a Special Waste Facility to Sanitary or Combined Sanitary and Storm Sewers
Effluents that are not from a Special Waste Facility that are disposed of in sanitary or combined storm and sanitary sewers shall meet the discharge limits provided in the sewer use bylaw of the agency having jurisdiction over the sewer to which the effluent is discharged. The Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District Use Bylaw
No. 164 and the City of Vancouver Sewer Use Regulation Bylaw No. 5320 contain the applicable standards, which are in part, reproduced in Appendices 2 and 3. These agencies shall be contacted for permits and information on bylaw interpretation and application.
4.2.2 Discharges That Are Not From a Special Waste Facility Direct to False Creek or Storm Sewer
For discharges direct to False Creek or storm sewers that are not from a Special Waste Facility, the BC Pollution Control Objectives are considered the most appropriate starting point. The Objectives for Municipal Type Waste Discharges, Metal Finishing Plants and the Chemical and Petroleum Industries are considered most applicable, and the most stringent of these combined Objectives for each chemical parameter was initially selected as the standard. Next, the Pollution Control Objectives were adjusted to be in line with the Special Waste Facility effluent limits from Appendix 1 for a number of parameters. These standards appear in Appendix 4.
4.3 Discharges of Other Substances
There are a few important additional substances at the Pacific Place site for which discharge standards have not been listed in sections 4.1 and 4.2 above, including monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and chlorophenols.
There are three important considerations in setting standards for these substances. First, the ministry will not allow discharges to receiving waters which are acutely toxic. Second, standards for non-carcinogenic substances in groundwater will be set at the 96 hour LC50 concentration for the most sensitive salmonid species, with an additional safety factor of 5 applied for persistent and/or bioaccumulative substances. Third, the Waste Management Act prohibits the release of special wastes to the environment.
The following describes standards for each of the three classes of organic chemical compounds listed above, taking into account the need to protect marine life in False Creek as well as the need to preclude the direct discharge of special wastes.
Monocyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (MAHs)
The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) has published guidelines for ambient water quality to protect aquatic life from exposure to benzene, ethylbenzene and toluene. These guidelines are based on the 96 hour LC50 values for sensitive fish species shown in Table 1 below.
The Special Waste Regulation includes standards for these parameters which are used in the leachate test to determine whether a waste is a special waste. Under some circumstances, wastes containing dissolved chemicals at these leachate levels will qualify as special wastes. The leachate quality standards are also presented in Table 1. Another column contains the best available control technology (BACT) value for these parameters, as determined by reference to the USEPA WERL Treatability database. Finally, a column presenting the Pacific Place standard for each of the monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, is provided. These values were derived by taking the most stringent value of the BACT and aquatic toxicity and special waste leachate test levels for each chemical. The standards apply to all end of pipe discharges, whether or not from a special waste facility, to sanitary sewers, storm sewers or direct to False Creek, as defined in Section 3.0.
Table 1. Discharge Standards for Monocyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (ppb)
| Chemical |
Species |
96 hour LC |
Special Waste Leachate Standard |
BACT Level |
False Cree/ Storm Sewer Discharge Standard |
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|
|
|
|
| benzene |
rainbow trout |
5300 |
500 |
15 |
15 |
| ethylbenzene |
rainbow trout |
4200 |
240 |
15 |
15 |
| toluene |
coho salmon |
5500 |
2400 |
15 |
15 |
| xylene |
rainbow trout |
8200 |
30000 |
50 |
50 |
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
A number of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are well known human and animal carcinogens and are suspected to produce lesions in fish in Burrard Inlet in Vancouver.
In a review of treatment technologies for sites contaminated with coal tars, the Gas Research Institute (GRI) showed that groundwaters contaminated with total PAHs up to 8200 ppb could have total PAH levels reduced using simple technologies such as carbon adsorption, to the 20 -30 ppb total PAH range. A discharge objective of 20 ppb total PAHs, based on BACT, has been adopted for a groundwater treatment discharge at the east end of False Creek. This 20 ppb total PAHs (monthly average) limit is adopted here as a target design phase standard for PAH discharges from Special Waste Treatment Facilities, and for other discharges as defined in Section 3.0. Based on the GRI review this standard should be practically achievable, but further research into technologies to achieve and improve upon this target may be required.
Chlorinated Phenols (CPs)
The Antisapstain Chemical Waste Control Regulation under the Waste Management Act requires that the level of total chlorophenols in a stormwater discharge not exceed 6 ppb, and this standard is adopted here for discharges from Special Waste Treatment Facilities and for other discharges to storm sewers or direct to False Creek, as defined in Section 3.0.
APPENDIX 1
SCHEDULE 1.2
Effluent Standards for Special Waste Facilities
Column 1 |
Column 2 |
Column 3 |
Parameter |
Standard* for Discharges to
the Environment or to
Storm Sewers |
Standard* for Discharges Directed to Municipal or Industrial Effluent Treatment Works |
|
|
|
Physical |
|
|
pH |
6.5 to 8.5** |
5.0 to 11.0** |
Temperature |
32 °C |
- |
Total suspended solids |
20 |
- |
Toxicity (limit bioassay - 50% survival of Rainbow trout after 96 hours) |
100% effluent |
50% effluent |
|
|
|
Inorganics |
|
|
Aluminium, dissolved |
0.5 |
2.0 |
Ammonia, total (expressed as nitrogen) |
2.0 |
- |
Antimony, dissolved |
0.25 |
0.5 |
Arsenic, dissolved |
0.1 |
0.3 |
Barium, dissolved |
1.0 |
2.5 |
Boron, dissolved |
10.0 |
15.0 |
Cadmium, dissolved |
0.05 |
0.1 |
Chromium, dissolved (hexavalent) |
0.1 |
0.2 |
Chromium, total |
0.5 |
1.0 |
Cobalt, dissolved |
0.1 |
0.3 |
Copper, dissolved |
0.1 |
0.3 |
Cyanide (weak acid dissociable) |
0.1 |
0.2 |
Fluoride, dissolved |
15 |
18 |
Lead, dissolved |
0.1 |
0.3 |
Manganese, dissolved |
0.5 |
1.0 |
Mercury, total |
0.001 |
0.01 |
Molybdenum, dissolved |
0.5 |
1.0 |
Nickel, dissolved |
0.5 |
1.0 |
Selenium, dissolved |
0.05 |
0.1 |
Tin, dissolved |
0.5 |
1.0 |
Zinc, dissolved |
0.2 |
0.5 |
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|
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Organics |
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|
5 day Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) |
20 |
- |
Dioxin TEQ |
15 pg/l |
15 pg/l |
Oil |
10 |
60 |
Phenol |
0.2 |
0.5 |
Polychlorinated biphenyls, total |
0.005 |
0.005 |
Total chlorinated phenol |
0.006 |
0.05 |
Total organic halogens (as Cl) |
1.0 |
1.0 |
1 Standards of this appendix are amended effective the date of any amendment to Sch. 1.2 of the Special Waste Regulation
* Maximum concentration or range in (mg/l) unless otherwise specified. pg/l is the abbreviation for picograms per litre
** pH units are the negative log of the hydrogen ion concentration.
Note: Local municipal requirements may be more restrictive
APPENDIX 2
Standards for Discharges Not From a Special Waste Facility to
Sanitary or Combined Sanitary and Storm Sewers
City of Vancouver
Subsection 2.2 STANDARDS FOR WASTE DISCHARGES
2.2.1(1) No person shall discharge or permit to be discharged into a sanitary sewer or combined sewer any waste that has any of the following characteristics:
